A class is composed of 40 students. Divide the group into two.

Option B is the correct answer. Based from the given data on the
table, as a teacher, what would you do with test item?

Options A B* C D E
Upper 3 10 4 0 3
Group
Lower 4 4 8 0 4
Group

1. Compute the difficulty index (5pts)

2. Compute the discrimination index (5pts)
1. Compute the difficulty index

 
n14
 
N
  n
DF
N
DF  ¿ 14
40
 

DF ¿ 0.35 or 35%
 
2. Compute the Discrimination Index
C ¿
UG
 
10
 

C ¿
LG
 
4
D ¿  
20
D ¿   CUG -C LG

I D
¿   10 - 4
20
6
¿  
20
¿  
0.30 or 30%
Distracter Analysis

Qualitative Item Analysis

Improving Test Items
Distracter Analysis
1. Distracter

Distracter is the term used for the incorrect options in the

multiple choice type of test while the correct answer
represents the key. It is very important for the test writer
to know if the distracters are effective or good distracters.
Using quantitative item analysis we can determine if the
option are good or if the distracters are effective.
Item analysis can identify non-performing test items, but this
item seldom indicates the error or the problem in the given
item. There are factors to be considered why students failed to
get the correct answer in the given question.
a) It is not taught in the class properly.
b) It is ambiguous.
c) The correct answer is not in the given options.
d) It has more than one correct answer.
e) It contains grammatical clues to mislead the students.
f) The student is not aware of the content.
g) The students were confused by the logic of the question
because it has double negatives.
h) The student failed to study the lesson.
2. Miskeyed Item

The test item is a potential miskey if there are more

students from the upper group who choose the incorrect
options than the key.
3. Guessing item
Students from the upper group have equal spread of
choices among the given alternatives. Students from the
upper group guess their answer because of the following
reason:

a. The content of the test is not discuss in the class or in

the text.
b. The test item is very difficult.
c. The question is trivial.
4. Ambiguous item

This happens when more students from the upper group

choose equally an incorrect option and the keyed
answer.
Qualitative Item Analysis

Qualitative item analysis (Zurawski, R. M.) is a process

in which the teacher or expert carefully proofreads the
test before it is administered, to check if there are
typographical errors, to avoid grammatical clues that
may lead to giving away the correct answer, and to
ensure that the level of reading materials is appropriate.
These procedures can also include small group discussions
on the quality of the examination and its items, with
examinees that have already took the test. According to
Cohen, Swerdlik, and Smith (1992) as cited by Zurawski,
students who took the examination are ask to express
verbally their experience in answering each item in the
examination. This procedure can help the teacher in
determining whether the test takers misunderstood a certain
item, and it can help also in determining why they
misunderstood a certain item.
Improving Test Items

As presented in the introduction of this chapter, item

analysis enables the teachers to improve and enhance
their skills in writing test items. To improve multiple
choice test item we shall consider the stem of the item,
the distracters and the key answers.
How to improve the test items?
Consider the following examples in
analyzing the test item and some notes on
how to improve the item based from the
results of item analysis.
Example 1. A class is composed of 40 students. Divide the group
into two. Option B is the correct answer. Based from the given data
on the table, as a teacher, what would you do with test item?

Options A B* C D E
Upper 3 10 4 0 3
Group
Lower 4 4 8 0 4
Group
1. Compute the difficulty index

 
n14
 
N
  n
DF
N
DF  ¿ 14
40
 

DF ¿ 0.35 or 35%
 
2. Compute the Discrimination Index
C ¿
UG
 
10
 

C ¿
LG
 
4
D ¿  
20
D ¿   CUG -C LG

I D
¿   10 - 4
20
6
¿  
20
¿  
0.30 or 30%
3. Make an analysis about the level of difficulty, discrimination,
and distracters.

a. Only 35% of the examinees got the answer correctly,

hence, the item is difficult.
b. More students from the upper group got the answer
correctly, hence, it has a positive discrimination.
c. Retain options A, C, and E because most of the
students who did not perform well in the overall
examination selected it. Those options attract most
students from the lower group.
4. Conclusion : Retain the item but change
option D, make it more realistic to make it
effective for the upper and lower groups. At least
5% of the examinees choose the incorrect
option.
 Level of Difficulty of an Item

Index Range Difficult Level

0.00 – 0.20 Very Difficult

0.21 – 0.40 Difficult

0.41 – 0.60 Average/Moderately Difficult

0.61 – 0.80 Easy

0.81 – 1.00 Very Easy

Level of Discrimination

Ebel and Frisbie (1986) as cited by Hetzel (1997) recommended

the use of level of Discrimination of an Item for easier interpretation.

