Multiple Choice Skills Workshop

1. Multiple Choice Skills Workshop

2. Let’s consider a typical multiple choice question… 2. Perpetual inventory is an inventory system in which the value of the inventory is: a) perpetually out of agreement with reality; b) updated after each sale; c) based on a physical count of inventory performed at the end of the accounting period; d) correct only once during the accounting cycle; e) c and d. … always up-to-date? This could be periodic… but it’s not! This is asking about the value of the inventory; not how the inventory is recorded, etc. Do not glance down at the answers! 1. Read the question slowly. 2. Underline any variable elements. (Elements that could possibly be switched with a different term or concept.) 3. Underline any key elements. (Elements that identify the focus or objective of the question.) 4. Develop your own answer to the question before looking at the various options. 5. i) Scan the options in an effort to find an answer that is consistent with your intuition. ii) Eliminate incompatible options.

3. Let’s consider a typical multiple choice question… 2. Perpetual inventory is an inventory system in which the value of the inventory is: a) perpetually out of agreement with reality; b) updated after each sale; c) based on a physical count of inventory performed at the end of the accounting period; d) correct only once during the accounting cycle; e) c and d. O P  The winner! O O O O O Do not glance down at the answers! 1. Read the question slowly. 2. Underline any variable elements. (Elements that could possibly be switched with a different term or concept.) 3. Underline any key elements. (Elements that identify the focus or objective of the question.) 4. Develop your own answer to the question before looking at the various options. 5. i) Scan the options in an effort to find an answer that is consistent with your intuition. ii) Eliminate incompatible options. Note: If you see that a combination answer is available, then consider each option within the combination before dismissing this answer.

4. Points to Note about Mr. Lightstone’s Multiple Choice Questions • They generally contain five options. • They contain no humorous options that can be eliminated. • All options will be grammatically consistent with the original statement. • All options will be made to sound quite reasonable. In other words, they will all sound correct. • Only one option will actually be correct. The rest will be absolutely wrong based on a particular point of logic. • The fifth choice is usually a combination (ie. b and d), an “all of the above,” or a “none of the above” option. • In the case where a combination option is the correct answer, any other option (ie. just one of the two correct options) is considered incorrect, because by selecting just one of the two correct options the student is stating that the other correct option is incorrect. This error cancels out any credit that might have been earned by selecting the one correct option.

5. Good luck!