CONSTRUCTING A TRUE-FALSE TEST AND MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST

Constructing a True- False Test

Binomial-choice or alternate response tests are tests that have only two (2) options
such as true or false, right and wrong, yes or no or better, check ( / ) or cross out ( x )
and so on.

A modified true-false test can offset the effect of guessing by requiring students to
explain their answer and to disregard a correct answer if the explanation is incorrect.

Here are some rules of thumb in constructing true-false items.

Rule 1. Do not give a hint (inadvertently) in the body of the question.

Rule 2. Avoid using the words “always”, “never”, “often” and other words that tend to be
either always true or always false.

Rule 3. Avoid long sentences as these tend to be “true” Keep sentences short.

Rule 4. Avoid trick statements with some minor misleading word or spelling anomaly,
misplaced phrases, etc. A wise student who does not know the subject matter may
detect this strategy and thus get the answer correctly.

Rule 5. Avoid quoting verbatim from reference materials or textbooks. This practice
sends the wrong signal to the students that it is necessary to memorize the textbook
word for word and thus, acquisition of higher level thinking skills is not given due
importance.

Rule 6. Avoid specific determines or give-away qualifiers. Students quickly learn that
strongly worded statements are more likely to be false than true, for example,
statements with “never” “no” “all” or “always.” Moderately worded statements that are
more likely to be true than false. Statements that are moderately worded use “many”
“often” “sometimes” “generally” “frequently” or “some” usually should be a avoided, e.g.
executives usually suffer from hyperacidity. The statement tends to be correct. The
word “usually” leads to the answer.

Rule 7. With the true or false questions, avoid a grossly disproportionate number of
either true or false statements or even patterns in the occurrence of true or false
statements.

Multiple Choice Tests

The Multiple choice type of test offers the students with more than two (2) options per
items to choose from. Each item in a multiple choice tests consists of two parts: (a) the
stem, and (b) the options. In the set of options, there is a “correct” or “best” option while
all the others are considered “distracters”. The distracters are chosen in such a way that
they are attractive to those who do not know the answer or are guessing but at the
same time, have no appeal to those who actually know the answer.

Guidelines in constructing Multiple Choice Items

1. Do not use unfamiliar words, terms and phrases. The ability of the items to
discriminate or its level of difficulty should stem from the subject matter rather than from
the wording of the question.

2. Do not use modifiers that are vague and whose meanings can differ from one person
to the next such as: much, often, usually, etc.

3. Avoid complex or awkward word arrangements. Also, avoid use of negatives in the
stem as this may add unnecessary comprehension difficulties.

4. Do not use negatives or double negatives as such statements tend to be confusing. It

is best to use simpler sentences rather than sentences that would require expertise in
grammatical construction.

5. Each items stem should be as short as possible; otherwise you risk testing more for
reading and comprehension skills.

6. Distracters should be equally plausible ad attractive.

7. All multiple choice options should be grammatically consistent with the stem.

8. The length, explicitness, or degree of technically of alternatives should not be the

determinants of the correctness of the answer.

9. Avoid stems that reveal the answer to another item.

10. Avoid alternatives that are synonymous with others or those that, include or overlap
others.

11. Avoid presenting sequenced items in the same order as in the text.

12. Avoid the use of assumed qualifiers that may examines may not be aware of.

13. Avoid use of unnecessary words or phrases, which are not relevant to the problem
at hand (unless such discriminating ability is the primary intent of the evaluation). The
items value is particularly damaged if the unnecessary material is designed to distract or
mislead. Such items test the student’s reading comprehension rather than knowledge of
the subject matter.

14. Avoid use of non-relevant sources of difficulty such as requiring a complex

calculation when only knowledge of a principle is being tested.

15. Pact the question in the stem.

16. Use the ”None of the above” option only when the keyed answer is totally correct.
When choice of the ”best” response is intended, “none of the above” is not appropriate,
since the implication has already been made that the correct response may be partially
inaccurate.

17. Note that use of “all of the above” may allow credit for partial knowledge. In a
multiple option item, (allowing only one option choice) if a student only knew the two (2)
options were correct, he could then deduce the correctness of ”all of the above”. This
assumes you are allowed only one correct choice.

18. Better still use “none of the above” and “all of the above” sparingly. But best not to
use them at all.

19. Having compound response choices may purposefully increase difficulty of an

item.