{"doi":"10.3102/10769986013003243","title":"Item Parameter Estimation Via Marginal Maximum Likelihood and an EM Algorithm: A Didactic","abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    The Bock and Aitkin (1981) Marginal Maximum Likelihood/EM approach to item parameter estimation is an alternative to the classical joint maximum likelihood procedure of item response theory. Unfortunately\n                    <jats:sub>,</jats:sub>\n                    the complexity of the underlying mathematics and the terse nature of the existing literature has made understanding of the approach difficult. To make the approach accessible to a wider audience, the present didactic paper provides the essential mathematical details of a marginal maximum likelihood/EM solution and shows how it can be used to obtain consistent item parameter estimates. For pedagogical purposes, a short BASIC computer program is used to illustrate the underlying simplicity of the method.\n                  </jats:p>","journal":"Journal of Educational Statistics","year":1988,"id":28856,"datarank":3.6133011480323605,"base_score":4.02535169073515,"endowment":4.02535169073515,"self_citation_contribution":0.6038027536102726,"citation_network_contribution":3.0094983944220877,"self_endowment_contribution":0.6038027536102726,"citer_contribution":3.0094983944220877,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":55,"citer_count":52,"citers_with_citation_signal":47,"citers_with_endowment":47,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":160557,"name":"Frank B. Baker","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":160558,"name":"Michael Zwarts","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":160556,"name":"Michael R. Harwell","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"base_score":4.02535169073515,"endowment":4.02535169073515,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"18998881","pmcid":null,"openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W2162925157","authors":[],"funders":[],"total_grants":0,"fwci":4.3962,"citation_percentile":0.95134196,"influential_citations":5,"citation_trend":[{"year":2012,"count":2},{"year":2014,"count":1},{"year":2015,"count":3},{"year":2016,"count":3},{"year":2017,"count":2},{"year":2018,"count":1},{"year":2020,"count":5},{"year":2021,"count":3},{"year":2022,"count":4},{"year":2023,"count":2},{"year":2024,"count":1}],"oa_status":"closed","license":"https://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.3102/10769986013003243","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.3102/10769986013003243","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"http://jeb.sagepub.com/content/13/3/243.abstract","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/10769986013003243","host_type":"repository"}],"fields_of_study":["Psychometric Methodologies and Testing","Advanced Statistical Modeling Techniques","Statistical Methods and Bayesian Inference","Mathematics","Education","Computer Science"],"mesh_terms":[],"keywords":["Maximum likelihood","Simplicity","Marginal likelihood","Maximum likelihood sequence estimation","Estimation theory","Expectation–maximization algorithm","Computer science","Algorithm","Estimation","Restricted maximum likelihood","Joint (building)","Mathematics","Mathematical optimization","Statistics","Engineering"],"sdg_mappings":[{"sdg_number":0,"sdg_label":"Quality Education"}],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-06-08T22:15:53.657183Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}