What is a logit?

A logit is a unit of measurement to report relative differences between candidate ability estimates and item difficulties. Logits are an equal interval level of measurement, which means that the distance between each point on the scale is equal (1-2=99-100). It puts candidate ability and item difficulty on the same measurement scale. Candidate ability (theta or ) is determined by the percentage of correct (% correct) answers and average difficulty of items on the test. Candidate ability is calculated using the following formula:

%correct CandidateAbility = log + AverageDifficulty 1 %correct

Candidate ability has a positive linear relationship with average difficulty. This means that as percent correct holds constant, candidate ability increases as the average difficulty of items get harder and decreases as the average difficulty gets easier. On the other hand, when average item difficulty is held constant, candidate ability varies in a non-linear fashion with percentage correct. The non-linear relation between candidate ability and percentage correct is a result of in the candidate ability calculation. The resulting curve takes on the distinct S shape the log term of a logistic ogive. An example of a logistic ogive is provided in Figure 1. Figure 1. Relation between Candidate Ability ( ) and Percentage of Correct Answer ( Examination
100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% -3.0

p ) on a Hypothetical

-2.5

-2.0

-1.5

-1.0

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Theta (Logit)

In Figure 1, candidate ability is shown on a scale of -3.0 to 3.0. In reality, the logit scale ranges from negative infinity to positive infinity, with the bulk of the ability distribution within the range of -3.0 to 3.0. The current NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN passing Standards can be found on the Passing Standards page of NCSBN.org.