Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Monte Carlo Study Investigating The Influence Of Item Discrimination, Category Intersection Parameters, And Differential Item Functioning In Polytomous Items, Carol Jenetha Thurman

Educational Policy Studies Dissertations

The increased use of polytomous item formats has led assessment developers to pay greater attention to the detection of differential item functioning (DIF) in these items. DIF occurs when an item performs differently for two contrasting groups of respondents (e.g., males versus females) after controlling for differences in the abilities of the groups. Determining whether the difference in performance on an item between two demographic groups is due to between group differences in ability or some form of unfairness in the item is a more complex task for a polytomous item, because of its many score categories, than for a …