Effects of Item Characteristics on Test Fairness.

Abstract

This report examines how selection fairness is influenced by the item characteristics of a selection instrument in terms of its distribution of item difficulties, level of item discrimination, and degree of item bias. Computer simulation was used in the administration of conventional ability tests to a hypothetical target population consisting of a minority and a majority subgroup. Fairness was evaluated by three indices which reflect the degree of differential validity, errors in prediction (Cleary's model) and proportion of applicants exceeding a selection cutoff (Thorndike's model).

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1976
Accession Number
ADA035393

Entities

People

  • David J. Weiss
  • Steven M. Pine

Organizations

  • University of Minnesota

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Bias
  • Computer Simulations
  • Computers
  • Control Simulators
  • Discrimination
  • Human Population
  • Minority Groups
  • Simulations
  • Simulators
  • Sociology

Readers

  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Psychometric Testing or Psychological Assessment.