Are Tests Comprising Both Multiple‐Choice and Free‐Response Items Necessarily Less Unidimensional Than Multiple‐Choice Tests?An Analysis of Two Tests

Restricted factor analysis shows that the free-response sections measure the same underlying proficiency as the multiple-choice sections for the most part, but there is also a significant, if relatively small, amount of local dependence among theFree-response items that produces a small degree of multidimensionauty for each test