language-conditioned-psychometric-harmonization-model/research/protocol/literature_matrix.csv

1	source_id	citation	year	publication_status	evidence_type	domain_and_data	sample_or_scope	main_result	project_use	limitations	supports	does_not_support	doi_or_id	source_url	verification_status	checked_date
2	L01	Chen et al. Pre-statistical harmonization of behavioral instruments across eight surveys and trials	2021	peer_reviewed	empirical workflow/methods	Behavioral instruments across eight dementia surveys and trials	Eight studies; manual instrument review plus automated raw-data checks	Comparable-looking items often differed in wording, response options, scoring, or direction and required pre-statistical review	Defines the source-review and crosswalk work required before statistical linking	Different population and constructs; does not test semantic embeddings or cross-national DIF	Official wording, response options, scoring, and populations must be reviewed before pooling	Semantic similarity alone establishes psychometric equivalence	10.1186/s12874-021-01431-6	https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-021-01431-6	verified_primary	2026-09-20
3	L02	Kołczyńska. Combining multiple survey sources: A reproducible workflow and toolbox for survey data harmonization	2022	peer_reviewed	methods/workflow	Four cross-national survey projects; trust items	ESS, EVS, EQLS and Eurobarometer example	Crosswalk-centered, human-auditable documentation improves reproducibility of ex-post harmonization	Supports machine-readable source crosswalks, recodes, provenance and status tracking	Focuses recoding/documentation rather than latent linking or item semantics	Harmonization decisions and transformations need reusable documentation	A documented crosswalk proves measurement invariance	10.1177/20597991221077923	https://doi.org/10.1177/20597991221077923	verified_primary	2026-09-20
4	L03	McElroy et al. Using natural language processing to facilitate the harmonisation of mental health questionnaires	2024	peer_reviewed	empirical validation	Five mental-health questionnaires in a UK adult sample	2,058 participants; 741 item pairs	Sentence-BERT semantic similarity correlated moderately with empirical item correlations and predicted held-out pair correlations with small error	Closest evidence for semantic item matching and response-structure signal	Adult UK sample, overlapping questionnaires and shared respondents; manual rules still needed; no cross-country DIF or survey-design inference	Text embeddings can help propose harmonization candidates	Embedding similarity verifies psychometric equivalence or transportability	10.1186/s12888-024-05954-2	https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-024-05954-2	verified_primary	2026-09-20
5	L04	Ravenda et al. Rethinking psychometrics through LLMs: how item semantics shape measurement and prediction in psychological questionnaires	2025	peer_reviewed	empirical proof-of-concept	Big Five, DASS-42, GAD-7 and PHQ-9 questionnaire data	Large public questionnaire datasets; proof-of-concept response prediction	Semantic structure predicted empirical correlation patterns and supported prediction of responses to unseen items	Shows semantic representations can encode response-structure information in psychological questionnaires	Cross-cultural and multilingual transport were not established; predictive proof-of-concept is not survey harmonization	Item semantics may explain part of response covariance	Universal psychometric equivalence, DIF recovery or calibrated cross-national latent scores	10.1038/s41598-025-21289-8	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-21289-8	verified_primary	2026-09-20
6	L05	Yancey et al. BERT-IRT: Accelerating Item Piloting with BERT Embeddings and Explainable IRT Models	2024	peer_reviewed_conference	method plus operational evaluation	Duolingo English Test items	High-stakes language assessment item bank; exact proprietary sample details require full-paper extraction	BERT embeddings and engineered features reduced pilot length while maintaining reported criterion validity and reliability	Direct precedent for text features predicting IRT item parameters	Educational test items differ from suicide-related survey items; does not address cross-country DIF, complex samples or latent phenotype harmonization	Text-derived item features can inform item-parameter estimation	This project's core method is unprecedented or immediately transferable to health surveys	ACL Anthology 2024.bea-1.35	https://aclanthology.org/2024.bea-1.35/	verified_primary	2026-09-20
7	L06	Chen and Chen. From Text to Parameters: Predicting Item Parameters from Embedding Regularization with Reliability and Design Ceilings	2026	preprint	method/benchmark	Mathematics and medical-licensure item banks	Two item banks; repeated cross-validation and simulation-based ceilings	Difficulty was more predictable than other parameters; reliability/design ceilings and repeated splits changed interpretation	Requires uncertainty-aware targets, repeated grouped validation and ceiling analysis for semantic parameter prediction	Preprint; educational/assessment domains; not cross-national mental-health surveys	Parameter-prediction benchmarks need target reliability and design ceilings	Reported RMSE alone establishes useful semantic signal	arXiv:2607.07141	https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.07141	verified_preprint	2026-09-20
