The Use of Principal Component Analysis to Increase the Ability of Multiple Choice Examinations to Distinguish Among Students

Authors

Flora E. Roger
Walter H. Carter Jr.

Orginal Publication Date

1971

Journal Title

MCV/Q, Medical College of Virginia Quarterly

Volume

7

Issue

1

First Page

10

Last Page

13

Abstract

A method of scoring multiple choice examinations based on the statistical technique of principal components analysis is described. This test is applied to two tests. The results indicate that the method yields test scores which have a marked advantage over the usual percentage scores in distinguishing among examinees with respect to knowledge of subject matter. In addition, the method provides an indication of whether a question is "good" or "poor" for purposes of distinguishing among examinees.

Rights

© VCU. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0 Acknowledgement of the Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries as a source is required.

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VCU University Archives