A Comparison of the Logistic Regression and Contingency Table Methods for Simultaneous Detection of Uniform and Nonuniform DIF

Abstract

In this study, we investigate the logistic regression (LR), Mantel‐Haenszel (MH), and Breslow‐Day (BD) procedures for the simultaneous detection of both uniform and nonuniform differential item functioning (DIF). A simulation study was used to assess and compare the Type I error rate and power of a combined decision rule (CDR), which assesses DIF using a combination of the decisions made with BD and MH to those of LR. The results revealed that while the Type I error rate of CDR was consistently below the nominal alpha level, the Type I error rate of LR was high for the conditions having unequal ability distributions. In addition, the power of CDR was consistently higher than that of LR across all forms of DIF.