Ebel Method

The Ebel method is a standard setting method normally used to determine a cut score for multiple-choice question types of tests. The Ebel method has been used for setting standards for examinations within the fields of higher education and medical and health professions and for applicant selection decision-making.

The Ebel method involves a panel of experts who classify each item by two criteria: (1) level of difficulty (e.g., easy, medium, hard) and (2) relevance or importance (e.g., essential, important, desirable, unsure). Then, the panel reaches a consensus regarding the expected percentage of items that should be answered correctly for each group of items, classified by both difficulty and relevance/importance. To determine the cut score for the test, the total number of items in each group is ...