Bias-Corrected Fixed Item Parameter Calibration, with an Application to PISA Data

Alexander Robitzsch ()
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Alexander Robitzsch: IPN—Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education, Olshausenstraße 62, 24118 Kiel, Germany

Stats, 2025, vol. 8, issue 2, 1-29

Abstract: Fixed item parameter calibration (FIPC) is commonly used to compare groups or countries using an item response theory model with a common set of fixed item parameters. However, FIPC has been shown to produce biased estimates of group means and standard deviations in the presence of random differential item functioning (DIF). To address this, a bias-corrected variant of FIPC, called BCFIPC, is introduced in this article. BCFIPC eliminated the bias of FIPC with only minor efficiency losses in certain simulation conditions, but substantial precision gains in many others, particularly for estimating group standard deviations. Finally, a comparison of both methods using the PISA 2006 dataset revealed relatively large differences in country means and standard deviations.

Keywords: item response model; 2PL model; fixed item parameter calibration; bias correction; differential item functioning; large-scale assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C1 C10 C11 C14 C15 C16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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