For multiple choice questions

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) have been used in examinations of some medical schools in the UK for more than 20 years, and for at least as long in the USA. It is rare for a medical student not to meet an MCQ paper at some time in his career, and MCQs are widely used in postgraduate examinations. Most of the current controversy related to MCQ tests is concerned more with the advantages and disadvantages of the various types of question used, the place of the 'don't know' option and the methods by which papers are scored and analysed, than whether the format has a place among assessment methods. Yet it cannot be denied that the topic of MCQs still generates suspicion and antagonism in some quarters, both among students and teachers. It is, therefore, appropriate that we should stand back and consider the technique objectively.