An Analysis of Rater Behaviors in The Music Special Ability Selection Examination

The purpose of this study is to identify the rating behaviors of raters involved in the music special talent admission examination. The study group consists of two subgroups: candidates and raters. The candidate group comprises 114 individuals who took the special talent entrance examination for admission to the music education department of a public university, while the rater group consists of five raters who evaluated the candidates’ performances. A fully crossed design was employed, and the data were analyzed using the Many-Facet Rasch Model. Within this framework, several rater behaviors were examined, including severity, leniency, central tendency, halo effect, rater × candidate bias, and rater × candidate gender bias. The findings indicated that, at the group level, halo effect, rater × candidate bias, and rater × candidate gender bias were not present; however, severity, leniency, and central tendency behaviors did emerge. At the individual level, one rater exhibited severity, all raters demonstrated central tendency, and one rater showed a halo effect. Additionally, rater × candidate bias was observed in four raters, whereas none of the raters displayed rater × candidate gender bias. Based on the findings obtained, it is recommended that raters receive rater training.