Multiple Choice Questions is a form of assessment or a set of questionnaires, in which students are asked to select the best possible answer (or answers) out of the choices from a list. The multiple choice format is most frequently used in educational testing, in market research, and in elections-- when a person chooses between multiple candidates, parties, or policies.
Multiple Choice Questions exams ask a student to recognize a correct answer among a set of options that include 3 or 4 wrong answers, rather than asking the student to produce a correct answer in a theoretical form, entirely from his/her own mind.
The options provided are the possible answers that the examiner can choose from, with the correct answer called the key and the incorrect answers called distracters. Only one answer can be keyed as correct. This contrasts with multiple response items in which more than one answer may be keyed as correct.
Studying for a multiple choice exam requires a special method of preparation distinctly different from an essay exam, as the questions are out of the box to check the students understanding of the concepts and the principles.
Usually, a correct answer earns a set number of points toward the total mark, and an incorrect answer earns nothing. However, tests may also award partial credit for unanswered questions or penalize students by marking negatively for incorrect answers, to discourage guessing. For example, the SAT removes a quarter point from the test taker's score for an incorrect answer.
Multiple choice questions are usually taken to make sure that the concepts and principles of the students are thorough. Moreover there is a misconception that these types of questions are easy due to lack of giving any explanation, and correct answer is camouflaged in the options given if the concepts and the principles are thorough.
For many reasons, students commonly consider multiple choice exams easier than essay exams. Perhaps the most obvious reasons are that:
• The correct answer is guaranteed to be among the possible responses. A student can score points with a lucky guess.
• Many multiple choice exams tend to emphasize basic definitions or simple comparisons, rather than asking students to analyze new information or apply theories to new situations.
• Because multiple choice exams usually contain many more questions than essay exams, each question has a lower point value and thus offers less risk.
Different types of MCQ’s
1) MCQ’s with 4 options .
2) MCQ’s with 2 options ( True/False OR Yes/No)
3) MCQ’s with single answer.
4) MCQ’s with multiple answer.