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Chapter 9 Analyzing Bias and Assuring Fairness p206. Unfair Discrimination Item & Test Bias Test-Score Banding. Bias defined “Systematic group differences in item responses, test scores, or other assessments for reasons unrelated to the trait.” Cultural bias defined
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Chapter 9 Analyzing Bias and Assuring Fairness p206 • Unfair Discrimination • Item & Test Bias • Test-Score Banding Chapater 9 Analyzing Bias and Assuring Fairness
Bias defined • “Systematic group differences in item responses, test scores, or other assessments for reasons unrelated to the trait.” • Cultural bias defined • “ if an acceptable response depends on skills or information common in one culture but not in the other.” • Discrimination defined • “Making distinctions” • – not same as unfair discrimination • Define “unfair” discrimination • What’s the differences between the two –give an example Chapater 9 Analyzing Bias and Assuring Fairness
DISCRIMINATION • Discrimination Based on Group Membership • Protected groups • Race • Color • Religion • Gender • Nat’l origin • LGBT? Chapater 9 Analyzing Bias and Assuring Fairness
Distributional Differences Group Mean Differences (Give an example for each below) • Two groups are biased samples (from respective populations) E.g. extensive uncritical recruiting for lower scoring group Would not be biased(why not?) • Two groups are representative (not biased if actually differ on the trait) • Test items require experiences not common to lower scoring group (not biased if experiences required) • Test administration conditions differ for the two groups Chapater 9 Analyzing Bias and Assuring Fairness
Racial Differences in IQ • Few believe there are no race differences • Means for: • East Asians 105 • Europeans (Whites) 100 • Blacks 85 • Cohen effect size • Hispanics .6 to .8 SD < Whites • Blacks 1 SD <Whites • Many argue about the causes • Predictability of IQ for is comparable for blacks and whites Chapater 9 Analyzing Bias and Assuring Fairness
Race Differences in IQ (Furnham ’08, p 207) • Three plausible explanations • Evidence of biological & genetic differences between races • Evidence of sociocultural, economic & political forces for differences -distinct from racial characteristics -But confounded with them • Differences are only artifacts of test design, administration, or measurement -no real differences Chapater 9 Analyzing Bias and Assuring Fairness
Black-White Racial Differences in IQ • Greater variation within groups than between • 16% Blacks score above the White mean • For a cutoff of 70 score for special education • There will be 1 White for every 7 Blacks • Black/White differences are constant over time and life span • Differences are present prior to school entry • Differences are not constant for diff types of measures of intelligence Chapater 9 Analyzing Bias and Assuring Fairness
Black & White Differences in IQ(implications for workforce) Gottfredson (2002) • 22% Whites & 59% of Blacks have IQ < 90 • Considerably fewer Blacks (proportionately) are competitive for mid-level jobs: • fire fighting, skilled trades, many clerical jobs • Mean IQ is about 100 (1 SD above Whites) • 80 is the threshold for being competitive in lowest level jobs • 4 times as many Blacks (30%) cf Whites (7%) fall bellow that threshold Chapater 9 Analyzing Bias and Assuring Fairness
Implications for Black / White IQ Differences • On the higher end of the distribution (IQ =125) • Score of 125 = mean for professionals (e.g. lawyers, physicians, engineers, high-level executives etc.) • Black / White ratio is only 1:30 at this level • Conclusion: Disparate impact • with legal and political tension… • Is “particularly acute in the most complex, most socially desirable jobs” (Gottfredson, ’02, p. 41). Chapater 9 Analyzing Bias and Assuring Fairness
Differences in Other Distributional Characteristics (table 9.1 p211) • Note: group means are different, but variability is greater • At lower selection ratios, differences in proportions may disappear. • Discrimination as Systematic Measurement Error • If discrimination error is systematic and more for one group than the other (e.g. test taking habits) • can be unfair even if not illegal Chapater 9 Analyzing Bias and Assuring Fairness
ANALYSIS OF BIAS AND ADVERSE IMPACT IN TEST USE • Test bias • Unwanted sources of variance in scores from different groups • Adverse impact • Social, political or legal term (effects of test use) Chapater 9 Analyzing Bias and Assuring Fairness
ANALYSIS OF BIAS AND ADVERSE IMPACT IN TEST USE • Test Bias as Differential Psychometric Validity • Bias = “when groups matched on the trait have different scores because of one or more sources of variances related to group membership” • It is the “Meaning inferred” from scores may or may not be biased (Not the test itself) • It is group related (not just for a single individual) • Groups must be assumed to be equal on the trait • Definition emphasizes sources of group variances (potentially identifiable) (not on group means) -e.g. “stereotype threat” (Steele & Aronson, ‘95) Chapater 9 Analyzing Bias and Assuring Fairness
ANALYSIS OF BIAS AND ADVERSE IMPACT IN TEST USE • Adverse Impact (legal term, not statistical) • Mean differences alone do not indicate bias • How does this “attitude problem” force adversarial roles? • What’s a better term? • Adverse impact reasons: • Chance (not due to bias) • Measurement problems • Nature of test use • Differences in distribution sizes • Reliable sub-group approaches to test taking • True population differences in trait (not due to bias) • NOTE TABLE 9.2 P 216 • Criterion Bias (criterion must be valid) Chapater 9 Analyzing Bias and Assuring Fairness
DIFFERENTIAL ITEM FUNCTIONING(DIF) • DIF preferred over ‘bias’ • “Simple minded item difficulty statistics” • You can’t consider the item itself (dependent upon the trait distribution –thus confounded with it) • Court cases: • Golden Rule Insurance Company v. Washburn (‘84) • Mandated that group item difficulty could not differ by more than .15!! • Allen v. Alabama State Board of Education (‘85) • More restrictive – not more than .05 max difference!!! Chapater 9 Analyzing Bias and Assuring Fairness
ACTING ON THE FINDINGS • Corrective Actions (4) Under the Uniform Guidelines – p 218 • Should we maximize the criterion performance or avoid the appearance of discriminatory practice? • To ease tensions how should the Ferguson police dept deal with the imbalance in B &W police officers as it reflects the population’s racial mix? • Score Adjustments • Race norming in U.S . Employment Service (GATB) • Scores of Hispanics, Blacks and Whites were %ile ranks within groups • What effect did this have ? • Employment Quotas • USTES • Are quotas acceptable in other countries? Chapater 9 Analyzing Bias and Assuring Fairness
Analysis of Bias (con’t) • “Ranges of Indifference” in Test Score Bands • Band Width • They exist whatever you do…so how to decide? • Standard error of the difference in scores (sd= sm √ 2 ) • Adjustment in band with should be based on judgments re: loss of utility • Decisions Within Bands • Fixed Bands (don’t slither down) • Sliding Bands (slither down) • Rubber Bands • What are these used for? Chapater 9 Analyzing Bias and Assuring Fairness