How to Create a Multiple-Choice Test

Many of you reading this will admit to the joy of taking multiple-choice question (MCQ) tests as students. Multiple choice questions are quick and fun. Instead of typing-in long answers, you get to pick the correct answer out of multiple answer choices. 

But, MCQ quizzes are much more than a fun way to test knowledge. If properly designed, these can also be great for reinforcing learning and enhancing online marketing campaigns.

You can make multiple-choice tests for several purposes, including: 

• Student assessment 
• Employee training 
• Hiring and onboarding
• Interactive online marketing 

Creating a multiple-choice test that helps you achieve your goals is not a matter of rocket science, but it’s undoubtedly an art you need to master. Fortunately, you have online quiz software to help you out. 

In this blog, you’ll learn everything about multiple-choice tests & quizzes, including:

• What they are
• Why you should create them using online quiz software
• How to make your own multiple-choice quiz online
• Tips for creating the best multiple-choice tests 

And more.

Let’s jump in!

What is a Multiple-Choice Test?

A multiple-choice test is a quiz made of multiple-choice questions (MCQs). Multiple choice questions present the quiz taker with a question statement (aka “the stem”) followed by multiple (usually 3-5) answer options to choose from. 

In an MCQ, there is only one correct answer, and the rest of the options are ‘distractors.’ 

The stem can either be a straightforward question, such as: 

Or, it can be in the fill-in-the-blank style, like this:

If you’re creating a math quiz, your question statement can be an equation. 

MCQs may even have images or videos as the question statement or answer options and include other elements, such as graphs, tables, audio clips, etc.

Personality MCQ Quizzes 

Quizzes that test the quiz takers’ knowledge or cognitive aptitude (scored quizzes) aren’t the only types of MCQ quizzes you can make. You can also create a personality quiz. 

Like scored MCQ quizzes, personality MCQ quizzes also ask the quiz taker to choose only one answer option. 

But, unlike scored quizzes, the personality MCQ quizzes don’t have any right or wrong answer options and don’t provide a score-based result. Instead, personality quizzes provide a personality-based outcome, with each answer option corresponding to a different personality.

Multiple-Choice Questions vs. Multiple Response Questions 

Multiple choice questions have a similar structure to multiple response (aka checkbox) questions. Both question types present a statement followed by multiple answer options. The difference between the two is that you can choose more than one answer option in multiple response questions.

Though MCQs are the simplest and most popular question type, you can also include some multiple response or other styles of questions in your quiz to suit your requirements.

Watch: 15+ Question Types for Online Learning & Assessment

With that comparison, we’ve got the basic info about MCQ quizzes out of the way. Now let’s look at how you can benefit from creating online multiple-choice quizzes.

Benefits of Creating an MCQ Test Using Online Quiz Maker 

Online MCQ tests and quizzes are uber-versatile. By creating multiple-choice quizzes, you can: 

Teach and assess learners in an interactive way 

Conduct secure examinations at a scale

Identify and address employee learning needs and challenges

Boost team building and employee engagement initiatives

Test skills, knowledge, personality, and cognitive aptitude of job candidates

Watch: How to Create an Employee Onboarding Training Program

Personalize product recommendations

Researching target audiences for your business

Capture lead info and nurture qualified leads

Entertain and engage your audiences to build/maintain your online presence

So that’s a lot of excellent use cases for MCQ quizzes. But why do you need to make your multiple-choice test online using a quiz maker? 

The answer – because everything is simpler and easier when you use an online multiple-choice quiz maker.

Here are the benefits you can expect if you use a cloud-based quiz tools, such as ProProfs, to create your own multiple-choice test.

• Instant feedback – With online MCQ tests, you can provide instant results and feedback. You can reveal the answer explanations for questions as soon as the quiz takers answer them. This way, you provide feedback when learners have the questions fresh in their minds and are eager to learn more, giving a big boost to learning. You can also give separate, personalized feedback to learners via text, video, or audio to help them improve their understanding of the subject. 

Watch: How 5ive2wo Tutoring automated student assessments, instant scoring & feedback

• Saved time & effort – Online MCQ quizzes can be pre-scored to get graded automatically. If you have a lot of learners, this can save tons of time. Online MCQ quizzes can also be assigned to a large batch of learners in a single go, making the assessment process more efficient and streamlined.

Watch: How to Automate Quiz Scoring & Grading

• Cost-effectiveness – Online multiple-choice quizzes can save you a lot of money, when assessing at scale. This is especially true if you’re using a quiz maker that offers anti-cheating settings that you can use to conduct secure remote exams, eliminating the need for an examination center.
• Rich learner experience – The best multiple-choice quiz makers let you include videos, audio, images, documents, and links – in your questions, answers, and elsewhere. This way, you can engagingly present questions and offer additional learning resources within the quiz.
• Analyze performance & progress – Best quiz tools come with a reporting mechanism that you can use to conduct a detailed analysis of quiz takers’ performance and track their learning progress over time.

