Ms. Trevisan et al., ESTIMATING THE OPTIMUM NUMBER OF OPTIONS PER ITEM USING AN INCREMENTAL OPTION PARADIGM, Educational and psychological measurement, 54(1), 1994, pp. 86-91
Citations number
17
Categorie Soggetti
Psychology, Educational","Psychologym Experimental","Mathematical, Methods, Social Sciences
Previous studies have demonstrated the efficacy of using three-option
multiple-choice items. In these studies three- and four-option items w
ere constructed from preexisting item analysis data obtained from five
-option items. In this study, a two-option test was constructed, and o
ptions were systematically added to this test by using a taxonomy of i
tem writing rules to guide the process of distractor development. Nons
ignificant differences (p greater-than-or-equal-to .05) were found amo
ng the reliability coefficients, the reliability estimates for the thr
ee-, four-, and five-option formats being all on the same order of mag
nitude. These findings continue to provide evidence for the efficacy o
f the three-option item.