Item Analysis: An Evaluation of Multiple Choice Questions Based on Research Methodology in the Internal Examination

Lok Raj Sharma

Item analysis is the process of collecting, summarizing, and using information from students’ responses to assess the quality of multiple-choice questions (MCQs). The prime purpose of this research article is to analyze the twenty multiple choice question items regarding research methodology having asked to the Bachelor of Education (B. Ed) fourth year students in their internal examination conducted at Makawanpur Multiple Campus, Nepal in 2019. The researcher employed 27% students from the group of high achievers from the top and 27% students from the group of low achievers from the bottom by including 28 students from the population of 50 students. Each item was analyzed for difficulty index (DIF I), discrimination index (DI), and distracter effectiveness (DE). Difficulty index of 20 (100%) items was in the acceptable range (DIF I= 0.30–0.80).  Discrimination index of 5 (25%) items was acceptable (DI= 0.20-0.29), that of 5 (25%) items was good (DI= 0.30-0.39) and that of 10 (50%) items was excellent (DI  ≥0.40 ).  Total 20 items had 60 distracters. 55 (91.67%) distracters were functional and 5(8.33%) distracters were non-functional. It was found that most of the multiple choice question items were reliable and valid. This article is useful to those who are involved in the field of teaching learning as well as question setting activities that concern the quality of the MCQS prepared for the examinees.