CHARACTERISTICS OF QUANTITATIVE WORD ITEMS ASSOCIATED WITH DIFFERENTIAL PERFORMANCE FOR FEMALE AND BLACK EXAMINEES

A number of research studies have indicated that word, or story, probl ems are more likely to exhibit differential item functioning (DIF) for female and for Black examinees than are other quantitative item types . This result has not received much attention because female and Black examinees, on average, have less mathematical training and, hence, th e differences are assumed to be valid. To evaluate this assumption, DI F was analyzed for female-male and Black-White groups and for 2 sample s of White male examinees who differed in mathematical training. Also evaluated was an alternative explanation that the observed performance differences are due to language properties of the word items. The res ults did not support the hypothesis that the DIF results were due to d ifferences in mathematical background. The verbal properties of items were found to be associated with differential performance of women and men but not of Black and White examinees.