detect_anchor_drift: Detect anchor drift across multiple calibrations

In mfrmr: Estimation and Diagnostics for Many-Facet Measurement Models

Detect anchor drift across multiple calibrations

Description

Compares facet estimates across two or more calibration waves to identify elements whose difficulty/severity has shifted beyond acceptable thresholds. Useful for monitoring rater drift over time or checking the stability of item banks.

Usage

detect_anchor_drift(
  fits,
  facets = NULL,
  drift_threshold = 0.5,
  flag_se_ratio = 2,
  reference = 1L,
  include_person = FALSE
)

## S3 method for class 'mfrm_anchor_drift'
print(x, ...)

## S3 method for class 'mfrm_anchor_drift'
summary(object, ...)

## S3 method for class 'summary.mfrm_anchor_drift'
print(x, ...)

Arguments

fits	Named list of mfrm_fit objects (e.g., list(Year1 = fit1, Year2 = fit2)).
facets	Character vector of facets to compare (default: all non-Person facets).
drift_threshold	Absolute drift threshold for flagging (logits, default 0.5).
flag_se_ratio	Drift/SE ratio threshold for flagging (default 2.0).
reference	Index or name of the reference fit (default: first).
include_person	Include person estimates in comparison.
x	An mfrm_anchor_drift object.
...	Ignored.
object	An mfrm_anchor_drift object (for summary).

Details

For each non-reference wave, the function extracts facet-level estimates using make_anchor_table() and computes the element-by-element difference against the reference wave. Standard errors are obtained from diagnose_mfrm() applied to each fit. Only elements common to both the reference and a comparison wave are included. Before reporting drift, the function removes the weighted common-element link offset between the two waves so that Drift represents residual instability rather than the overall shift between calibrations. The function also records how many common elements survive the screening step within each linking facet and treats fewer than 5 retained common elements per facet as thin support.

An element is flagged when either condition is met:

|\Delta_e| > \texttt{drift\_threshold}

|\Delta_e / SE_{\Delta_e}| > \texttt{flag\_se\_ratio}

The dual-criterion approach guards against flagging elements with large but imprecise estimates, and against missing small but precisely estimated shifts.

When facets is NULL, all non-Person facets are compared. Providing a subset (e.g., facets = "Criterion") restricts comparison to those facets only.

Value

Object of class mfrm_anchor_drift with components:

drift_table

Tibble of element-level drift statistics.

summary

Drift summary aggregated by facet and wave.

common_elements

Tibble of pairwise common-element counts.

common_by_facet

Tibble of retained common-element counts by facet.

config

List of analysis configuration.

Which function should I use?

• Use anchor_to_baseline() when your starting point is raw new data plus a single baseline fit.

• Use detect_anchor_drift() when you already have multiple fitted waves and want a reference-versus-wave comparison.

• Use build_equating_chain() when the waves form a sequence and you need cumulative linking offsets.

Interpreting output

• ⁠$drift_table⁠: one row per element x wave combination, with columns Facet, Level, Wave, Ref_Est, Wave_Est, LinkOffset, Drift, SE_Ref, SE_Wave, SE, Drift_SE_Ratio, LinkSupportAdequate, and Flag. Large drift signals instability after alignment to the common-element link.

• ⁠$summary⁠: aggregated statistics by facet and wave: number of elements, mean/max absolute drift, and count of flagged elements.

• ⁠$common_elements⁠: pairwise common-element counts in tidy table form. Small overlap weakens the comparison and results should be interpreted cautiously.

• ⁠$common_by_facet⁠: retained common-element counts by linking facet for each reference-vs-wave comparison. LinkSupportAdequate = FALSE means the link rests on fewer than 5 retained common elements in at least one facet.

• ⁠$config⁠: records the analysis parameters for reproducibility.

• A practical reading order is summary(drift) first, then drift$drift_table, then drift$common_by_facet if overlap looks thin.

Typical workflow

1. Fit separate models for each administration wave.

2. Combine into a named list: fits <- list(Spring = fit_s, Fall = fit_f).

3. Call drift <- detect_anchor_drift(fits).

4. Review summary(drift) and plot_anchor_drift(drift).

5. Flagged elements may need to be removed from anchor sets or investigated for substantive causes (e.g., rater re-training).

See Also

anchor_to_baseline(), build_equating_chain(), make_anchor_table(), plot_anchor_drift(), mfrmr_linking_and_dff

Examples

d1 <- load_mfrmr_data("study1")
d2 <- load_mfrmr_data("study2")
fit1 <- fit_mfrm(d1, "Person", c("Rater", "Criterion"), "Score",
                 method = "JML", maxit = 15)
fit2 <- fit_mfrm(d2, "Person", c("Rater", "Criterion"), "Score",
                 method = "JML", maxit = 15)
drift <- detect_anchor_drift(list(Wave1 = fit1, Wave2 = fit2))
summary(drift)
head(drift$drift_table[, c("Facet", "Level", "Wave", "Drift", "Flag")])
drift$common_elements

mfrmr documentation built on March 31, 2026, 1:06 a.m.