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Education QUESTION #6791
Question 1
When conducting item analysis after scoring, a test developer finds that distractor 'B' in a particular MCQ was selected by 0% of examinees. What is the MOST appropriate action and why?
  • Keep the item; if the correct answer was chosen by most, the item is working as intended
  • Remove or revise distractor 'B' because a distractor chosen by no one contributes nothing to the measurement function of the item — it might as well not exist, reducing the item to a three-choice question✔️
  • Replace the entire item with a true/false question
  • Increase the item difficulty by making distractor B more similar to the correct answer
Correct Answer Explanation
A distractor that attracts 0% of responses is non-functional — it does not confuse any uninformed examinees. This wastes one response option, effectively reducing a four-choice item to three choices, which increases the guessing probability from 25% to 33%. The distractor analysis should identify such non-functioning options for revision or replacement with more plausible alternatives.