Comparison of Two Standard Setting Methods in a Medical Students MCQs Exam in Internal Medicine

摘要

Background: There is no single recommended approach to standard setting and many methods exist. These include norm-referenced methods and the criterion- referenced methods. The Angoff method is the most widely used and researched criterion-referenced method of standard setting.Becausethe outcome of assessments is determined by the standard-setting method used and because different methods of setting standards result in different standards, the choice and process of the method used is of utmost importance. The aim of this study was to compare two standard setting methods, norm-referenced and Angoff methods.Methods: Two different methods of standard setting were applied on the raw scores of 106 final medical students on a multiple choice (MCQ) examination in internal medicine. One of these was the modified Angoff method and the other the norm-reference method of standard setting (mean minus 1 SD). The pass rates derived from the two methods were compared. Results: The pass rate with the norm-reference method was 88% (93/106) and that by the Angoff method was 39% (41/106). The percentage agreement between Angoff method and norm-reference was 36% (95% CI 36% – 81%).Conclusions: The two standard-setting methods used, produced significantly different outcomes. This was demonstrated by the different pass rates.