Item Discrimination and Type I Error in the Detection of Differential Item Functioning

作者：Li Yanju^*; Brooks Gordon P; Johanson George A

来源：Educational and Psychological Measurement, 2012, 72(5): 847-861.

DOI：10.1177/0013164411432333

• differential item functioning
• item discrimination
• logistic regression
• Mantel-Haenszel
• Type I error

In 2009, DeMars stated that when impact exists there will be Type I error inflation, especially with larger sample sizes and larger discrimination parameters for items. One purpose of this study is to present the patterns of Type I error rates using Mantel-Haenszel (MH) and logistic regression (LR) procedures when the mean ability between the focal and reference groups varies from zero to one standard deviation. The findings can be used as guides for alpha adjustment when using MH or LR methods when impact exists. A second purpose is to better understand the conditions that cause Type I error rates to inflate. The results indicate that inflation can be controlled even in the presence of large ability differences and with large samples.

• 出版日期2012-10