A STUDY OF DIFFERENTIAL ITEM FUNCTIONING IN SOCIAL STUDIES 2025MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST ITEMS CONSTRUCTED BYMINISTRY OFEDUCATIONEKITISTATE

The study investigated Differential Item Functioning (DIF) Differential Item Functioning in the 2025 Ekiti State Ministry of Education Social Studies multiple-choice test. The study was guided by three research questions and three hypotheses. An ex-post facto research design was adopted for the study. The population comprised all Junior Secondary School III (JS III) students in the sixteen Local Government Areas of Ekiti State. A sample of 500 JS III students was selected using proportionate random sampling. The instruments used for data collection were the 2025Junior Secondary School certificate Social Studies multiple-choice test developed by Ekiti State Ministry of Education and a Socio-Economic Status (SES) questionnaire. developed by the Researcher.The validity and reliability of the instruments were established using appropriate procedures Descriptive statistics were used to answer the research questions, while the independence chi-square test was used to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed the presence of Differential Item Functioning based on gender, geographical location, socio-economic status and school type on Social Studies multiple-choice test developed by Ekiti State Ministry of Education. The study concluded that some test items did not function uniformly across the identified subgroups of examinees. It was therefore recommended that examination bodies should carefully examine test items for possible sources of bias associated with gender, location and socio-economic status, before such items are used for educational decisions. .