The purpose of this paper is to enlighten the marketing educator with regard to multiple choice test items. Major emphasis is given to the advantages and disadvantages of the multiple choice item and the effects of certain item-writing practices on reliability and validity. General suggestions for writing multiple choice items are made.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Board, C. and D. Whitney (1972), "The Effect of Selected Poor Item-Writing Practices on Test Difficulty, Reliability and Validity,"Journal of Educational Measurement, 9, 227-233.
2.
Costin, F. (1970), "The Optimal Number of Alternatives in Multiple-Choice Achievement Tests: Some Empirical Evidence for a Mathematical Proof,"Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30, 353-358.
3.
Costin, F. (1973), "Three-Choice versus Four-Choice Items: Implications for Reliability and Validity of Objective Achievement Tests,"Educational and Psychological Measurement, 32, 1035-1038.
4.
Dunn, T. F. and L. G. Goldstein (1959), "Test Difficulty, Validity, and Reliability as Functions of Selected Multiple-Choice Item Construction Principles,"Educational and Psychological Measurement, 19, 171-179.
5.
Ebel, R. (1969), "Expected Reliability as a Function of Choices per Item,"Educational and Psychological Measurement, 29, 565-570.
6.
Ebel, R. (1979), Essentials of Educational Measurement, 3rd edition.Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
7.
McMillan, J. R. (1979), "Experience vs. Potential of Multiple-Choice Tests in Marketing Courses,"Journal of Marketing Education (November), 24-23.
8.
McCarthy, E. J. (1979), Manual of Objective Tests, 6th edition, Homewood, Illinois: Richard D. Irwin, Inc.
9.
Mehren, W. A. and I. J. Lehmann (1978), Measurement and Evaluation in Education and Psychology, 2nd edition, New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
10.
Millman, J. , C. H. Bishop, and R. L. Ebel (1965), "An Analysis of Testwiseness,"Educational and Psychological Measurement, 25, 707-726.
11.
Slakter, M. J. , R. A. Koehler, and S. H. Hampton (1970), "Grade Level, Sex, and Selected Aspects of Testwiseness,"Journal of Educational Measurement, 7, 247-254.
12.
Stanley, J. C. (1961), Measurement in Today's Schools, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
13.
Thorndike, R. L. (1971), Educational Measurement, American Council on Education, Washington, D.C.
14.
Thorndike, R. L. and E. Hagen (1961), Measurement and Evaluation In Psychology and Education, New York: John Wiley and Sons.