What's Wrong with Three-Option Multiple Choice Items?

Despite evidence supporting 3-option items, text authors and practitioners continue to advocate the use of four or five options. We designed an experiment to test further the efficacy of 3-option achievement items. Parallel tests of 3- and 5-option items were built and distributed randomly to college students. Results showed no differences in mean item difficulty, mean discrimination, or total test score, but a substantial reduction in time spent on 3-option items. The straightforward implication is that content validity may be boosted by writing additional 3-option items to tap more content.