ITIL Certification: a technique for passing multiple-choice exams

This post has been podcast

Updated July 2009
Multiple-choice exams test how well someone can do multiple-choice exams. Depending on how well written the qustions are, they might also test some understanding of the topic ... or not. With good technique you can get a pretty good score with limited knowledge.

We had this sample question discussed here recently:

19 Which is the first activity of the Continual Service Improvement (CSI) model?

a) Assess the current business situation
b) Carry out a baseline assessment to understand the current situation
c) Agree on priorities for improvement
d) Create and verify a plan

which is ambiguous at best.

And buraddo made the comment that

...multiple choice (which when written in ambiguous form as per this blog entry example or using the classic, which answer is more right than the others trick) is still a test in english comprehension and not understanding... Its not whether they make you think, but whether they make you think about the right stuff. I have no doubt that they are challenging, but an accomplished student can always win over an accomplished subject matter expert.

I long ago learned effective multiple-choice technique:

• Analyse the question:
  1. What is it actually saying?
  2. what is the Boolean logic? Sort out all the NOTs/ANDs/ORs to find out what they are really asking
  3. Any tricks?
• Analyse the ANSWERS as much as the question: the answers are full of clues
• Eliminate the obvious wrong answers. Usually you are now down to two
• Look for a subtlety in the wording of one that would eliminate it. Some ITIL questions asked "which is the BEST..." so one answer is MORE right than the other.
• Now make a value call to pick from any remaining options
• When all else fails, guess. Usually you are down to two so you have a 50/50 chance. ITIL doesn't penalise wrong answers, so you might still like those odds.

...so multiple-choice tests your ability in Boolean logic, English comprehension, subtlety of meaning, and judgement calls. Some basic understanding of the terminology is required to also understand the questions. Equipped with those skills and this process you should scrape a pass in most multiple-choice exams.

But only the very best-written multiple-choice questions actually test competency in the subject.

My pet hate is examples such as the #19 discussed above. This question does not test knowledge. It tests memorisation by rote of the list in the book. Which one comes first? Depends on where you start: CSI is a circular process. In the book the process starts with one particular point, but knowing that has more to do with treating the ITIL books as holy writ to be memorised and less to do with understanding what service improvement is all about.

Other examples of memorising the sacred texts are:
"Which of the following is NOT described as a function but as a process..."
"Which of the following is NOT one of the 7 Rs that must be answered for all changes..."

ITIL V3 is big business now. An ITIL certification counts, and people pay good money to get one. Questions require expert writers, rigorous quality assurance and - an IT Skeptic hobby-horse - effective feedback and review.

After a wobbly start that I think arose from having the vested interests in control, the exams seem pretty good now. Feedback on this blog was about 50% positive. But there are still some bad questions out there. So far I'd give OGC a C pass for preparing the exams.