The item difficulty and item discrimination of three multiple-choice item formats were compared in experimental and non-experimental settings. In the experimental study, 104 graduate students were randomly assigned to complete one of three forms of a multiple-choice test: (1) a complex alternative ("none of the above") as the correct answer; (2) a…

This study compared the item difficulty and item discrimination of three multiple choice item formats. The multiple choice formats studied were: a complex alternative (none of the above) as the correct answer; a complex alternative as a foil, and the one-correct answer format. One hundred four graduate students were randomly assigned to complete…

Causes of differential item difficulty for blind students taking the braille edition of the Scholastic Aptitude Test's mathematical section were studied. Data for 261 blind students were compared with data for 8,015 non-handicapped students. Results show an association between selected item categories and differential item functioning. (TJH)

Effects of expected form and expected difficulty of a test were examined for 84 college students expecting an easy or difficult multiple-choice or essay examination but taking a combined test. Results support the hypothesis that individuals work harder, rather than reduce their effort, when difficult work is expected. (SLD)

Studies with 220 college students found that multiple-choice test items with 3 items are more difficult than those with 4 items, and items with the none-of-these option are more difficult than those without this option. Neither format manipulation affected item discrimination. Implications for test construction are discussed. (SLD)

Compared easy and difficult versions of self-adapted tests (SAT) and computerized adapted tests. No significant differences were found among the tests for estimated ability or posttest state anxiety in studies with 187 Spanish high school students, although other significant differences were found. Discusses implications for interpreting test…

An increasingly popular test format allows examinees to choose the items they will answer from among a larger set. When examinee choice is allowed fairness requires that the different test forms thus formed be equated for their possible differential difficulty. For this equating to be possible it is necessary to know how well examinees would have…

One of the item types in the Listening Comprehension section of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) test is the dialogue. Because the dialogue item pool needs to have an appropriate balance of items at a range of difficulty levels, test developers have examined items at various difficulty levels in an attempt to identify their…

A commonly accepted rule for developing equated examinations using the common-items non-equivalent groups (CINEG) design is that items common to the two examinations being equated should be identical. The CINEG design calls for two groups of examinees to respond to a set of common items that is included in two examinations. In practice, this rule…

A procedure used to average several Mantel-Haenszel delta difference values for an item is described and evaluated. The differential item functioning (DIF) procedure used by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) is based on the Mantel-Haenszel statistical technique for studying matched groups. It is standard procedure at ETS to analyze test items…

A 100-item five-choice multiple choice (MC) biology final exam was converted to multiple choice true-false (MTF) form to yield two content-parallel test forms comprised of the two item types. Students found the MTF items easier and preferred MTF over MC; the MTF subtests were more reliable. (Author/GK)

This paper describes the use of the Rasch model to help implement computerized administration of the standard and advanced forms of Raven's Progressive Matrices (RPM), to compare relative item difficulties, and to convert scores between the standard and advanced forms. The sample consisted of 95 girls and 95 boys in Australia. (SLD)

The purpose of the study was to determine comparability of an online version to the original paper-pencil version of Defining Issues Test 2 (DIT2). This study employed methods from both Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT). Findings from CTT analyses supported the reliability and discriminant validity of both versions.…

Whether the presence of bidimensionality has any effect on the adaptive recalibration of test items was studied through live-data simulation of computer adaptive testing (CAT) forms. The source data were examinee responses to the 298 scored multiple choice items of a licensure examination in a health care profession. Three 75-item part-forms,…

Contrasts between constructed response items and stem-equivalent multiple-choice counterparts typically have involved averaging item characteristics, and this aggregation has masked differences in statistical properties at the item level. Moreover, even aggregated format differences have not been explained in terms of differential cognitive…