Three Generations of DIF Analyses: Considering Where It Has Been, Where It Is Now, and Where It Is Going

The purpose of this article is to reflect on the state of the theorizing and praxis of DIF in general: where it has been; where it is now; and where I think it is, and should, be going. Along the way the major trends in the differential item functioning (DIF) literature are summarized and integrated providing some organizing principles that allow one to catalog and then contrast the various DIF detection methods and to shine a light on the future of DIF analyses. The three generations of DIF are introduced and described with an eye toward issues on the horizon for DIF.