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A New Approach for Differential Item Functioning Detection Using Mantel-Haenszel Methods. The GMHDIF Program

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Ángel M. Fidalgo*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Oviedo (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Ángel M. Fidalgo. Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de Oviedo, Plaza de Feijoo s/n, 33003 Oviedo (Spain). E-mail: fidalgo@uniovi.es

Abstract

To date, the statistical software designed for assessing differential item functioning (DIF) with Mantel-Haenszel procedures has employed the following statistics: the Mantel-Haenszel chi-square statistic, the generalized Mantel-Haenszel test and the Mantel test. These statistics permit detecting DIF in dichotomous and polytomous items, although they limit the analysis to two groups. On the contrary, this article describes a new approach (and the related software) that, using the generalized Mantel-Haenszel statistic proposed by Landis, Heyman, and Koch (1978), permits DIF assessment in multiple groups, both for dichotomous and polytomous items. The program is free of charge and is available in the following languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.

Hasta la fecha, los programas informáticos diseñados específicamente para detectar el funcionamiento diferencial de los ítems (DIF) usando los métodos Mantel-Haenszel han empleado los siguientes estadísticos: el estadístico ji-cuadrado de Mantel-Haenszel, el test generalizado de Mantel-Haenszel y el test de Mantel. El presente artículo describe una nueva aproximación (y el software correspondiente) que permite evaluar el DIF en múltiples grupos, tanto en ítems dicotómicos como politómicos, empleando el estadístico generalizado de Mantel-Haenszel propuesto por Landis, Heyman, and Koch (1978). El programa es gratuito y está disponible en español, inglés y portugués.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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