%0 Journal Article
%T Approaches to data analysis of multiple-choice questions
%A Lin Ding
%A Robert Beichner
%J Physical Review Special Topics. Physics Education Research
%D 2009
%I 
%X This paper introduces five commonly used approaches to analyzing multiple-choice test data. They are classical test theory, factor analysis, cluster analysis, item response theory, and model analysis. Brief descriptions of the goals and algorithms of these approaches are provided, together with examples illustrating their applications in physics education research. We minimize mathematics, instead placing emphasis on data interpretation using these approaches.
%U http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.5.020103