This paper outlines a technique for differentially weighting options of a multiple choice test in a fashion that maximizes the item predictive validity. The rule can be applied with different number of categories and the "optimal" number of categories can be determined by significance tests and/or through the R2 criterion. Our theoretical analysis…

This research attempted to interrelate several methods of producing option weights (i.e., Guttman internal and external weights and judges' weights) and examined their effects on reliability and on concurrent, predictive, and face validity. It was concluded that option weighting offered limited, if any, improvement over unit weighting. (Author/CTM)

The optimal test length, using predictive validity as a criterion, depends on two major conditions: the appropriate item-difficulty rather than the total number of items, and the method used in scoring the test. These conclusions were reached when responses to a 100-item multi-level test of reading comprehension from 136 non-native speakers of…