ERIC Number: EJ1124928
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Dec
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1531-7714
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Investigating Causal DIF via Propensity Score Methods
Liu, Yan; Zumbo, Bruno D.; Gustafson, Paul; Huang, Yi; Kroc, Edward; Wu, Amery D.
Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, v21 n13 Dec 2016
A variety of differential item functioning (DIF) methods have been proposed and used for ensuring that a test is fair to all test takers in a target population in the situations of, for example, a test being translated to other languages. However, once a method flags an item as DIF, it is difficult to conclude that the grouping variable (e.g., test language) is responsible for the DIF result because there may exist many confounding variables that lead to the DIF result. The present study aims to (i) demonstrate the application of propensity score methods in psychometric research on DIF for day-to-day researchers, and (ii) describe conditional logistic regression for matched data in a DIF context. Propensity score methods can help to achieve the comparability between different populations or groups with respect to participants' pre-test differences, which can assist in examining the validity of making a causal claim with regard to DIF.
Descriptors: Test Items, Test Bias, Probability, Scores, Evaluation Methods, Psychometrics, Regression (Statistics), Validity, Comparative Analysis, Achievement Tests, Foreign Countries, International Assessment, Mathematics Tests, Mathematics Achievement, Science Achievement, Science Tests, Elementary Secondary Education, Culture Fair Tests
Center for Educational Assessment. 813 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01002. e-mail: pare@umass.edu; Tel: 413-577-2180; Web site: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/pare
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A