PRINCIPLES FOR MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. The stem of the question should present a clear and complete problem.
2. The questions should not clue the students to the correct answer.
1. The stem of the question should agree grammatically with each choice.
2. The options should be similar in length and amount of detail.
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3. All options should seem plausible to the uninformed.
3. If the question is controversial, an authority or theory should be referred to as support, (e.g., “According to most German historians, which of the following caused World War II?”)
4. It is generally suggested that negative words be avoided in the question stem. If included, any negative word should be capitalized and/or underlined and bolded,
(e.g., “Which of the following is NOT an item of mountain climbing gear?”)
5. Each option should concisely state only one idea.
6. The option “All of the above” should not be used. It is also better to have three or more good
options rather than to use “None of above” as a choice.
7. All options should be as homogenous or similar as possible.
8. Avoid complex multiple-choice formats, (e.g., both A and B, both B and C, etc.)
9. Order the options to each question alphabetically (randomly.)
10. List options vertically, not horizontally.
11. The stem of a question should be written as a question, not as an incomplete
sentence.