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Table 3 Psychometric indices by flaw areas with and without rule 4 (“Keep the content of each item independent from content of other items on the test”)

From: Do item-writing flaws reduce examinations psychometric quality?

Flaw areas

Number of items

N (%)

Difficulty Index

Mean (SD)

Discrimination

Mean (SD)

Standarda

354 (45.8)

0.65 (0.21)

0.36 (0.17)

Content concernsb

56 (7.2)

0.63 (0.18)

0.36 (0.16)

Content concerns without rule 4b

12 (1.6)

0.61 (0.22)

0.25 (0.15)

Style concernsb

47 (6.1)

0.62 (0.20)

0.35 (0.14)

Writing the stemb

150 (19.4)

0.59 (0.19)

0.31 (0.14)

Writing the choicesb

166 (21.5)

0.60 (0.21)

0.33 (0.15)

  1. a3/4 reviewers considered that the item had no IWF
  2. b3/4 reviewers considered that at least one item had IWF from this category