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Table 2 Distractor Performance

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

 

Test A

Test B

Test C

Test D

No. of items

96

72

86

50

No. of distractors assessed

288

216

258

150

Distractors with:

    

   Frequency <5% n(%)

88 (30.6)

78 (36.1)

109 (42.2)

60 (40.0)

   Discrimination ≥ 0

68 (23.6)

75 (34.7)

88 (34.1)

48 (32.0)

   Both

40 (13.9)

39 (18.1)

60 (23.3)

34 (22.7)

   Frequency = 0% n(%)

12 (4.2)

24 (11.1)

42 (16.3)

21 (14.0)

Functioning distractors per test n(%)

172 (59.7)

102 (47.2)

121 (46.9)

76 (50.7)

Functioning distractors per item n(%)

    

   None

8 (8.3)

11 (15.3)

13 (15.1)

7 (14.0)

   One

27 (28.1)

30 (41.7)

35 (40.7)

16 (32.0)

   Two

43 (44.8)

26 (36.1)

28 (32.6)

22 (44.0)

   Three

18 (18.8)

5 (6.9)

10 (11.6)

5 (10.0)

Functioning distractors per item M(SD)

1.74 (.86)

1.35 (.82)

1.41 (.89)

1.50 (.86)

 

Test E

Test F

Test G

Total

No. of items

50

60

100

514

No. of distractors assessed

150

180

300

1542

Distractors with:

    

   Frequency <5% n(%)

43 (28.7)

62 (34.4)

101(33.7)

541 (35.1)

   Discrimination ≥ 0

46 (30.7)

69 (38.3)

78 (26.0)

472 (30.6)

   Both

26 (17.3)

33 (18.3)

44 (14.7)

276 (17.9)

   Frequency = 0% n(%)

15 (10.0)

21 (11.7)

23 (7.7)

158 (10.2)

Functioning distractors per test n(%)

87 (58.0)

82 (45.6)

165 (55.0)

805 (52.2)

Functioning distractors per item n(%)

    

   None

6 (12.0)

8 (13.3)

10 (10.0)

63 (12.3)

   One

13 (26.0)

25 (41.7)

33 (33.0)

179 (34.8)

   Two

19 (38.0)

24 (40.0)

39 (39.0)

201 (39.1)

   Three

12 (24.0)

3 (5.0)

18 (18.0)

71 (13.8)

Functioning distractors per item M(SD)

1.74 (.96)

1.37 (.78)

1.65 (.89)

1.54 (.88)