Chapter 12 Estimation and software

The aim of this last chapter is threefold. First, we want to give the reader furt her insights into the estimation methods for the models presented in this volume. Second, we want to discuss the available software for the models presented in this volume. We will not sketch all possibilities of the software, but only those directly relevant to item response modeling as seen in this volume. Third, we want to illustrate the use of various programs for the estimation of a basic model, the Rasch model, for the verbal aggression data. 12.2 General description of estimation algorithms In this section we give abrief overview of the most common estimation methods for the item response models discussed in this volume. It is not our purpose to explain these methods in great detail but rat her to layout the fundamental ideas and discuss some advantages and drawbacks. The content of this section is closely related to theoretical material presented in Chapter 4.

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