Investigating bias
We design our examinations to be fair and not biased in favour of one group of test takers
over another. One way in which we do this is by having clear guidance for item writers
in the item writer guidelines for each component. These include lists of suitable and
unsuitable topics so as to avoid distressing or distracting certain groups of candidates. We
make sure that item writers understand who the target users are, and that they consider
aspects such as the level of cognitive processing that candidates can cope with and the
cultural contexts they will be used to. We are also careful not to test general knowledge or
technical material as this could disadvantage certain groups.
These issues are monitored as part of the operational testing cycle, and are investigated,
as appropriate, through research studies using a type of analysis called Differential Item
Functioning (DIF).
Geranpayeh, A (2008) Using DIF to explore item difficulty