Data sparsity, that is a common problem in neighbor-based collaborative filtering domain, usually complicates the process of item recommendation.
We describe the process of item development, the population of students who responded to these items, and our analytic approach in the sections below.
Through critical review, we applied a process of item reduction and distillation, retaining only those themes and issues arising from them that we considered of key importance.
In further discussions within the group, and through consensus, initial item selection was followed by a process of item reduction, refining the selection and limiting the number of items to those considered most apt (relevant and informative).
The MASQ-D30 was developed through a process of item reduction and grouping of the appropriate subscales in a sample of 489 psychiatric outpatients, using a validated Dutch translation, based on the original English MASQ, as a starting point.
As population-based studies were planned and undertaken, and in consultation with a wide range of experts and local investigators from over 20 countries, the instrument was amended, expanded through a process of item development and refined through item rejection based on empirical experience.
Items were developed using an iterative process of: item development, review and revisions.
Experts in dermatology and clinical epidemiology took part in the process of item reduction and presenting.
The process of item development and selection has been described in the Methods section.
Analytic guidelines of the decision criteria were used to guide the process of item reduction of the preliminary 48 items.