8	L07	Peters et al. Text-Based Approaches to Item Difficulty Modeling in Large-Scale Assessments: A Systematic Review	2025	preprint	systematic review	Automated item-difficulty prediction	37 articles through May 2025	Language models can predict item difficulty in some settings, but studies vary in datasets, splits, targets and metrics	Maps existing text-to-difficulty literature and prevents novelty overclaiming	Preprint; focuses large-scale assessment rather than health questionnaires, DIF or survey design	Text-based difficulty prediction is an established research area	Reported best-case metrics transfer to this project	arXiv:2509.23486	https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.23486	verified_preprint	2026-09-20
9	L08	Muthén and Asparouhov. IRT studies of many groups: the alignment method	2014	peer_reviewed	method plus Monte Carlo	Binary knowledge items across many country groups	Two surveys plus simulation	Alignment estimates group factor means/variances without requiring exact invariance and reports parameter non-invariance	Core comparator for many-country measurement invariance and DIF	Requires a prespecified factor structure and adequate linkage; alignment is not proof that all groups share one construct	Approximate invariance can be studied across many groups	Alignment repairs absent empirical connections or identifies a scale from semantics alone	10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00978	https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00978	verified_primary	2026-09-20
10	L09	Mansolf et al. Extensions of Multiple-Group Item Response Theory Alignment	2020	peer_reviewed	method, simulation and application	International psychiatric genomics consortium with disparate item sets and formats	Multiple sites/instruments plus real-data-based simulation	Extended alignment accommodated differing item sets and response categories and recovered parameters in simulation	Closest latent-harmonization comparator for psychiatric phenotypes with nonidentical instruments	Needs specified construct/factor model and empirical connections; population and sampling designs differ from this project	Disparate psychiatric item sets can sometimes be aligned with explicit assumptions	Semantic priors alone create a common scale or eliminate anchor requirements	10.1177/0013164419897307	https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164419897307	verified_primary	2026-09-20
11	L10	Heinz et al. Item response theory and differential test functioning analysis of the HBSC-Symptom-Checklist across 46 countries	2022	peer_reviewed	cross-national psychometric application	Eight-item adolescent HBSC symptom checklist	229,906 adolescents across 46 countries	Configural/metric invariance was more defensible than scalar invariance; alignment identified item non-invariance	Demonstrates the scale of cross-country adolescent DIF and consequences for comparisons	Uses one established common instrument, not different survey tools or unseen-item semantic prediction	Cross-national adolescent comparisons require item-level invariance/DIF checks	A common questionnaire automatically yields scalar comparability	10.1186/s12874-022-01698-3	https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-022-01698-3	verified_primary	2026-09-20
12	L11	Savitsky and Williams. Pseudo Bayesian Mixed Models under Informative Sampling	2022	peer_reviewed	method, simulation and application	Hierarchical models under informative multistage sampling	Simulation plus business-establishment survey example	Weighting only unit likelihood contributions can remain biased when random effects correlate with design; weighting random-effect distributions addresses this setting	Constrains how hierarchical country/survey effects and design weights can be combined	Not an IRT application; requires inclusion-probability information and design assumptions	Complex-sample Bayesian multilevel models need design-aware treatment beyond naive weighted likelihood	Multiplying every likelihood by a weight guarantees correct interval coverage	10.2478/jos-2022-0039	https://doi.org/10.2478/jos-2022-0039	verified_primary	2026-09-20
13	L12	Wu and Stephenson. Bayesian estimation methods for survey data with potential applications to health disparities research	2024	peer_reviewed_review	narrative methodological review	Bayesian analysis of complex survey data	Reviews MRP, weighted pseudo-likelihood and synthetic-population approaches	No single Bayesian survey method is universally sufficient; assumptions and target estimands determine the route	Provides the survey-design method map for later model specifications and sensitivity analyses	Review rather than project-specific validation; does not resolve IRT identification	Multiple defensible Bayesian survey strategies exist and must be chosen by estimand/design	Bayesian modeling automatically corrects informative sampling	10.1002/wics.1633	https://doi.org/10.1002/wics.1633	verified_primary	2026-09-20
14	L13	Wu et al. Statistical harmonization of versions of measures across studies using external data	2025	peer_reviewed	calibration-sample method	Self-rated health and memory measured with different response formats	External calibration sample of 300 participants	A bridge sample answering both versions enabled model-based statistical harmonization with moderate agreement	Shows why bridge data may be necessary when archival surveys lack empirical links	Different constructs and older clinical population; external sample design differs from multi-item IRT	Targeted bridge data can identify transformations unavailable from disconnected archives	Text similarity can replace empirical bridge data without uncertainty	10.1016/j.annepidem.2025.01.002	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2025.01.002	verified_primary	2026-09-20