This book makes clear to researchers what item-bias methods can (and cannot) do, how they work and how they should be interpreted. Advice is provided on the most useful methods for particular test situations. The authors explain the logic of each method - from item-response theory to nonparametric, categorical methods - in terms of how differential item functioning (DIF) is defined by the method and how well the method can be expected to work. A summary of findings on the behaviour of indices in empirical studies is included. The book concludes with a set of principles for deciding when DIF...

Published for the American Educational Research Association by Routledge.

The Handbook of Complementary Methods in Education Research is a successor volume to AERA's earlier and highly acclaimed editions of Complementary Methods for Research in Education. More than any book to date (including its predecessors), this new volume brings together the wide range of research methods used to study education and makes the logic of inquiry for each method clear and accessible. Each method is described in detail, including its history, its research design, the questions that...