Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Methods Of Detecting Differential Item Functioning: A Comparison Of Confirmatory Factor Analysis Methods, Jenny Chia Yi Kuang

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present Monte Carlo study compared four confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) methods for detecting differential item functioning (DIF). The four methods were the noniterative and iterative mean and covariance structure analysis (MACS) methods, the modification index (MI) method, and the modification index-divided sample (MI-divided) method. Reference and focal groups responded to 12 items with 3 of the 12 items designed to exhibit DIF. Sample sizes of 250 and 500 were examined. In addition, three types of DIF were examined: DIF on loadings, DIF on thresholds, and DIF on both loadings and thresholds. Results indicated that for sample size 250, all …

Methods Of Detecting Differential Item Functioning: A Comparison Of Item Response Theory And Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Ratchaneewan Wanichtanom

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Differential item functioning (DIF) occurs when an item performs statistically differently for a reference group than for a focal group. DIF is a threat to the validity of a test, and it can lead to illegal usage of a test in situations such as employee selection. Thus, DIF has important implications for test construction and practice. This research is a Monte Carlo study that compares Item Response Theory (IRT) and three Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) methods for detecting DIF. The three CFA methods were Model Comparison (MC), Modification Indexes (MI), and Modification Indexes-Divided sample (MI-Divided).

The research compared the detection …