A New Approach for Differential Item Functioning Detection Using Mantel-Haenszel Methods. The GMHDIF Program

Abstract

To date, the statistical software designed for assessing differential item functioning (DIF) with Mantel-Haenszel procedures has employed the following statistics: the Mantel- Haenszel chi-square statistic, the generalized Mantel-Haenszel test and the Mantel test. These statistics permit detecting DIF in dichotomous and polytomous items, although they limit the analysis to two groups. On the contrary, this article describes a new approach (and the related software) that, using the generalized Mantel-Haenszel statistic proposed by Landis, Heyman, and Koch (1978), permits DIF assessment in multiple groups, both for dichotomous and polytomous items. The program is free of charge and is available in the following languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese.