An assessment of functioning and non-functioning distractors in multiple-choice questions: a descriptive analysis

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Nursing Education
• Assessment and Evaluation

Background:

• Multiple-choice questions (MCQs) with four or five options are standard in health-science education.
• Previous research indicates a scarcity of MCQs with three or four functioning distractors.
• This study focuses on non-functioning distractors in teacher-developed nursing tests.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the proportion of non-functioning distractors in teacher-developed multiple-choice questions.
• To analyze the effectiveness of distractors in nursing examinations.

Main Methods:

• Item analysis data from seven test papers administered to undergraduate nursing students were used.
• A total of 514 items and 2056 options were reviewed.
• Non-functioning options were defined by low selection frequency (<5%) and positive option discrimination.

Main Results:

• 12.3% of items had 0, 34.8% had 1, 39.1% had 2, and 13.8% had 3 functioning distractors.
• On average, items contained 1.54 functioning distractors.
• Only 52.2% of distractors functioned effectively; 10.2% were never chosen.

Conclusions:

• Teachers face challenges in creating plausible distractors for MCQs.
• MCQs should ideally have three functioning distractors when feasible.
• Item analysis is crucial for identifying and removing non-functioning distractors to enhance MCQ quality.