differential item functioning analysis with MIMIC

[Kimberley Kirkeby]

Hi, can I use Lavaan to perform a DIF analysis using MIMIC for Likert type items that comprise a multidimensional scale (3 factors)? 

[Terrence Jorgensen]

Hi, can I use Lavaan to perform a DIF analysis using MIMIC for Likert type items that comprise a multidimensional scale (3 factors)? 

Yes.  Certainly for testing uniform DIF.  

For testing nonuniform DIF, you would only be able to model the latent interaction using product indicators, which requires treating the Likert items as continuous.  

https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-018-1151-3

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77249-3_20  (includes example lavaan syntax; email me for a copy if needed)

If items have < 5-7 categories, you would need to treat them as categorical, in which case testing nonuniform DIF would require LMS in Mplus.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0146621611405984

Terrence D. Jorgensen

Assistant Professor, Methods and Statistics

Research Institute for Child Development and Education, the University of Amsterdam

http://www.uva.nl/profile/t.d.jorgensen

[Kimberley Kirkeby]

Perfect—thanks so much!