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Quiz about Common Multiple Choice Mistakes
Quiz about Common Multiple Choice Mistakes

Common Multiple Choice Mistakes Quiz


One difficulty I have noticed for quizmakers at this website is in the creation of incorrect answers for multiple choice questions. Below I will demonstrate how not to make your multiple choice questions dead giveaways!

A multiple-choice quiz by thejazzkickazz. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
112,880
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
8 / 10
Plays
13352
Awards
Top 5% quiz!
Last 3 plays: miranda101 (10/10), Monkeyman1960 (8/10), Guest 175 (2/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. A very common error when it comes to selecting incorrect multiple choice answers arises with number answers. I will demonstrate the error while employing a real question. Using either your knowledge, or logic, select the correct choice. Question: How many countries directly border the United States? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Another common multiple choice error will be presented here. Keep an eye on the presentation of the answer choices. Question: Which of the following is not one of the major component bases of DNA nucleic acids? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Very similar to the problem in question two, here is another frequent 'giveaway' as presented in the multiple choice answers to the question below. Question: Which of these fruits does not grow on trees? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Another with a similar theme, one answer *appears* different from the others. Decide which based on this question: Which of these 'Great' kings or emperors ruled first in chronological history? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Here's a problem involving names. Using logic (and your own knowledge), try to detect the correct answer to this question: Who was the author of the novel 'Sons and Lovers'? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Here's another very common problem with multiple choice answers as they pertain to a person's name. See if you can pick out the correct answer here. Question: Which famous Austrian-born German scientist was forced to leave Germany in 1938, and spent his last year in London before succumbing to cancer in 1939? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. This is a tricky one you might not have thought of previously. What is the giveaway answer to the following question: Which of these areas of study is considered a member of the family of 'Earth Sciences'? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Which of these would make the most sensible choice, as a quiztaker, even if the answer is not simply forthcoming, based on the following question: In the movie 'The Fisher King', what is the eventual fate of Perry, the character played by Robin Williams? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. True or false: On average, it takes more effort and thought to create a good multiple choice question than it does to make a good fill-in-the-blank question.


Question 10 of 10
10. True or false: All Quizzyland quiztakers prefer multiple-choice questions to fill-in-the-blank questions.



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 28 2024 : miranda101: 10/10
Mar 25 2024 : Monkeyman1960: 8/10
Mar 24 2024 : Guest 175: 2/10
Mar 19 2024 : pfryguy: 9/10
Mar 19 2024 : gogetem: 8/10
Mar 19 2024 : jeremygilbert: 6/10
Mar 19 2024 : federererer: 9/10
Mar 19 2024 : violinsoldier: 8/10
Mar 19 2024 : BayRoan: 7/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. A very common error when it comes to selecting incorrect multiple choice answers arises with number answers. I will demonstrate the error while employing a real question. Using either your knowledge, or logic, select the correct choice. Question: How many countries directly border the United States?

Answer: 2

Of course the answer is two...Canada and Mexico. The problem with my answer choices (and this is a very common giveaway at Quizzyland) is that I have made it obvious for players 'in the know'. Commonly what quizmakers will do is choose the correct answer, the two whole numbers surrounding that answer and then another number some distance away. Nine out of ten times, if you pick the 'middle' number, you will guess correctly. Normally, I find number answers to be a bit boring, but if you insist on using questions with number answers the best way to deal with it is to include a sequence of four consecutive numbers or four numbers divided by equal increments, or better yet...just four random numbers. Oh yes, and I suggest that you don't always use one of the middle two numbers, this will increase the unpredictability of your question!
2. Another common multiple choice error will be presented here. Keep an eye on the presentation of the answer choices. Question: Which of the following is not one of the major component bases of DNA nucleic acids?

Answer: Holocene

The major bases are: adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine (and uracil). Did you notice a problem in the answers? One of them was capitalized...the correct one. I don't know why, but this seems to be a common occurrence here at Funtrivia, does anyone have any theories as to why? Do the best you can not to make the answer stand out!
3. Very similar to the problem in question two, here is another frequent 'giveaway' as presented in the multiple choice answers to the question below. Question: Which of these fruits does not grow on trees?

Answer: Tomatoes.

Of course, tomatoes grow on vines! Did you notice the giveaway in that question? This time I capitalized all of the answers, but notice at the end of 'Tomatoes' I added a period? For some reason, this happens quite frequently as well in quizzes here. Again, if your goal is to make a quiz challenging, don't allow the correct answer to stand out by adding bits of punctuation, etc. Of course, your goal might be to give a little hint, and this would be a subtle way to do that...but what would be the point? Give the quiztakers a challenge at the very least.
4. Another with a similar theme, one answer *appears* different from the others. Decide which based on this question: Which of these 'Great' kings or emperors ruled first in chronological history?

