An Analysis of the MA Exam Items of Political Science in the Past Five Years in Iran

T
he analysis of the MA entrance exam items set for Political Science in the last five years was carried out on the basis of the following criterion: content validity, sources of exam materials, repeat question, and the problems prevalent in the test items, and to augment their validity and reliability to adequately discriminate qualified candidates.
Research results indicate that all test items analyzed lack adequate content validity, the readings for the tests were not adequately identified in advance for the candidates, the incidence of repeat questions was inordinately high, the preponderance of the questions did not tap candidates independent critical ability but rather had them remember what they had already memorized. Despite the weaknesses, the questions set for the MA entrance exam seemed to follow the principles of item formulations in terms of their formal aspects.
The main suggestions based on the empirical analyses of the study are as follows: the readings for the exam have to be announced in advance by the concerned authorities, the exam items must be reevaluated by a specialized committee, the items set have to be further modified by a group of educational experts, the analysis of items on a yearly basis to ascertain their being standardized, the authorities responsible to administer the test have to keep themselves up-to-date by referring to new findings.