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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1853 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 9, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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William and Diane Corndale are seeking help for infertility. They have been trying to conceive for 5 years, but have so far been unsuccessful. Which of the following is the most likely consequence of this stressor?

Select one:

Feelings of guilt

Negative impact on self-esteem

Decrease in frequency of sexual intercourse

Increase in number of disagreements

All of the listed options

Your answer is correct.

Difficulty in conceiving may place significant stress on a couple, and there's the potential for a wide spectrum of psychological struggles to ensue.

The correct answer is: All of the listed options

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I don't want to be right at the cost of my sanity.

That kind of "all of the above" and "none of the above" is generally seen as bad assessment.

For various reasons, but the former because if you can dismiss even one as wrong you can guess that "all of the above" isn't correct even if you're not sure of some others. It's like wasting a distractor. It adds unnecessary noise. Likewise if "none of the above" is correct, you know what the student knows is wrong but you don't know if they know what is right.

Often enough people who have no idea about item-response theory, test analysis, teat validity, or test reliability are involved in test creation and they end up making extremely bad tests.

Edit: That's "test validity" but I'll leave it for humor's sake.

Often enough people who have no idea about item-response theory, test analysis, teat validity, or test reliability are involved in test creation and they end up making extremely bad tests.

"But Doctor, instrumental validity and test analysis/reliability are explicit parts of the exam syllabus!"

Not kidding. It's there. You'd hope the people making the exam would understand that better; the Royal College claims that every question in the exam goes through careful vetting, but I suspect they're the kind of vets that hang around kennels.

Questions being difficult or relying on arcane knowledge is one thing. Being malformed is a step too far.

Since I'm already talking about bad questions:

"Which of the following ideologies place the needs of the group over the individual?"

Socialism/Communism/Collectivism/Individualism/Capitalism

I've steeped myself in exam-speak enough to know that collectivism is the right answer. But really?

Wait, you’re being asked this in a medical exam?

Yes. The exams run by the Royal College of Psychiatry, to be specific. Why Civics for People Who Failed Civics 101 is included is beyond my comprehension.

The official breakdown of marks is useless. The ratio, as far as I can tell is:

50% clinically relevant information (generous)

25% Why do they feel like I need to know this?

25% An ungodly assortment of antimemes and cognitohazards masquerading as multiple choice questions. Questions that have me questioning myself, or at least my life decisions.

I paid £500 for an exam with a 44% pass rate, I deserve better :(

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