Analysis of Scientific Studies on Item Response Theory by Bibliometric Analysis Method

The purpose of this study is to analyze the studies, which include Item Response Theory among the keywords, available in the Web of Science database between 1980-2018 through bibliometric analysis method. A total of 1,367 academic works has been analyzed. The authors, journals and countries having the highest number of studies in the field and their interrelations on the network in terms of collaboration have been determined through common citation analysis performed using Citespace II software. In addition, a word analysis was also conducted to determine most frequently used concepts in the field. As a result of the study it was found that the authors that have made the biggest contribution to the field are De Ayala, Embretson, Reckase, Reise and Chalmers; in addition, the countries making the biggest contribution are respectively US, Netherland, Canada, Spain and China. The number of citations that US got, which is the country that received the highest number of citations with 687 citations, is 7 times higher than Netherland, which is the second most cited country. Moreover, it was found that the journals that were mostly cited are respectively Psychometrika, Appl Psych Measurement, Item Response Theory, J Edu Measurement and Educ Psychol Measurement. As a result of the word analysis based on most repeated words, which was performed for the purpose of determining most popular subjects on the field, it was found that most frequently used words are item response theory, classical test theory, model, validation, reliability, validity and Rasch model