Methods for Identifying Biased Test Items

by Gregory Camilli; Lorrie A. Shepard

• ISBN13: 9780803944169
• ISBN10: 0803944160
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-04-06
• Publisher: Sage Publications

Summary

This book makes clear to researchers what item-bias methods can (and cannot) do, how they work and how they should be interpreted.Advice is provided on the most useful methods for particular test situations. The authors explain the logic of each method - from item-response theory to nonparametric, categorical methods - in terms of how differential item functioning (DIF) is defined by the method and how well the method can be expected to work. A summary of findings on the behaviour of indices in empirical studies is included. The book concludes with a set of principles for deciding when DIF should be interpreted as evidence of bias.

Table of Contents

Series Editor's Foreword	ix
Preface	xiii
Introduction: Test Bias, Item Bias, and Test Validity	1	(21)
Purposes of the Book	2	(1)
Organization of the Book	3	(1)
Historical Test Bias Context	4	(3)
Definitions of Test Bias	7	(2)
External Methods: Predictive Validity Models for Studying Test Bias	9	(6)
Internal Methods: Item Bias and Differential Item Functioning	15	(3)
Contemporary Conceptions of Test Validity and Fair Test Use: An Interpretive Context for Understanding Test and Item Bias	18	(2)
Summary	20	(2)
Early Item Bias Indices Based on Classical Test Theory and Analysis of Variance	22	(24)
Early Conceptions of Item Bias as Differential Difficulty	23	(1)
The Transformed Item Difficulty Index	24	(1)
Shortcomings of the Transformed Item Difficulty Method	25	(4)
Adjustments to the Transformed Item Difficulty Method	29	(1)
The Golden Rule Procedure	30	(3)
Shortcomings of Analysis of Variance	33	(2)
Correlational Methods for Detecting Bias	35	(1)
Summary	36	(2)
Exercises for Chapter 2	38	(3)
Answers to Exercises for Chapter 2	41	(5)
Item Response Theory as Applied to Differential Item Functioning	46	(56)
Item Response Theory and Item Characteristic Curves	46	(12)
Item Response Theory as Applied to Differential Item Functioning	58	(4)
Parameter Equating Designs	62	(2)
IRT Methods of DIF Analysis	64	(28)
The Effect of Bias on an Internal Criterion	92	(5)
External Anchor Items	97	(1)
Conclusions, Guidelines, and Cautions	98	(1)
Exercises for Chapter 3	99	(1)
Answers to Exercises for Chapter 3	100	(2)
Contingency Table Approaches	102	(32)
Advantages of Contingency Table Methods	103	(1)
Description of the 2 x 2 x S Data Matrix	104	(3)
A Brief Introduction to Proportions and Odds	107	(6)
Contingency Table Methods for Measuring DIF	113	(4)
Contingency Table Methods for Testing DIF	117	(11)
Conclusions, Guidelines, and Cautions	128	(3)
Exercises for Chapter 4	131	(1)
Answers to Exercises for Chapter 4	132	(2)
Interpretations of Bias from DIF Statistics	134	(19)
Judgmental Methods and Sensitivity Review	135	(3)
Judgmental and Empirical Evaluation of Bias	138	(13)
Summary and Extension of DIF Applications	151	(2)
Conclusions and Caveats	153	(6)
References	159	(8)
Author Index	167	(3)
Subject Index	170	(4)
About the Authors	174