QUALITY ANALYSIS OF MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

Abstract

The most well-known and widely accepted method to assess knowledge and professional competencies of medical students are multiple choice questions. They are subjectable to automated computer marking, minimizing the chance of inter examiner variability in marking. Construction of good quality MCQ not only requires dedication but also familiarity with MCQ items writing guidelines and willingness towards change in personal writing habits. It is therefore necessary to frequently assess quality of MCQs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of multiple choice question (MCQ) in Community Dentistry Undergraduate Examination.

A total of 25 one best type MCQs or items with four options were used for assessment. Post-validation was done by determining difficulty Index (DIF I/P), Discrimination Index (DI) and Distractor efficiency (DE). The test had an acceptable difficulty level with 69.76% ± 18.69% mean difficulty index. Discrimination index of the test was also satisfactory with 0.23 ± 0.15 mean point biserial correlation coefficient. Out of a total of 75 distractors, 64 were functional hence distractor efficiency was 85.33% ± 21.69%. The reliability coefficient (KR20) of the test was 0.24. 56% of MCQs had adequate difficulty and discrimination indices. There were 40% MCQs that were too easy while 4% were too difficult. 64% of MCQs had 100% distractor efficiency.

Item analysis of multiple choice questions can be valuable as it enables examiner to identify the shortcomings or any flaw encountered during item construction.