An Examination of Item Context Effects, DIF, and Gender DIF

Gender Differences in Large-Scale Math Assessments: PISA Trend 2000 and 2003

“…Spatial ability has long been documented as a domain that displays large and robust gender differences. This finding resonates with previous research that reports that males show superior spatial ability on standardized tests (Casey et al, 1995;Gierl et al, 2003;Halpern, 1997;Hanna, 1986;Ryan & Chiu, 2001). In the K-12 curricula in the United States, spatial ability is not systematically taught.…”

Are Inferential Reading Items More Susceptible to Cultural Bias Than Literal Reading Items?

“…By contrast, a one-tailed test was conducted for the last four hypotheses given that it was explicitly stated which group would be favored/disadvantaged by the bundles after controlling for overall reading ability. The process is consistent with confirmatory DBF research (see Abbott, 2006Abbott, , 2007Banks, 2006;Douglas et al, 1996;Gierl, Bisanz, Bisanz, & Boughton, 2003;Gierl, Bisanz, Bisanz, Boughton, & Khaliq, 2001;Gierl, & Khaliq, 2001;Mendes-Barnett & Ercikan, 2006;Ryan & Chiu, 2001;Ryan & Fan, 1996;Wolf & Leon, 2009). …”

Assessment of Differential Item Functioning for Demographic Comparisons in the MOS SF-36 Health Survey

“…The health in general item is the very first item in the SF-36 Survey while the remaining four health perception items are the very last items in the survey. Some subgroups may be differentially vulnerable to context or order effects [63]. For example, older respondents or those with less education may experience ''response fatigue'' or ''respondent burden'' more quickly than younger or more advantaged respondents, which could be a source of construct-irrelevant variance (i.e., DIF) in the question-answering process.…”