Watch: How to Review Quiz Reports & Statistics

How to Make a Multiple-Choice Quiz

We’ve finally arrived at the core of our discussion — how you can create engaging MCQ quizzes using a feature-rich multiple-choice quiz maker. 

Now you can design intuitive and attractive MCQ quizzes and tests with simple steps.

Without further ado, here we go.

Watch: How to Create a Multiple-Choice Quiz in Minutes

Step 1: Log onto your Quiz Maker account > Go to the “Create a Quiz” option

Step 2: Choose between – Scored or Personality type of MCQ quiz templates.

If you wish to create an MCQ quiz from scratch, go for “Create from Scratch.”

For demonstration, let’s go with the “Market Research Quiz Template”.

Step 3: Select “Use This Template” to open the quiz editor.

Step 4: Click “Add Question” to add more questions. 

Pro Tip – Instead of drafting your own questions, you can import from the Question Bank, which contains one million+ ready-to-use questions.

You can also edit or delete the existing questions by clicking the three dots menu. 

Step 5: Configure and customize your MCQ quiz by clicking “Settings.” 

And, that’s it. You’re done. 

See how quick the process was?

Before you publish or share your quiz, you can test-run it by clicking “Preview” and then “Preview as Quiz Taker.”

Want to learn more about quiz-making with ProProfs Quiz Maker? Check out our detailed guide on the topic.

Tips to Create The Best Multiple-Choice Questions Quiz

So now you know the seamless process for creating a multiple-choice test online. Now let’s see how you can optimize your quiz for maximum engagement. We’ll start by learning how to create multiple-choice questions & answer options and then explore some design and security-related tips.

Questions

✓ Use a simple format

Framing a simple question stem is one of the primary rules of creating multiple-choice questions.

Though complex question formats have become popular, it’s always better to keep answer choices simple and easy to understand to avoid confusion.

Creating questions and answer choices that are difficult to understand may require more time and mental effort, meaning students might skip the question or answer randomly.

For example, it’s best to avoid choices such as “A and B, but not C,”.

✓ Use familiar language

If you’re creating a learning assessment, your questions must have the same language as the course material.

Avoid using unfamiliar expressions or foreign language terms unless measuring knowledge of such language is one of the goals of the test. That’s because students may dismiss distractors with unfamiliar terms as incorrect.

✓ Avoid adding irrelevant information 

Adding unnecessary information to questions does no good. It only increases the question length and can also lead to confusion and wasted time. And even if the extra information is somewhat relevant, as in the case below, it’s best to reveal it in the feedback. 

Answer Options 

✓ Avoid unintentional clues 

Inconsistency in answer choices often comes across as a clue to the correct answer. Differences in grammar, length, formatting, and language choice in the answer choices often make an answer choice seem like the correct answer.

So, it is important that all the answer choices: 

• Have grammar consistent with the question
• Are parallel in the form
• Are similar in length
• Use similar language (e.g., all unlike textbook language or all like textbook language)

✓ Avoid ‘all of the above’ & ‘none of the above’ answer choices

While these are pretty popular, it’s best to avoid using ‘all of the above’ & ‘none of the above’ answer options in learning assessments. That’s because questions with these options are relatively easier to answer. 

When you use ‘all of the above’, students can score full points on the question by identifying any two of the regular answer choices as correct. They don’t even have to look at the other options. 

On the other hand, having “none of the above” as the answer doesn’t accurately test whether the student knows the correct answer or not. It only reveals that they know that the distractors aren’t correct.

✓ Have three to five answer choices per question 

Don’t go overboard with the answer choices. Limit them to three or four per question (maximum five if necessary). From an assessment point of view, having three options is as effective as having six. So, the extra options only add to the length of the question. 

✓ Make the distractors plausible 

Farfetched or ‘obviously wrong’ distractors make it easier for students to locate the correct answer by process of elimination – even if they have little knowledge of the topic. 

Here’s an example: 

Here, “study skills” is the right answer to the question and the other answer options have no plausible link to counseling services. An ideal question should have plausible links between the question and the distractors, like this:

✓ Place the answer choices in some meaningful order

A better-structured question is easy to understand and even easier to respond to. So, try to place the choices in numerical, chronological, or conceptual order whenever possible. For example:

During what period was Barack Obama the president of the USA?

