This variable controls the reporting of counts of option, distractor or category usage in Table 10.3 etc. The standard is DISTRACTOR=YES, if more than two values are specified in CODES=.
DISTRACTOR=No |
Omit the option or distractor Table 10.3 etc. |
DISTRACTOR=Yes |
Include Table 10.3 etc, i.e., counts, for each item, for each of the values in CODES=, and for the number of responses counted as MISSCORE= |
Distractor Analysis - Multiple-Choice (MCQ) Distractors
The distractor table reports what happened to the original observations after they were scored dichotomously.
Item writers often intend the MCQ options to be something like:
A. Correct option (scored 1) - high-ability respondents - highest positive point-biserial
B. Almost correct distractor (scored 0) - almost-competent respondents - somewhat positive point-biserial
C. Mostly wrong distractor (scored 0) - slightly competent respondents - zero to negative point-biserial
D. Completely wrong distractor (scored 0) - ignorant respondents - highly negative point-biserial
The distractor table reports whether this happened.
Example of a good set of distractors:
You will obtain exactly the same Rasch measures if you score your MCQ items in advance and submit a 0-1 dataset to Winsteps.
