Comparative Test Evaluation: Methods and Challenges

the present paper has three objectives. first, methods for comparing alternative tests for the purpose of replacement of one test with a second presumably superior test are described. second, problems in the interpretation of the relevance of different diagnostic thresholds (thresholds of positivity) that define who is and who is not a disordered gambler are examined and a potential solution offered in the form of a common quantitative measure of the risk of being a disordered gambler. third, alternative methodologies are described as potential solutions to the lack of a gold or reference standard in the evaluation of new tests.