Multiple choice question
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A multiple choice question is question where several possible answers are given in a list, and the respondent (typically someone who is taking a test) must choose the correct answer, or the most correct answer, from that list. Multiple choice questions are quite common on exams, particularly standardized tests. Typically, multiple choice questions have four or five possible answers, usually lettered A through D or E. Because they are fairly quick to complete, they are often given in groups, sometimes numbering in the hundreds.
An example multiple choice question might be:
- What is 6+6?
- A) 4
- B) 8
- C) 12
- D) 20
- E) None of the above
True-false questions (where the respondent agrees or disagrees with an assertion) are one particular type of multiple choice question.
In order to devise the incorrect answers to offer for multiple choice questions, a test-writer will often work through the problem but intentionally make a common mistake. For example, it the question was 163+50, if the test taker failed to carry the hundreds digit, he or she would get 113. A test-writer could put that as an alternative choice to the correct answer of 213.