Multiple choice (testing method)

Multiple choice (MCQ) questions or items are a form of assessment item for which respondents are asked to select one or more of the choices from a list. This type of question is used in education testing, in elections (choose between multiple candidates, parties, or policies), in market research, and many other areas.

Frederick J. Kelly is credited with creating multiple choice questions in 1914 at the University of Kansas. One of the first uses of multiple choice questions was to assess the capabilities of World War I military recruits. Test writers are often trained in Bloom's taxonomy.

Pros

 * Author training: If item writers are well trained and items are quality assured this can be a very effective item format.
 * Student training: If students are instructed on the way in which the item format works and the myths surrounding the assessment type are destroyed students are found to perform better on the test.
 * Testing time: With many assessments, reliability has been shown to improve with larger numbers of items on a test.
 * Case specificity: With good sampling and care over case specificity overall test reliability can be increased.
 * Efficiency: Multiple choice tests often require less time to administer for a given amount of material than would tests requiring written responses. Even greater efficiency can be created by use of online examination delivery software.
 * Standardization: Multiple choice questions lend themselves to the development of objective assessment items, however, without author training questions can be subject in nature.
 * Neutrality: Because this style of test does not require a teacher to mark the given answers, test-akers are graded purely on their selections creating a lower likelihood of teacher-student bias in the results.
 * Response clarity: If test-takers are aware of how to use mark sheets and/oronline examination tick boxes their responses can be relied upon with clarity.

Cons

 * Ambiguity: Failing to interpret information as the test maker intended can result in an "incorrect" response, even if the taker's response is potentially valid. The term "multiple guess" has been used to describe this scenario. A free response test allows the test taker to make an argument for their viewpoint and potentially receive credit.
 * No partial credit: Even if a student has some knowledge of a question, they receive no credit for knowing that information if they select the wrong answer. However, free response questions may allow a taker to demonstrate their understanding of the subject and receive partial credit.
 * Outsmarting the Test: Test takers may be able to rule out answers (due to infeasibility), or even test each answer individually (especially when dealing with mathematics), thereby increasing the chance of providing a correct answer without actually knowing the subject matter. On the other hand, especially on mathematics tests, some answers are included to actually encourage the test taker to logically rule out responses. An example would be giving the equation $$4x^2 + bx=3$$ and asking what $$b^2$$ equals. The test taker should be able to eliminate all answers that are a negative number.

The use of multiple choice questions in certain educational fields is sometimes contested due to some of the negative aspects, whether actual or perceived, but the format remains popular due to its utility and cost effectiveness.

Structure
A factual knowledge style MCQ consists of two parts:

Question This should not be a statement, but a piece of text which ends with a question mark. A good question can be answered without needing to look at the answer options. If you need to look at the answers to understand the question it needs more work.

Answer options A good strategy is to include as many answer options as there are feasible answer choices. This ensures that the difficulty level of the question is not dissimilar to asking a short answer/free text answer querstion. If this is not possible it is best to choose a particular number of answer options and to use this same number across the entire examination. This will ensure that the probability of answering correctly remains roughly the same throughout.

An applied knowledge style MCQ consists of three parts:

Stem The stem can be a vignette or detailed description which has multiple elements to it. It is as long as necessary to ensure maximum validity and authenticity to the problem at hand. It should not contain false or irrelevant information but should be typical and comprehensive in order to ensure the question is a fair test of knowledge. In medicine, MCQ stems typically include common patient scenarios, descriptions of laboratory events or research studies.

Lead in question This is the part of the question which sets out what the exam sitter has to do. In a medical MCQ the lead in question may ask "What is the most likely diagnosis?" or "What pathogen is the most likely cause?" The lead in question together with the stem must leave the exam sitter with absolutely no ambiguity over the task at hand. If the question is well written, the exam sitter, if s/he is a knowledgeable student, will not need to look at the answer options to understand what is being asked.

Answer options Evidence has shown that allocating just one "BEST" answer is the most reliable way of constructing test items. The answer options should be a range of feasible choices and should be homogenous and mutually exclusive to ensure the exam sitter has the best chance of demonstrating their knowledge. It is possible to test out how good an array of answers is by asking athat a group of knowledgeable experts the question without giving them the answers. If they are asked to guess what might be amongst the answers the range of suggestions that come forward can be compared to the actual array given. It is also useful to test out what term knowledgeable experts would agree on, as in some disciplines there are multiple terms and not all are in common use. The most up to date, common terms should be inlcuded in the answer options list.

NB The incorrect answer options may be referred to as distractors or foils. NB The correct answer may be called the key. 

Examples
In the equation $$2x+3=4$$, solve for x. A) 4 B) 10 C) 0.5 D) 1.5 E) 8

What is the IT superpower in India? A) Bangalore B) Mumbai C) Mysore D) Chennai





Notable tests with multiple choice sections

 * SAT
 * AP
 * PSAT
 * GRE
 * MCAT
 * LSAT
 * IB Diploma Programme science subject exams
 * ASVAB
 * TOEIC