If written correctly the responses in a multi-choice question should *all* be reasonable, however only one should match an answer derived using correct methods. All the other options should match an answer derived with a common error in method For example:
Find Mag.track from A --> B on a World Aeronautical Chart (B being a significant distance Westerly of A.)
Option 1 matches a track measured at the origin with variation applied correctly. (Track measurement on a Lamberts Conformal should be done at the mid point, not origin)
Option 2 matches a mid point measurement but fails to apply variation at all (response doesn't answer the question by failing to apply one of the parameters)
Option 3 matches a mid point measurement and applies variation correctly (correct method)
Option 4 matches a mid point measurement and applies variation incorrectly (another common error in technique)
No answer should stand out. That includes question construction errors too eg all responses a similar length, no grammatical 'give aways' such as plural stem/only one plural answer and the like.
There's a particularly good example of a poorly written question in the FAA's question bank. The Q. asks about distance travelled & ETA when crz. altitude is reached. The stem gives elevation, crz. altitude, ROC and various other necessary speed/time bits to determine distance. There is only a single option that includes the correct ETA. Every other response is wrong because the ETA is wrong. For this question there is no need to even start doing distance/speed calculations because the correct answer stands out just by finding minutes taken from 2000' to 8000' at 500'/min then adding that to the start time.
Last edited by Tinstaafl; 2nd March 2011 at 22:45.