for Likert Data

While popular, few studies have assessed the efficacy of the Differential Functioning of Items and Tests (DFIT) methodology for assessing measurement invariance with Likert data. Monte-Carlo analyses indicate a lack of sensitivity of the DFIT methodology for identifying lack of measurement invariance under some conditions of differential functioning. Likert scales are routinely used in educational and psychological research as measures of constructs of interest. If sound scale development procedures are followed, the resulting scale can reliably and validly measure a construct. However, if a given scale is used to make comparisons among different populations of respondents (e.g., cultures; Riordan & Vandenberg, 1994), over time in longitudinal measurements (Golembiewski, Billingsley, & Yeager, 1976), or across different mediums of data collection (Ployhart, Weekley, Holtz, & Kemp, 2003), measurement invariance must be established before meaningful comparisons in observed data can be made (Raju, Laffitte, & Byrne