Multiple-Choice Items

Traditional Multiple-Choice Items

Multiple-choice questions belong in a larger item category sometimes referred to as “selected response.” The hallmark of a selected-response item type is that the examinees must choose their answer from a provided list of possible answers, as opposed to generating an answer on their own (constructed response) or carrying out an activity (performance task). Selected-response items can have as few as two answer choices (e.g., a true/false question) or many (e.g., an item utilizing a word bank from which the examinee chooses the correct word from the bank to complete a sentence, label a diagram). The format with which most people are familiar is the four-option multiple-choice question, such as those encountered in the SAT or ACT standardized tests.

The traditional multiple-choice item consists of a stem and answer choices. The stem sets up the problem to be addressed and asks the question, and it may contain stimulus material, such as a graph or a text that the examinee must use to respond. The answer choices are plausible responses to the question posed in the stem. In a traditional multiple-choice item, there is only one correct answer, called the key; the incorrect responses are called distractors.

Answer choices in a four-option multiple-choice item are most commonly labeled A, B, C, and D to correspond to the bubbles on a scannable answer document (bubble sheet). Longer assessments may alternate a series of letters for each question to help prevent students from responding on the incorrect line of a scannable answer document. Odd-numbered questions would be labeled A, B, C, and D; even-numbered questions are then labeled E, F, G, and H. With computer-delivered assessments becoming more commonplace, answer choices presented on-screen may not be labeled for the examinee, but labeling is still a useful conceptual tool when developing a complete test form.

Construction

Questions used in large-scale assessment programs, especially those with high stakes attached, go through a lengthy development process, including content review by subject matter experts, editorial review, and bias review. Although a classroom assessment may not need to stand up to the same level of scrutiny, care should be taken to make sure that test questions are fair and are measuring what they are intended to measure.

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