Answer: Alexander!

Alexander, in the 4th century BC. All of the others ruled in the AD period. This time, an exclamation point gives you the answer.
5. Here's a problem involving names. Using logic (and your own knowledge), try to detect the correct answer to this question: Who was the author of the novel 'Sons and Lovers'?

Answer: D. H. Lawrence

The early 20th century author D. H. Lawrence wrote 'Sons and Lovers', as well as several other novels, including 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' and 'The Rainbow'. The problem with the multiple choice answers is clear. First, an incorrect choice is given with the same last name (John Lawrence), then an incorrect choice is given with the same first initials (D. H.), finally the last name is inverted and made a first name in the other incorrect choice (Lawrence Johnston). Through the process of elimination, the player can easily ascertain the proper answer even if s/he doesn't have a clue about which one it is. Again, this might be the specific intention of the quiz author...to help the player out with these little clues.

But if you intend to make the question challenging, it would be most appropriate to simply come up with three alternative and plausible (and real...I made the other names up) British authors, e.g.

Henry James, Virginia Woolf and Thomas Hardy.
6. Here's another very common problem with multiple choice answers as they pertain to a person's name. See if you can pick out the correct answer here. Question: Which famous Austrian-born German scientist was forced to leave Germany in 1938, and spent his last year in London before succumbing to cancer in 1939?

Answer: Sigmund Freud

Of course it was Sigmund Freud, the only German (and scientist) listed. Surprisingly, it's fairly common to see wrong multiple choice answers that are completely implausible like this. If you are going to specify 'German' and 'scientist', please be sure that each of your selections is in fact a German scientist. Better alternative choices would have been Einstein, Planck, and various others.
7. This is a tricky one you might not have thought of previously. What is the giveaway answer to the following question: Which of these areas of study is considered a member of the family of 'Earth Sciences'?

Answer: All of these

Naturally, all of the choices listed for the question are considered 'Earth Sciences'. The giveaway comes in the guise of 'All of these'. I would estimate that roughly 95% of the time when people use the choice 'All of these', that is the answer. The use of 'All of these' as an answer choice is not an error, per se.

The 'error' arises when a quizmaker frequently employs this answer choice, but never uses it as an incorrect answer. Essentially, for most quizmakers, the use of that choice almost guarantees the answer. I would challenge quizmakers to occasionally use this choice, and 'None of these', as decoys, just to keep the quiztakers on their toes!
8. Which of these would make the most sensible choice, as a quiztaker, even if the answer is not simply forthcoming, based on the following question: In the movie 'The Fisher King', what is the eventual fate of Perry, the character played by Robin Williams?

Answer: He comes out of a coma, regains his memory and reunites with his girlfriend Lydia

For anyone who hasn't seen the Terry Gilliam-directed film, I highly recommend it...and don't want to give anything else away! The point of this question, and the answer choices offered, is to remind people about 'symmetry'. Typically with multiple choice questions, if one answer seems inordinately longer than the rest, that will be the correct answer. Ideally with multiple choice answers you will want to make them all plausible (of course!) and additionally, all about the same length in words.

Avoid prolixity. The correct answer to the question could just as well have been 'He reunites with Lydia' or 'He regains his memory'. As has been mentioned before, don't allow the correct answer to stand out...as if it's waving the quiztakers down!
9. True or false: On average, it takes more effort and thought to create a good multiple choice question than it does to make a good fill-in-the-blank question.

Answer: True

Certainly it does, and there's an obvious reason why...with a fill-in-the-blank question you only have to come up with one reasonable answer choice...the correct answer! With a multiple choice question you are required to create four possible answers, three of which are incorrect. All three of the incorrect choices must be potentially acceptable, but only one can be the indisputable answer. Considering the above questions and answers, this is not always easy!
10. True or false: All Quizzyland quiztakers prefer multiple-choice questions to fill-in-the-blank questions.

Answer: False

Obviously, it's not possible for that to be true, though I would wager to guess that most players prefer at least a majority of the questions in each quiz to be multiple choice. Some people love the challenge of a fill-in-the-blank question, if it's not too difficult but yet poses some challenge. Generally speaking, quiztakers want their multiple choice questions to be somewhat challenging as well.
Source: Author thejazzkickazz

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