Abstract
The purpose of this study is to carry out differential item functioning (DIF) analysis for content areas of a reading comprehension subtest using four area indices within Item Response Theory (IRT) framework. The differences in the magnitudes of the area indices were compared based on the subject areas. The DIF analysis was carried out across gender groups only. The item level data of the English reading comprehension subtest were gathered from English Language Achievement exam done in School of Foreign Languages, Ege University, Turkey, in 2013. A sample of 2,117 examinees (1,011 males and 1,116 females) was randomly selected. For the DIF analysis, (a) an IRT model for the item characteristic curves was specified; (b) model-data-fit was investigated for the selected IRT model;(c) Item characteristic curves were separately computed for each group on a common scale; finally, (d) indices indicating the degree of DIF on each item were computed. The results of the study indicated that both un-weighted and weighted area indices showed non-uniformity in DIF in the item characteristic curves in reading comprehension subtest in most cases. A significant correlation was observed between un-weighted and weighted area indices. Key words: Item characteristic curve, item bias, differential item functioning (DIF).
Highlights
A number of researchers have indicated that there are gender differences in achievement of verbal ability on items requiring inference or application, for science-related content (Lawrence and Curley, 1989; Lawrence et al, 1988)
For the differential item functioning (DIF) analysis, (a) an Item Response Theory (IRT) model for the item characteristic curves was specified; (b) model-data-fit was investigated for the selected IRT model;(c) Item characteristic curves were separately computed for each group on a common scale; (d) indices indicating the degree of DIF on each item were computed
Four area indices were calculated for each subject area of reading comprehension subtest as unweighted signed area "SA", unweighted unsigned area "USA", weighted signed area "WSA" and weighted unsigned area "WUSA" indices
Summary
A number of researchers have indicated that there are gender differences in achievement of verbal ability on items requiring inference or application, for science-related content (Lawrence and Curley, 1989; Lawrence et al, 1988). Based on the results of the several studies, it can be concluded that reading comprehension items related to technical aspects of science is gender based (Lawrence and Curley, 1989; Carlton and Harris, 1992; Curley and Schmitt, 1993). Some studies reported gender differences in content categories of structure, vocabulary, and reading in second or foreign language testing
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