In this article, bias was defined as constant or systematic error in the estimation of test scores of an individual examinee that is due to a nominal variable such as gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. The emphasis was on developing, applying, and understanding methods for postpublication research on bias in educational and psychological tests. Best methods for estimating bias in criterion-related or predictive validity and determining bias in construct validity across groups were explained.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alley, G., & Foster, C. (1978). Nondiscriminatory testing of minority and exceptional children. Focus on Exceptional Children, 9, 1–14.
2.
Anastasi, A. (1976). Psychological testing (4th ed.). New York: Macmillan.
3.
Berk, R.A. (Ed.). (1982). Handbook of methods for detecting test bias.Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
4.
Cattell, R.B. (1978). The scientific use of factor analysis in behavioral and life sciences.New York: Plenum.
5.
Cleary, T.A., Humphreys, L.G., Kendrick, S.A., & Wesman, A. (1975). Educational uses of tests with disadvantaged students. American Psychologist, 30, 15–41.
6.
Cronbach, L.J. (1970). Essentials of psychological testing (3rd ed.). New York: Harper & Row.
7.
Cronbach, L.J. (1976). Equity in selection--Where psychometrics and political philosophy meet. Journal of Educational Measurement, 13, 31–42.
8.
Feldt, L.S. (1969). A test of the hypothesis that Cronbach's alpha or Kuder-Richardson coefficient twenty is the same for two tests. Psychometrika, 34, 363–373.
9.
Gulliksen, H., & Wilks, S.S. (1950). Regression tests for several samples. Psychometrika, 15, 91–114.
10.
Hilliard, A.G. (1979). Standardization and cultural bias as impediment to the scientific study and validation of “intelligence.”Journal of Research and Development in Education, 12, 47–58.
11.
Jackson, G.D. (1975). Another view from the Association of Black Psychologists. American Psychologist, 30, 88–93.
12.
Jensen, A.R. (1976). Test bias and construct validity. Phi Delta Kappan, 58, 340–346.
13.
Jensen, A.R. (1980). Bias in mental testing.New York: Free Press.
14.
Joreskog, K.G. (1969). A general approach to confirmatory maximum likelihood factor analysis. Psychometrika, 34, 183–196.
15.
Joreskog, K.G. (1971). Simultaneous factor analysis in several populations. Psychometrika, 36, 409–426.
16.
Kaiser, H., Hunka, S., & Bianchini, J. (1971). Relating factors between studies based upon different individuals. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 6, 409–422.
Miele, F. (1979). Cultural bias in the WISC. Intelligence, 3, 149–164.
19.
Potthoff, R.F. (1966). Statistical aspects of the problem of biases in psychological tests (Institute of Statistics Mimeo Series No. 479). Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, Department of Statistics.
20.
Reschly, D.J. (1982). Assessing mild mental retardation: The influence of adaptive behavior, sociocultural status, and prospects for nonbiased assessment. In C.R. Reynolds & T.B. Gutkin (Eds.), The handbook of school psychology (pp. 209–242). New York: Wiley.
21.
Reynolds, C.R. (1980a). An examination of bias in a preschool battery across race and sex. Journal of Educational Measurement, 178, 137–146.
22.
Reynolds, C.R. (1980b). In support of “Bias in Mental Testing” and scientific inquiry. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 3, 352.
23.
Reynolds, C.R. (1982a). Methods for detecting construct and predictive bias. In R. Berk (Ed.), Handbook of methods for detecting test bias (pp. 275–301). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
24.
Reynolds, C.R. (1982b). The problem of bias in psychological assessment. In C.R. Reynolds & T.B. Gutkin (Eds.), The handbook of school psychology (pp. 178–208). New York: John Wiley.
25.
Reynolds, C.R., & Brown, R.T. (Eds.). (1984). Perspective on bias in mental testing.New York: Plenum.
26.
Reynolds, C.R., & Gutkin, T.B. (1981). A multivariate comparison of the intelligence performance of blacks and whites matched on four demographic variables. Personality and Individual Differences, 2, 175–181.
27.
Reynolds, C.R., & Harding, R.E. (1981). Outcome in two large sample studies of factorial similarity under six methods of comparisons. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 43, 723–728.
28.
Reynolds, C.R., & Kaiser, S.A. (1990). Bias in psychological testing. In T.B. Gutkin & C.R. Reynolds (Eds.), The handbook of school psychology (2nd ed., pp. 487–525). New York: John Wiley.
29.
Reynolds C.R., & Streur, J. (1982). Factor structure of the WISC-R for emotionally disturbed children. The Southern Psychologist, 1, 27–35.
30.
Thorndike, R.L. (1971). Concepts of culture-fairness. Journal of Educational Measurement, 8, 63–70.
31.
Wright, B.J., & Isenstein, V.R. (1977). Psychological tests and minorities (DHEW Pub. No. [ADM] 78--482). Rockville, MD: National Institute of Mental Health, Department of Health, Education and Welfare. (Reprinted 1978)
