ARE POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS REALLY DIFFICULT? - ITEM ANALYSIS OF MCQs FOR DOCTOR OF MEDICINE IN INDIA
Journal Title: Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences - Year 2018, Vol 7, Issue 46
Abstract
BACKGROUND Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) are widely used for evaluations of knowledge for many professional courses including Medicine. Construction of appropriate test items is a challenge in preparing quality multiple choice questions. Item analysis provides valuable feedback data on validity of multiple-choice questions. Aim- The present study was conducted to evaluate the Difficulty Index (DIF-I), Discrimination Index (DI) and Distractor Efficiency (DE%) of the multiple-choice questions (items) of previous postgraduate medical entrance examinations. MATERIALS AND METHODS A list consisting of 50 MCQs was taken from standard question bank (memory based) of Physiology, usually followed by postgraduate aspirants and administered to undergraduate students (n= 97). The result of student’s performance in these MCQ based unit test was entered in MS Excel 2007. Each item was analysed for three parameters: Difficulty Index, Discrimination Index and Distractor Efficiency. Study Design- Observational cross-sectional study. RESULTS In the present study, after analysis of data 28% of the MCQs were difficult, 20% were good, 26% were excellent and 26% were easy with Difficulty Index. 58% were excellent and 10% were good with Discrimination Index. 46% had at least one non-functional distractor. CONCLUSION Item analysis of MCQs of postgraduate entrance examinations demonstrated that Difficulty Index was neither too high nor too low. Discrimination Index was high, and Distractor Efficiency was good. Hence, we proposed that for formation of appropriate test items, question bank in the form of quality MCQs with negative marking should be prepared and their post validation, data to be collected.
Authors and Affiliations
Poonam Kumari, Richa Niranjan
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP548008
- DOI 10.14260/jemds/2018/1103
- Views 95
- Downloads 0
A CASE REPORT - AMYAND’S HERNIA
Hernia is commonly operated in surgical department either emergency basis or as elective case. Unusual contents of hernia sac are uncommon, but are likely to be encountered by a surgeon in his career due to the...
A RETROSPECTIVE DEFERRAL ANALYSIS OF BLOOD DONORS IN A TERTIARY CARE MEDICAL COLLEGE BLOOD BANK UNIT- AN EXPERIENCE FROM RURAL KONKAN OF WESTERN MAHARASHTRA
BACKGROUND Blood transfusion safety begins with healthy donors. Blood donors are deferred for multiple reasons and are not able to donate blood successfully, either permanently or temporarily. The aim of this study is to...
OVARIAN ECTOPIC PREGNANCY WITH IUCD IN SITU- A RARE CASE REPORT
PRESENTATION OF CASE Ovarian pregnancy is a very rare form of ectopic pregnancy.(1) It was first described in 17th century by Dr. Saint Monnissey. Incidence has been estimated around 0.5 - 3% of all ectopic pregnancies....
SCREENING BY TRANSCRANIAL DOPPLER ULTRASONOGRAPHY OF MIDDLE CEREBRAL ARTERY IN CHILDREN WITH SICKLE CELL DISEASE
BACKGROUND Sickle cell disease is a common haematological disorder. The prevalence of this disease varies from 2% to 34% in our country. There is neovascularisation and sickle red cell induced inflammation of the endothe...
PRIMARY LUMBAR HERNIA- A CASE REPORT
PRESENTATION OF CASE The patient is a 47-year-old, average built male patient presenting in the outpatient department with complaints of left-sided back swelling with vague pain for last 6 months. On further evaluation,...