Multiple choice
Multiple choice is a type of form to be filled out by checking one or more of the "choices" in a list. It is used in education (for testing), in elections (choose between multiple candidates, parties or policies), in market research and many more things. There is much debate over the use of multiple choice in education, proponents arguing that it is both fast, accurate and gives fair and equal evaluation of results, whilst criticism includes mention that it can be too crude, can depend on luck, doesn't really test the student's abilities, and students who might know a lot about the theories and methods but weren't able to find the precise answer will come out with nothing if they choose the wrong answer, for instance.
Benefits
- Scope-Multiple-choice questions allow a large amount of material to be tested in a small amount of time
- Universal-These questions can be incorporated into almost any type of test, no matter what subject
- Variety-Many different types of questions can be asked, such as straight knowledge questions, or "which is incorrect" questions.
- Credit-A person who has no knowledge of a question and loses credit for a wrong answer knows that a major portion of their score does not rest upon leaving the question blank, as it would on a free response question
Negatives
- Ambiguity-This type of question is often open to interpretation in its answer choices, as opposed to free response which allows the test taker to back up their decision
- No Partial Credit-Even if a student has some knowledge of a question, they receive no credit for knowing that information if they are wrong.
- Opinionated-Some questions may deal with opinions, without allowing for the taker to introduce his/her point of view
Examples
What is the value of x in the equation 2x + 3=4?
A. 4
B. 10
C. 0.5
D. 1.5
E. 8
Oh man, well, 2x = 1, so it can't be A, B, or E, but I don't know what to do next...well, if I miss it, it's only a 1/4 of a point off, so I'll pick D (wrong, answer is C. 0.5)
Famous multiple choice tests
