The primary purpose of this study was to apply the Rasch measurement model to investigate sex-item bias in Chemistry, Biology and English tests from the Joint Higher Education Entrance Examination (JHEEE) in Thailand. This research proposed to examine three questions. (1)Does each test measure the same things for both males and females? (2)Are test items within each test potentially biased against either males or females? (3)If potential sex-biased items exist, what are the content characteristics of the items, identified by the Rasch model as being potentially biased? / To answer these questions, male and female students were randomly selected from the population of examinees who took the tests in science area in the 1979 JHEEE. The test data obtained from the selected samples were analyzed by the BICAL program. / The definition of item bias in this study was based on item difficulty and item fit statistics derived from calibrations done by the Rasch model. The criteria for identifying discrepant items were two standard deviations of the differences of item difficulties and of fit statistics which were computed from the random halves of male and female samples. Each criterion was used to establish a band on the 45(DEGREES) line of the scattergrams for difficulty values and fit mean squares of the total male and female samples. Items which fell outside the band were declared as potentially biased items and their content characteristics were examined. / The major findings from this study indicated that: (1)Each test measured approximately the same things for both males and females. The empirical evidence was supported by the patterns of the scattergrams and high correlation coefficients of the item difficulties. (2)There were some items within each test identified as potentially biased against males or females. The English test produced the largest number of potentially biased items, followed by the Biology and Chemistry tests. (3)The content analyses of potentially biased items were not absolutely conclusive. However, the results indicated close agreement between the content characteristics of those items identified as potentially biased by the item difficulty criterion and the judges' ratings relative to sex bias. / The reseacher suggested that the potentially biased items which were identified by the item difficulty criterion and also confirmed by the judges' evaluation should be removed or rewritten so as to eliminate the bias. Also, the researcher recommended the use of the item difficulty criterion to explore the potentially biased items in other entrance tests using other samples having different characteristics. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-03, Section: A, page: 1112. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74429 |
| Contributors | VORPONGTHORN, THAVATCHAI., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 184 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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