Page 60 - Contributed Paper Session (CPS) - Volume 4

CPS 2126 Dr. Rajkumari Sanatombi Devi et.al
Therefore, reliability is a necessary condition but not a sufficient condition of
validity of a test. Item analysis is a procedure that provides information
regarding the reliability and validity of a test. Hence, analysing the
questions/items related to questions to knowledge on Biostatistics will help
the researcher to improve her skill in constructing a good quality multiple
choice questions, to identify the weak and strong areas of the course content
of the subject Biostatistics while teaching the PG students in future.

Objectives
1. To assess the quality of a multiple-choice test items related to the questions
on knowledge on Biostatistics using difficulty and discriminating indices of
item analysis
2. To find out the correlation between difficulty and discriminating indices of
the test items

3. Methodology
The study was a descriptive cross-sectional survey study. All the PG
(MD/MS/DNB) students enrolled during 2013 to 2017 under Sikkim Manipal
Institute of Medical Sciences, Sikkim Manipal University students were the
target population. There were 38 multiple choice questions (MCQs) having
one correct answer and three false choices measuring knowledge on
Biostatistics. It was developed by the researcher herself with the help of subject
expert and as well as from literature searched from internet similar to the
objective of the present study. After obtaining the requisite permission from
the institution Ethics committee, the researcher distributed the questionnaire
to the PG students while they were attending the research methodology
classes conducted by the department of Community Medicine, SMIMS. The fill
up form was collected directly from them by the researcher. Thirty minutes
was given to fill up the form. Verbal consent was taken in collecting the data
students after explaining the purpose of the study. Data was entered into
Microsoft Excel sheet and analysed using SPSS Version 16.0

4. Result
A total of 38 MCQs were constructed and assessed the correct response
among the 64 PG students. There was no negative mark for wrong answers.
For classifying the students into two different groups, scores on knowledge on
Biostatistics were ranked in descending order from highest score of 55 to
lowest score 8. The first 27% students from 64 students (27/100 X 64 = 17)
were included in high achiever group (HAG) and the last 27% (27/100*64=17)
were included in low achiever group (LAG). Students in between these two
groups that are the middle 30 students were excluded in the evaluation as
their pattern of mark scores remain nearly the same (range 16 to 20 scores).

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