TRUE OR FALSE (or ALTERNATIVE RESPONSE ITEMS)

I. CHARACTERISTICS
True or False Questions
They are only composed of a statement.
Students respond to the questions by indicating whether the statement is True or False.
They are typically used to measure the ability to identify whether statements of fact are
correct.
The questions are usually a declarative statement that the student must judge as true or
false.
It contains two possible responses for each item.
It tests students recall and comprehension.

II. TYPES
1. Simple/Traditional/Standard True or False
They are easy to write, quick to administer, and convenient to grade.
Weakness of the Traditional/Simple/Standard True or False is when the student gets an
answer correctly even though he or she arrived at that answer using faulty reasoning.
The student arrived at that answer out of a completely blind guess.

2. Modified True or False

A modified true/false question is similar to a Simple/Traditional/Standard True or False
question, in that a student must indicate if a sentence or phrase is true or false. For this
kind of questions, a student must also change or edit the question if it is false to make it
true.
This boosts the power of the Simple/Traditional/Standard True or False test as a gauge of
student learning.
It requires students to write down the logic that they used in arriving at their answers.

VARIATIONS:
A. Embedded Items
 Involve a series of underlined words or phrases whose accuracy students are asked to
judge.
Example: Indicate whether each underlined word is correctly spelled. For each word,
mark your answer sheet as follows:
A. Correctly spelled
B. Incorrectly spelled

B. Multiple True-False Items

Consist of a stem and a list of options
Example: Read each option and indicate which are correct:
In a comparison with multiple-choice items, an advantage of the true-false format is:
1. less items can be administered within a single test
2. each test item can be developed in less time
3. it can be scored objectively
4. higher scores are obtained by students

C. Sequential True-False Items

Can be presented in sequence, with the correct response to each item dependent on
conditions specified in the previous item
Can be used when solution of a problem requires a series of steps, each providing
information to the next stage
Example: Items one through four represent a students attempt to solve for X. Evaluate
this solution by determining whether each equation is equivalent to the immediately preceding
equation.
A. This expression is equivalent to preceding equation.
B. This expression is not equivalent to preceding equation.
Solve for X: (4x-3)(3x+8)=(3x+4)(3x+6)
1. 12x-24=9x+24
2. 3x=48
3. x=16
4. x=8
D. Focused True-False Items
Requires students to classify a proposition as true or false.
Examples:
1. The probability of precipitation increases as barometric pressure (a. increases b.
decreases)
2. The atmosphere near the equator flows to the east (a. east b. west)
3. Wind direction between centers of high and low pressure is parallel to a line
connecting the two centers (a. parallel b. perpendicular)

E. Yes-No Items
The student responds yes or no to each item
Example:
Which of the following terms indicate observable student performance? Circle Y for yes
and N for no.
1. Explains Y N
2. Identifies Y N
3. Learns Y N
4. Predicts Y N
5. Realizes Y N

F. Checklist
Requires students to check beside each answer for which the answer would be Yes, not
marking beside the No responses
Example:
Which of the following terms indicate observable student performance?
________1. Explains
________2. Learns
________3. Realizes
_______ 4. Identifies
________5. Predicts
F. True False Correction Items
Statements are presented and each statement contains a key word or brief phrase that is
underlined (what word can be changed in the sentence).
Example:
The Internal Revenue Service is the government agency established to monitor
transportation.

III. PROS AND CONS

PROS:
True/false items are relatively easy to prepare.
Easily administer to a large number of students.
Students can answer several questions per minute.
They are easy to score accurately and quickly.
Scoring is objective.
Useful for outcomes where there are only two possible alternatives.

CONS:
Students have a 50 percent chance of being correct, just by chance.
It encourages guessing since there are only two alternatives.
There is a tendency to write trivial true-false items, which lead students to verbatim
memorization.
True or False items may not accurately assess or give a true estimate of the students
knowledge since students have a 50/50 chance of guessing the correct answer.

IV. HOW TO CONSTRUCT TRUE OR FALSE ITEMS

Rules in constructing true or false items:
1. Do not give a hint inadvertently in the body of question.
Example: The Philippines gained its independence in 1898 and therefore celebrated its
centennial year in 2000.
Obviously, the answer is False because 100 years from 1898 is not 2000 but 1998.
2. Avoid long sentences as these tend to be true. Keep the statement short and simple. The
question should be based on the learners knowledge and not their ability to interpret the
question.
3. Avoid trick statements with some minor misleading word or spelling anomaly, misplaced
phrases, etc. A wise student who does not know the about the subject matter may detect this
strategy and thus get the answer correctly.
Example: The principle of our school is Mr. Albert P. Panadero. The principals name may
actually be correct but since the word is misspelled and the entire sentence takes different
meaning. The answer is false. This is as an example of a tricky but utterly useless item.
4. Avoid quoting verbatim from reference materials or textbooks. This practice sends wrong
signal that it is necessary to memorize the textbook word for word and thus, acquisition of higher
thinking skills are not given importance.
5. With true or false questions, avoid grossly disproportionate number of either true or false
statements or even patterns in the occurrence of true and false statements. Randomize the
sequence of true and false statements.

