construct bias

Question 1

what is test bias?

Answer 1

arises when there is a factor inherent in a test that systematically prevents accurate, impartial measurment

Question 2

what is construct bias?

Answer 2

occurs when a test has different meaning for two groups in terms of the construct it measures

Question 3

what does construct bias concern?

Answer 3

the relationship of observed scores to true scores on a test

Question 4

when would we conclude there is bias on a test?

Answer 4

if the relationship is systematically different for different groups

Question 5

what type of situations does construct bias cause?

Answer 5

two groups having the same average true score but different averages on observed scores

Question 6

when does predictive bias occur?

Answer 6

when a tests use has different implications for two or more groups

Question 7

how do you internally evaluate a test?

Answer 7

it is bias if people belonging to different groups respond in different ways to the item and if it could be shown that these responses were not related to group differences associated with the psychological construct

Question 8

what is a discrimination index?

Answer 8

reflects the degree to which the item is related to the total test score

Question 9

what does a high discrimination index show?

Answer 9

that people who answer an item right tend to do better on a test as a whole than people who answer it wrong

Question 10

what does a strong discrimination index show?

Answer 10

an item is highly similar conceptually to most other test items

Question 11

what is factor analysis?

Answer 11

used to evaluate the internal structure of test separately for different groups

Question 12

what would it mean if a factor analysis revealed that the structure was unidimensional?

Answer 12

the test doesnt suffer from construct bias

Question 13

what would it mean if a factor analysis revealed that the structure was multidimensional?

Answer 13

the test has different internal structure for the two groups and does have construct bias

Question 14

what is differential item functioning analysis?

Answer 14

an approach to the assessment of construct developed within the context of item response theory

Question 15

what does DIF assume?

Answer 15

that we can estimate peoples trait levels directly from test data

Question 16

what does DIF mean for traits?

Answer 16

that they are in essence, participants true scores for the construct being measured

Question 17

if the trait levels and item responses for the groups don’t match up doing DIF what does this mean?

Answer 17

theres no evidence for construct bias

Question 18

what is rank order consistency?

Answer 18

calculate the means associated with each item separately for each group then caculate the spearman rank correlation between the item means

Question 19

if the correlation is low for a rank order what does this mean? (less than .80)

Answer 19

there is evidence to suggest construct bias

Question 20

how can predictive bias be explained?

Answer 20

do the scores from a particular test predict a criterion with equal accuracy for two or more groups?

Question 21

what is step one of predictive bias anayses?

Answer 21

determine whether the test scores predict the DV to start with

Question 22

what is step two of predictive bias analyses?

Answer 22

determine whether the test scores predict the DV equally enough across groups

Question 23

whats bivariate regression?

Answer 23

using one continously measured variable (X) to predict another (Y)

Question 24

what is intercept?

Answer 24

the expected value of Y when X is 0

Question 25

what is slope?

Answer 25

the expected increase or decrease in the DV as a function of an increase or decrease in the IV

Question 26

what will the results of a regression be if there is no bias?

Answer 26

it will be equally applicable to different groups

Question 27

what is the common regression equation?

Answer 27

the regression equation derived from the total sample

Question 28

what does it mean if the group level estimates dont match the common regression equation?

Answer 28

test is biased

Question 29

what is outcome score bias?

Answer 29

the supervisor who provides the ratings is biased in favour of one group

Question 30

what if there is differences in reliability?

Answer 30

this is a form of construct bias that can have an impact on predictive bias