Item Analysis

Dr. Niraj Pandit, MD

Department of Community
Medicine
SBKS MIRC
Objectives of lecture

 Understanding Item and why its

required to study.
 Tools of item analysis
 Method of analysis
 Record keeping of analysis results
Introduction

 It is the analysis of Item (MCQ).

 It is importance to evaluate the
effectiveness of the items.
 This is done by studying the student’s
response to each item.
Need for IA

 Item analysis information can tell us

– if an item (i.e. the question) was too easy
or too difficult,
– how well it discriminated between high and
low scorers on the test and
– whether all of the alternatives functioned
as intended.
 Advantages of IA
 It aids in detecting specific technical flaws and thus
provides information for improving test item.
 It provide useful information for class discussion of
the test, e.g. easy item can be skipped over and
treated lightly, answers to difficult items can be
explained in detail and items be pointed out to the
students rather than defended as fair.
 It provides data for helping the students to improve
their learning. The frequency with which incorrect
answer is chosen reveals common errors and
misconception which provides a focus for remedial
work.
 It provides insight in skills which lead to preparation
of better test in future
Tools for analysis

 1. The difficulty of the item

(Difficulty Index)
 2. The discriminating power
(Discrimination Index)
 3. The effectiveness of each
alternative (Distracter effectiveness)
ITEM-ANALYSIS
PROCEDURE
Method

 1) Arrange the test papers in rank order from

the highest score to the lowest score.
 2) Select one third of the papers with high
score and call them the Higher Group.
 3) Select another one third of the papers
with low scores and call them Lower Group.
 4) Set aside the middle third. (This will not
be used in analysis)
 Prepare a FREQUENCY TABLE by counting
the number of students in the Higher Group
who selected each alternative. Similarly count
for Lower Group also. Tabulate item wise
analysis as follows:
 ITEM No. ________

Alternatives* Number of responses.

Higher TOTAL Lower TOTAL
Group (H) Group (L)
A
B
C
D
E
No response

•*Encircle the correct response for each item.

•# Total Response T = … … … … …
Sem Date Group Size Chosen Answer Diff. Discr.
. Of Index Index
Group (P) (d)

A #B C D NR
*

4 20/1/2009 HIGH 30 2 20 5 3 0

LOW 30 8 3 1 18 0
 Calculate item Difficulty (P) by
using formula
 P= (H + L) x 100/T
– Where, H= no. of correct responses in higher group
L= no. of correct responses in lower
group
T= total no. of responders from both the
groups

 NOTE: P is usually expressed as percent. The
lower the percentage figure, the more difficult is
the item.
ITEM DIFFICULTY (P)
 Item Poor Marginal Good Excellent

 P (%) 30 40 50 60

 Action: (discard) (revise) (store) (store)

 RECORD these values on the item bank card

Calculate the index of
discrimination of the item (d)
 d=2 x (H - L)/T

 NOTE: d is reported as a decimal
fraction. Maximum positive
discriminative power is
indicated by 1.00
DISCRINATION INDEX (d)

 Item Poor Marginal Good Excellent


 d <0.15 0.15-0.24 0.25-0.34 >0.35

 Action (discard) (revise) (store) (store)
Explanation

 The questions with item difficulty 50 – 60%

are considered good, 30 – 70% is acceptable
and those with index above 70% or below
30% require modification.
 The questions with discrimination index 0.35
and above are consider excellent, 0.25 to
0.34 good, 0.20 to 0.24 acceptable and those
below 0.20 require modification.
Sem Date Group Size Chosen Answer Diff. Discr.
. Of Index Index
Group (P) (d)

A #B C D NR
*

4 20/1/2009 HIGH 30 2 20 5 3 0

LOW 30 8 3 1 18 0
Sem Date Group Size Chosen Answer Diff. Discr.
. Of Index Index
Group (P) (d)

A #B C D NR
*

4 20/1/2009 HIGH 30 2 20 5 3 0 38 0.56

LOW 30 8 3 1 18 0
 Smt. B. K. Shah Medical Institution and Research Center, Piparia
Department of Community Medicine
QUESTION BANK CARD (SPECIMEN)

SUBJECT National health days

Objective/s tested Awareness about national health days

Que. No. … … … World Health day is observed on

(Stem)

Alternatives: A. 1st December

B. 7th April
C. 1st July
D. 7th September

Reference:
Thank You

Best Luck