An examination of item context effects, DIF, and gender DIF

This investigation examined whether the patterns of gender differential ite m functioning (DIF) present in parcels of items are influenced by changes i n item position. Items were studied collectively to detect differential bun dle functioning (DBF) on 2 forms of a test of mathematics for college fresh men. To investigate order effects, 2 forms of the test were assembled: Form 1 (random) and Form 2 (easy to difficult within content area; n = 3,932 fo r Form 1; n = 1,074 for Form 2). Based on an attribute analysis (Harnisch, Tatsuoka, & Wilkins, 1995; Tatsuoka, 1993), item categories were constructe d to examine the relation between DBF and specific item characteristics ide ntified in previous work (e.g., word problems, items requiring higher order thinking skills, and items containing figures or graphs). Findings suggest that the amount of gender DIF and DIF present in item parcels tends not to be influenced by changes in item position. The gender DIF findings for the word problem category are an issue; the beta value was .46 for Form 1 and .39 for Form 2.