ArticleCBE life sciences education2017
Checking Equity: Why Differential Item Functioning Analysis Should Be a Routine Part of Developing Conceptual Assessments.
Article in CBE life sciences education, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed.
- Human-Governed Validation of Artificial Intelligence-Generated Medical Assessment Artifacts: A Technical Report.Cureus · 2026Article
- Clinical High-Risk for Psychosis in Latinx Populations: Common Issues and Recommendations for Improving Care.Early intervention in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Psychometric Properties of the Adult Executive Functioning Inventory: Application of Rasch Analyses.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- An Investigation of Differential Item Functioning in the Infection Control Contact Isolation Precaution Instrument Among Nurses and Physicians.BioMed research international · 2026Article
- Cross-cultural validation of the Weight Stigma Exposure Inventory (WeSEI): secondary data analysis from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Türkiye, and Malaysia.Journal of eating disorders · 2025Article
- Are medical school preclinical tests biased for sex and race? A differential item functioning analysis.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- An analysis of the influence of education level on Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) scores among stroke patients.Psychogeriatrics : the official journal of the Japanese Psychogeriatric Society · 2025Article
- Measurement invariance of the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in autistic adolescents.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2024Article
- Development of a patient satisfaction questionnaire (PSQ) for diabetes management in Thailand and Lao PDR.PloS one · 2024Article
- Article
- The psychometric properties of the Physical Resilience Instrument for Older Adults (PRIFOR): a Rasch analysis.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2023Article
- Evaluating the psychometric properties of the Grit scale in Marine recruits using Rasch analysis.BMJ military health · 2023Article
- Psychometric functioning, measurement invariance, and external associations of the Relationship Assessment Scale in a sample of Polish Adults.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Measuring the Burden of Intimate Partner Violence by Sex and Sexual Identity: Results From a Random Sample in Toronto, Canada.Journal of interpersonal violence · 2022Article
- Item response theory and differential test functioning analysis of the HBSC-Symptom-Checklist across 46 countries.BMC medical research methodology · 2022Article
- Reframing Educational Outcomes: Moving beyond Achievement Gaps.CBE life sciences education · 2022Review
- Analysis of Race and Sex Bias in the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2).JAMA network open · 2022Article
- COMIRESTROKE-A clinical study protocol for monitoring clinical effect and molecular biological readouts ofFrontiers in neurology · 2022Article
- Towards a more inclusive and equitable developmental cognitive neuroscience.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2021Review
- The Individual Water Insecurity Experiences (IWISE) Scale: reliability, equivalence and validity of an individual-level measure of water security.BMJ global health · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
We provide a tutorial on differential item functioning (DIF) analysis, an analytic method useful for identifying potentially biased items in assessments. After explaining a number of methodological approaches, we test for gender bias in two scenarios that demonstrate why DIF analysis is crucial for developing assessments, particularly because simply comparing two groups' total scores can lead to incorrect conclusions about test fairness. First, a significant difference between groups on total scores can exist even when items are not biased, as we illustrate with data collected during the validation of the Homeostasis Concept Inventory. Second, item bias can exist even when the two groups have exactly the same distribution of total scores, as we illustrate with a simulated data set. We also present a brief overview of how DIF analysis has been used in the biology education literature to illustrate the way DIF items need to be reevaluated by content experts to determine whether they should be revised or removed from the assessment. Finally, we conclude by arguing that DIF analysis should be used routinely to evaluate items in developing conceptual assessments. These steps will ensure more equitable-and therefore more valid-scores from conceptual assessments.
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