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Examining Differential Item Functioning Due to Item Difficulty and Alternative Attractiveness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2025

Paul Westers  and
Henk Kelderman
Paul Westers*
Affiliation:
University of Twente
Henk Kelderman
Affiliation:
University of Twente
*
Requests for reprints should be sent to Paul Westers, University of Twente, PO Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, THE NETHERLANDS.
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Abstract

A method for analyzing test item responses is proposed to examine differential item functioning (DIF) in multiple-choice items through a combination of the usual notion of DIF, for correct/incorrect responses and information about DIF contained in each of the alternatives. The proposed method uses incomplete latent class models to examine whether DIF is caused by the attractiveness of the alternatives, difficulty of the item, or both. DIF with respect to either known or unknown subgroups can be tested by a likelihood ratio test that is asymptotically distributed as a chi-square random variable.

Keywords

differential item functioningmultiple choice itemsRasch modelguessing modelincomplete latent class modelgoodness-of-fit testing
Type
Original Paper
Information
Psychometrika , Volume 57 , Issue 1 , March 1992 , pp. 107 - 118
Copyright
Copyright © 1992 The Psychometric Society

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