6. Avoid using more than one idea in a True or False question. Make your main point prominent.

7. Avoid specific quantifiers or extraneous clues to the answer. They tend to be either always
true or always false.

Existential Quantifiers (True): some, usually, often, generally

Universal Quantifiers (False): always, never, all, none

Example: Christmas always falls on Sunday because it is a Sabbath day.

Statements that use the word always are almost always false. A test-wise student can easily
guess his way through a test like these and get high scores even if he does not know anything
about the test.
8. Use negative statements sparingly and do not use double negatives. Negative words are often
overlooked and should be underlined or in capital letters.

9. Opinion statements should be attributed to some source. Instead of agreeing with the stated
opinion, the students should be aware of the opinions of the organization or individuals.

10. When cause and effect relationships are being measured; use only true propositions.
11. Write items that test significant material, not trivial details. The correct answer should
require the specialized knowledge being tested, not common sense.

V. EXAMPLES
Good Example: A subject pronoun is used to replace another noun
Poor Example: Subject pronouns, which can be found only in the beginning of sentences and
have no bearing on the word order, are used to replace nouns.
Statement must be short and simple. The question should be based on the learners
knowledge and not their ability to interpret the question.

Good Example: Solar energy is an alternative energy source

Poor Example: Solar energy is often used as an alternative energy source.
True statements should be true under all circumstances. Using may, seldom, possible,
often, and other qualifiers should be avoided.

Good Example: Bread and grain are at the bottom of the food pyramid.
Poor Example: Bread and grains are not at the top of the food pyramid.
Negative statements should be used sparingly and double negatives should not be used.
Negative words are often overlooked and should be underlined or in capital letters.

Good Example: Henry Otley Beyer formulated the Migration Theory.

Poor Example: Henry Otley Beyer did not formulate the Migration Theory.
Use of negatively stated statements should be avoided.

Good Example: All spiders have exoskeletons

Poor Example: All spiders have exoskeletons and only prey on insects.
Using more than one idea in a True or False question should be avoided. Make your main
point prominent.

Good Example: Dr. Bartels prefers using the Chaos theory to study science
Poor Example: Scientific method is the only way of studying science
Good Example: Gronlund believes that testing should play a major role in the teaching-learning
process.
Poor Example: Testing should play a major role in the teaching-learning process.
Opinion statements should be attributed to some source, unless used to distinguish facts
from opinion. Instead of agreeing with the stated opinion, the students should be aware of
the opinions of the organization or individuals.

Good Example: Sulfur dioxide produces sulfuric acid because of oxidation.

Poor Example: Sulfur dioxide produces sulfuric acid because sulfur gases are emitted from
industrial smoke stacks.
When cause and effect relationships are being measured, only true propositions should be
used.

Good Example: Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin.

It only has one idea in the item.
Poor Example: Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin in Springfield, Missouri.
This item contains more than one concept. It could confuse learners as one part might be
true while another might be false.

Good Example: Sophocles wrote Oedipus Rex.

Poor Example: Sophocles wrote Oedipus Rex that is about a man who unintentionally killed his
father, married his mother, and blinded himself.
Long and complex sentences should be avoided.

Good Example: Large destructive fire is a source of forest destruction in the USA.
Poor Example: Conflagration is a source of forest destruction in the USA.
Use of unfamiliar vocabulary should be avoided.
References:

Constructing True-False Test. Slideshare, 25 January 2013,

http://www.slideshare.net/mm_angeles/constructing-truefalse-test. Accessed 20
September 2016.

Exam questions: types, characteristics, and suggestions. Centre for Teaching Excellence,
https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-
tips/developing-assignments/exams/questions-types-characteristics-suggestions.
Accessed 20 September 2016.

Lucero, Rod. Composing True/False Questions. Teaching@CSU,

http://teaching.colostate.edu/tips/tip.cfm?tipid=155. Accessed 20 September 2016.

True-False Questions. Pennstate: Teaching and Learning With Technology, 14 November

2014, http://archive.tlt.psu.edu/learningdesign/quizquestions/truefalse/tf.html. Accessed
20 September 2016.

Writing True-False Items. University of Minnesota: Driven to Discover, 17 July 2015,

https://oms.umn.edu/fce/how_to_write/truefalse.php. Accessed 20 September 2016.