(a) 2007 – 2015

(b) 2008 – 2016

(c) 2009 -2017 (right answer)

(d) 2010 – 2018

Design

✓ Add your logo 

Give a personality to your multiple-choice tests by adding your logo to the test description. This is possible if you create your test with good online test generator software.

✓ Change background as per the topic

Adding a background relevant to your test topic makes your multiple-choice quiz more interesting for quiz takers.

For example: If you’re conducting a geography test on the topic of “rainforests”, make sure that the background image represents forests.

✓ Change color themes 

You can change the color theme to suit your taste. But, remember that the scheme should resonate with your test.

✓ Provide completion certificates

Providing completion certificates to your students is entirely up to you. Some online quiz software tools let you create customized completion certificates sent to learners after they complete their test.

Completion certificates are a great way to motivate your learners and inspire them to perform better.

Security 

✓ Create private links 

If you’re conducting an online exam, creating a private link or putting a password on your test prevents unauthorized access and leakage of test paper.

✓ Shuffle questions & answer choices 

Randomizing questions and answer options is a great way to reduce the chances of cheating in tests and exams. Every test taker receives a different order of questions and answer options, making it difficult for them to copy answers.

✓ Enable remote proctoring 

Another super-useful anti-cheating feature, remote proctoring functionalities let you check for suspicious activity when conducting an exam.

✓ Make your browser secure

When taking a remote online exam, learners shouldn’t be able to switch tabs and look for answers on the internet. They should also not be able to copy or print the test’s content to share with their friends. 

Watch: How to Customize & Configure Your Quiz

Bonus Tip – Use a good multiple-choice test generator

Creating a multiple-choice test with quiz software can be anything from a quick and fun experience to an ordeal that makes you rethink your decision to take your tests online. So, you must choose your quiz tool carefully.

Your MCQ quiz maker must be intuitive and offer all the features you require. Hop on to the next section to know which features you should look for.

How to Choose the Best Multiple-Choice Test Generator

While creating MCQ quizzes online can be very easy, having to recreate all your content along with learner records can be quite inconvenient. So, it’s best to choose excellent quiz software you know you can rely on for the long haul. 

Here are the features that your quiz tool MUST have.

• Automated scoring & grading – For many, automated grading is the sole reason for switching to online tests and exams. It saves teachers & trainers from having to manually grade tests every day. Plus, auto-grading also lets you provide instant results to students.
• Anti-cheating features – Anti-cheating settings make it easy to ensure fair assessment, even if the assessments are conducted remotely. Here are some anti-cheating settings you should expect from your quiz tool:
  • Secure, private & individualized logins for quiz takers
  • Question & answer shuffling
  • Question pooling for randomizing question selection
  • Remote proctoring via screen share/webcam
  • Tab switching prevention
  • Copying/printing prevention
  • Time limits 
• Reporting – Your quiz tool must offer insightful, real-time reports and analytics in an easily-digestible format. For instance, you should be able to easily track who has completed the quiz, who hasn’t and how much time each learner took to complete the quiz.
• Mobile support – Learners should be able to access quizzes on any device they prefer, including smartphones and tablets. Similarly, you should be able to access reports on any device.
• Customizability – Your quiz software should let you customize the look and feel of your quizzes. You should be able to: 
  • Customize the theme
  • Change the background
  • Add your logo
  • Customize the fonts
  • Customize results and reports

• Free trial – Free trials and demos let you make an informed decision without spending a lot of money comparing your options. 

• Customer service – Your quiz tool should offer quality customer support that quickly resolves your doubts and queries. 

Watch: How to Choose the Best Quiz Software

With that, you know all about creating MCQ quizzes online for any requirement.

Let’s cap off this post by looking at a few examples of excellent multiple-choice quizzes created with ProProfs Quiz Maker.

Examples of Multiple-Choice Quizzes

Here are some online multiple-choice quizzes across different use cases.

• MCQ Quiz for Educational Assessment 

• MCQ Quiz for Training & Hiring 

• MCQ Quiz for Marketing & Lead Generation

Choose the Right Option Today!

MCQ quizzes are perfect for online assessments, regardless of your industry or requirements. They let you test learners’ knowledge by asking questions in a simple yet highly effective format and are easy to make. They’re also incredibly versatile, perfect for many non-learning use cases as well.

But, all of that is only possible with the right tool.

ProProfs Quiz Maker is a simple and powerful quiz solution that is equally suitable for organizations of all sizes. Our intuitive quiz platform offers many features, including one million+ ready-to-use questions, 15+ question types, 100+ quiz settings, AI-powered reporting, customizable & brandable themes, and much more. So what are you waiting for? Get started today and make MCQ quizzes within minutes.