An Empirical Study On Equating Upper Body Strength Tests

Objective: A number of upper body strength tests are being frequently employed in testing practice. The equivalence of the standards, however, has not been confirmed. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the equivalence of three upper body strength tests, including pull-up, push-up and flexed-arm hang.Methods: Three tests are administered to 453 male collegians. Each test was administered in a week apart, and the testing order was counterbalanced. The equating methods included the unsmoothed and smoothing equipercentile equating and linear equating. The collected data were randomly split into two samples: equating sample, cross-validation sample. The equivalent relationships of the tests were determined by equating sample, Using the cross-validation sample, the equating accuracy was evaluated by the index of Root Mean Squared Difference (RMSD).Results: 1) In smoothing equipercentile equating, smoothing model should be chosen according to different tests. 2) Among the equating method of three upper body strength tests, the linear equating functioned the best. 3) Based on the equivalent relationship derived from this study, the equivalence of the stands was evaluated. It was found that, while the equivalence of some of the standards was well established, the equivalence of others was not satisfactory.