The Effect of Keyed Response Sequencing of Multiple Choice Items on Performance.

with respect to keyed response position, is a desirable test characteristic. Nearly every basic educational measurement textbook devotes some discussion to item sequencing, usually recommending that the correct answer appear in each position about an equal number of times and that the items be arranged randomly. The theoretical rationale underlying such procedures is that if one were to choose the same option for each item of a test, he could not obtain a score beyond that of a chance score. Other reasons are to avoid providing test-takers with systematic devices which would enable them to "beat" the test and to establish a safeguard against an unconscious bias by the test constructor to allow the correct response to occur appreciably more often in one option position than in another. Although detailed methods for arranging items in proper sequence have been given (Anderson, 1952; Mosier and Price, 1945), there is little empirical evidence that keyed response arrangement is related to test performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects on test reliability and student performance of response sequencing that would be extremely unlikely under a random model.