METHODS AND SOFTWARE FOR RESEARCH OF THE VALIDITY OF TEST RESULTS FOR THE TESTED GROUPS WITH CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS

Abstract

The necessary condition for the presence of biased assessment by some test is differential item functioning in different groups of test takers. The ideas of some statistical methods for detecting Differential Item Functioning are described in the given article. They were developed in the framework of the main approaches to modeling test results: using contingency tables, regression models, multidimensional models and models of Item Response Theory. The Mantel-Haenszel procedure, logistic regression method, SIBTEST and Item Response Theory Likelihood Ratio Test are considered. The characteristics of each method and conditions of their application are specified. Overview of existing free software tools implementing these methods is carried out. Comparisons of these methods are conducted on the example of real data. Also notes that it is appropriate to use several methods simultaneously to reduce the risk of false conclusions.

Keywords

• диференційоване функціонування завдання
• рівномірне DIF
• нерівномірне DIF
• логістична регресія
• метод Мантель-Ханзеля
• тест відношення правдоподібності