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Section 4: Writing effective objective questions

This section aims to give you some example of problem questions and helps you to identify the problems. Analyse each question and try the multiple response exercise to find out what the problems are. Note that each question may have more than one possible answer.

It may help to consider the following

What's the answer to the question?
How did you arrive at the answer?
Was this what the question intended to test?
How easy or difficult is the question?
Is this for the reason that the author intended?

1
Question 1

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We agree. The question is more suitable for an open discussion. The question doesn't provide enough information to state whether the answer is true or false

One or more of your answers may be incorrect. The right answer is "It's impossible to give an objective answer to the question. The question is more suitable for an open discussion."

The question doesn't provide enough information to state whether the answer is true or false.
Check your answer

2
Question 2

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We agree. It's easy to guess the answer because the "cat" is the only carnivore in the list therefore its colon is the smallestOne or more of your answers may be incorrect. The right answers are "The question doesn't test what it's supposed to. The answer is given away in the wording of the question. It's easy to guess the answer because the "cat" is the only carnivore in the list therefore its colon is the smallest.
Check your answer

3
Question 4

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We agree. 5% is too low, 40% is too high and 10% and 20% are unrealistic as multiple of 10. The answer left is 12% which is the right answer.One or more of your answers may be incorrect. The right answers are "The question tests some information which is irrelevant" and "some of the distracters are not plausible and can therefore be easily eliminated" "and the wording of the option gives away the answer". 5% is too low, 40% is too high and 10% and 20% are unrealistic as multiple of 10. The answer left is 12% which is the right answer.
Check your answer

4
Question 5

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We agree. The wording of the question and the distracters are not coherent and are difficult to relate to each otherOne or more of your answers may be incorrect. The right answer is "the question is presented in a way which is difficult to understand". The wording of the question and the distracters are not coherent and are difficult to relate to each other.
Check your answer

5
Question 6

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We agree. "It's large but uninteresting" is not a plausible option and so is easy to eliminateOne or more of your answers may be incorrect. The right answer is "Some of the distracters are not plausible and can therefore be easily eliminated". It's large but uninteresting is an option easy to eliminate.
Check your answer

6
Question 7

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We agree. The right answers are "There are grammatical errors, answers B and D are not grammatically consistent and "the answer is present in the wording of the question", as non-renewableOne or more of your answers may be incorrect. The right answers are "There are grammatical errors, answers B and D are not grammatically consistent with the wording in the question and "the answer is present in the wording of the question", as non-renewable
Check your answer