ERIC Number: EJ980666
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Oct
Pages: 29
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1076-9986
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Improving Mantel-Haenszel DIF Estimation through Bayesian Updating
Zwick, Rebecca; Ye, Lei; Isham, Steven
Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, v37 n5 p601-629 Oct 2012
This study demonstrates how the stability of Mantel-Haenszel (MH) DIF (differential item functioning) methods can be improved by integrating information across multiple test administrations using Bayesian updating (BU). The authors conducted a simulation that showed that this approach, which is based on earlier work by Zwick, Thayer, and Lewis, can yield more accurate DIF estimation and improve the detection of DIF items, even when compared to other approaches that aggregate data across administrations. The authors also applied the method to data from several college-level tests. The BU approach provides a natural way to accumulate all known DIF information about each test item while mitigating the undesirable bias toward zero that affected the performance of two previous Bayesian DIF methods. (Contains 3 notes, 10 tables, and 8 figures.)
Descriptors: Test Bias, Computation, Statistical Analysis, Bayesian Statistics, Test Items, Accuracy, Tests, Higher Education
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Author Affiliations: N/A