Index Range Discrimination Level

0.19 and below Poor item, should be eliminated or need to be
revised
0.20 – 0.29 Marginal item, needs some revision
0.30 – 0.39 Reasonable good item but possibly for
improvement
0.40 and above Very good item
Example 2. A class is composed of 50 students. Use 27% to get
the upper and lower groups. Analyze the item given the following
results. Option D is the correct answer. What will you do with the
test item.

Options A B C D* E
Upper Group 3 1 2 6 2
(27%)
Lower Group 5 0 4 4 1
(27%)
1. Compute the difficulty index

 
n10
 
N
  n
DF
N
DF  ¿ 10
28
 

DF ¿ 0.36 or 36%
 
2. Compute the Discrimination Index
C ¿
UG
 
6
 

C ¿
LG
 
4
D ¿  
4
D ¿   CUG -C LG

I D
¿   6-4
14
2
¿  
14
¿  
0.14 or 14%
3. Make an analysis
a. Only 36% of the examinees got the answer correctly, hence, the
item is difficult.
b. More students from the upper group got the answer correctly,
hence, it has a positive discrimination.
c. Modify options B and E because more students from the upper
group chose them compare with the lower group, hence, they are
not effective distracters because most of the students who
performed well in the overall examination selected them as their
answers.
d. Retain options A and C because most of the students who did not
perform well in the overall examination selected it. Those options
attract most students from the lower group.
4. Conclusion : Revised the item by modifying options
B and E.
Example 3. Potential Miskeyed Item. Make an item analysis about
the table below. What will you do with the test that is a potential
miskeyed item?

Options A* B C D E
Upper Group 1 2 3 10 4
Lower Group 3 4 4 4 5
1. Compute the difficulty index

 
n
 
N
  n
DF
N
DF  ¿ 4
40
DF ¿ 0.10 or 10%
 
2. Compute the Discrimination Index
C ¿
UG
 
1
C ¿
LG
 
3
D ¿  
20
D ¿   CUG -C LG

I D
¿   1-3
20
-2
¿  
20
¿  
-0.10 or -10%
3. Make an analysis
a. More students from the upper group choose option D than option
A. Even though option A is supposedly the correct answer.
b. Most likely the teacher has written the wrong answer key.
c. The teacher checks and finds out that he/she did not miskey the
answer that he/she thought is the correct answer.
d. If the teacher miskeyed it, he/she must check and retally the
scores of the students’ test papers before giving them back.
e. If option A is really the correct answer, revise to weaken option D,
distracters are not supposed to draw more attention than the
keyed answer.
f. Only 10% of the students got the answer to the test item correctly,
hence, the test item is very difficult.
g. More students from the lower group got the item correctly,
therefore a negative discrimination resulted. The discrimination
index is -10%.
h. No need to analyze the distracters because the test item is very
difficult and discriminates negatively.

4. Conclusion : Reject the item because it is very difficult and has a

negative discrimination index.
Example 4. Ambiguous Item. Below is the result of item analysis of
a test with an ambiguous test item. What can you say about the
item? Are you going to retain, revise or reject it?

Options A B C D E*
Upper Group 7 1 1 2 8
Lower Group 6 2 3 3 6
1. Compute the difficulty index

 
n
 
N
  n
DF
N
DF  ¿ 14
39
DF ¿ 0.36 or 36%
 
2. Compute the Discrimination Index
C ¿
UG
 
8
C ¿
LG
 
6
D ¿  
20
D ¿   CUG -C LG
¿
  8-6
20
I D
2
¿  
20
D ¿
1
 
0.10 or 10%
3. Make an analysis
a. Only 36% of the students got the answer to the test item correctly,
hence, the test item is difficult.
b. More students from the upper group got the item correctly, hence,
it discriminates positively. The discrimination index is 10%.
c. About equal numbers of top students went for option A and option
E, this implies that they could not tell which is the correct answer.
The students do not know the content of the test, thus, a reteach
is needed.

