The analysis of MCQs in a newly developed reading comprehension ability test: a study on Yemeni undergraduate EFL learners Online publication date: Fri, 14-Jun-2019
by Iftikhar Yusuf Al-Ariqi; Jagannath K. Dange; Mir Mohsin
International Journal of Quantitative Research in Education (IJQRE), Vol. 4, No. 4, 2019
Abstract: Studies have shown that the best way to test the students' ability in reading comprehension is the multiple-choice questions (MCQs) for its validity and reliability. This paper tries to assess items and test quality in order to explore the relationship between difficulty index (p-value) and discrimination indices (DIs) with distractor efficiency (DE). The study was conducted among 134 second year Yemeni EFL students in Sana'a University, Yemen. Twenty MCQs analysed for p-value, DI and DE. Results indicated that the mean p-value and DI were 61.92 ± 25.1% and 0.31 ± 0.27, respectively. DI was noted to be maximum at p value range between 40% and 60%. Combining the two indices, 19 items could be called 'good' having a p-value from 20% to 90%, as well as a DI ≥ 0.40. Overall 75% items had two non-functional distractors (NFDs), while 20% items had three functional distractors and 5% had only one functional distractor.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Quantitative Research in Education (IJQRE):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook