Multiple-Choice Test Item Writing Procedure

DOE-HDBK-1204-97

7. MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST ITEM WRITING PROCEDURE

Although multiple-choice test items are not as easy to construct as other forms, they are

very versatile, can be used to test all levels and types of knowledge, and minimize the

likelihood of the trainee obtaining the correct answer by guessing. The following guidelines

should be considered as you construct multiple-choice test items:

Use four-answer options

Do not use "none of the above" or "all of the above"

Do not present a collection of true-false statements as a multiple-choice test

item

Define the test item, task, or problem in the stem

Avoid negative stems

Provide sufficient counterbalance in the distractors

Include common misconceptions as distractors

Make answers plausible and avoid overlapping answers

Ensure that the distractors grammatically follow the stem.

The four-distractor, multiple-choice test item is the most common and is the style preferred.

The five-answer option contributes nothing to the test item but confusion, and any format

with fewer than four distractors makes guessing correctly more probable.

"All of the above" test items provide inadvertent clues to the trainee. When the "all of the

above" option is the correct response, the trainee need only recognize that two of the

options are correct to answer the test item correctly. When the "all of the above" option is

used as a distractor, the trainee needs only to be able to determine that one option is

incorrect in order to eliminate this option. "None of the above" responses should not be

used with "best answer" multiple-choice test items, since it may always be defensible as a

response.

Each test item should be focused on one topic. A test item containing answer options

related to many separate issues does not increase the efficiency of the test item. To the

contrary, test items with multiple topics only confuse the trainee about the meaning and

purpose of the test item.