4. Conclusion: Revise the test item because it is ambiguous.

Example 5. Guessing Item. Below is the result of an item analysis
of a test item with students’ answer mostly based on a guess. What
can you say about the item? Are you going to retain, revise or reject
it?

Options A B C* D E
Upper Group 4 3 4 3 6
Lower Group 3 4 3 4 5
1. Compute the difficulty index

 
n
 
N
  n
DF
N
DF  ¿ 7
39
DF ¿ 0.18 or 18%
 
2. Compute the Discrimination Index
C ¿
UG
 
4
C ¿
LG
 
3
D ¿  
20
D ¿   CUG -C LG

I D
¿   4-3
20
1
¿  
20
¿  
0.05 or 5%
3. Make an analysis

a. Only 18% of the students got the answer to the test item correctly,
hence, the test item is very difficult.
b. More students from the upper group got the correct answer to the
test item; therefore, the test item is a positive discrimination. The
discrimination index is 5%.
c. Students respond about equally to all alternatives, an indication
that they are guessing.
Three possibilities why student guesses the answer on a test item:

• the content of the test item has not yet been discussed in the class
because the test is designed in advance;
• test items were badly written that students have no idea what the
question is really all about; and
• test items were very difficult as shown from the difficulty index and
low discrimination index.
• if the test item is well – written but too difficult, reteach the material
to the class.
4. Conclusion: Reject the item because it is very difficult
and the discrimination index is very poor, and options A
and E are effective distracters.
Example 6. The table below shows an item analysis of a test item
with ineffective distracters. What can you conclude about the test
item?

Options A B C* D E
Upper Group 5 3 9 0 3
Lower Group 6 4 6 0 4
1. Compute the difficulty index

 
n
 
N
  n
DF
N
DF  ¿ 15
40
DF ¿ 0.38 or 38%
 
2. Compute the Discrimination Index
C ¿
UG
 
9
C ¿
LG
 
6
D ¿  
20
D ¿   CUG -C LG

I D
¿   9-6
20
3
¿  
20
¿  
0.15 or 15%
3. Make an analysis
a. Only 38% of the students got the answer to the test item correctly,
hence, the test item is difficult.
b. More students from the upper group answered the test item
correctly; as a result, the test positive discrimination. The
discrimination index is 15%
c. Options A, B, and E are attractive and effective distracters.
d. Option D is ineffective; therefore, change it with more realistic
one.

4. Conclusion: Revise the item by changing option D.

A class is composed of 50 students. Use 27% to get the upper and
lower groups. Analyze the item given the following results. Option E
is the correct answer. What will you do with the test item.

Options A B C D E*
Upper Group 2 3 2 2 5
(27%)
Lower Group 2 2 1 1 8
(27%)

1. Compute the difficulty index

2. Compute the Discrimination Index
3. Make an analysis
1. Compute the difficulty index

 
n
 
N
  n
DF
N
DF  ¿ 13
28
DF ¿ 0.46 or 46%
 
2. Compute the Discrimination Index
C ¿
UG
 
5
C ¿
LG
 
8
D ¿  
14
D ¿   CUG -C LG

I D
¿   5-8
14
-3
¿  
14
¿  
-0.21 or -21%
3. Make an analysis
a. 46% of the students got the answer to test item correctly, hence
the test item is moderately difficult.
b. More students from the lower group got the item correctly,
therefore, it is a negative discrimination. The discrimination index
is -21%.
c. No need to analyze the distracter because the item discriminates
negatively.
d. Modify all the distracters because they are not effective. Most of
the students in the upper group chose the incorrect options. The
options are effective if most of the students in the lower group
chose the incorrect options.
4. Conclusion: Reject the item because it has a negative
discrimination index.