True-false items share most of the advantages of "objective" or selected-response item forms:

1. Versatility -- True-false items are adaptable to the measurement of a wide variety of learning outcomes.
2. Scoring accuracy and economy -- Scoring keys can be economically applied by machine or clerical assistants.
3. Reliability -- True-false tests that are highly reliable can be constructed.
4. Amenable to item analysis -- Item analysis have means by which they can be improved.

In comparison with other selected-response items, e.g., multiple-choice, true-false items have several additional advantages:

1. Efficiency -- More test responses can be obtained from a given amount of written material and in a given amount of time from true-false items than from other forms. Three true false items can be answered for every two multiple-choice items. Consequently, true-false items permit the widest sampling of content.
2. True-false items are especially useful for questions where there are only two reasonable answers.
3. True-false items are especially useful in testing misconceptions.
4. True-false items can be expressed in few words, making them easy to understand and less dependent on reading ability.

1. True-false items are especially subject to guessing. Half the items would be expected to be correct by chance. (But the likelihood of obtaining a substantially higher score by guessing alone is very small).
2. In general, individual true-false items are less discriminating than individual multiple-choice items.
3. There is a tendency to write trivial true-false items, which lead students to verbatim memorization.
4. No diagnostic information is available from incorrect responses to true-false items.
5. True-false items are not amenable to questions that cannot be formulated as propositions.

The wide range of items that can be used in a true-false test minimize the effects of guessing and lower item discrimination; therefore true-false tests are equal in quality to multiple-choice tests and can be constructed for administration in a given testing time. The key is to write sound test items for either form.

1. Write items that test significant material, not trivial details. The correct answer should require the specialized knowledge being tested, not common sense.

2. Focus each item on a single idea so that students do not have to deal with the possible truth or falsity of two or more propositions at once. Compound statements can sometimes be divided into two separate items.

3. Express each item in simple and clear language.

4. Provide sufficient information in the item to allow its truth to be judged. Include attribution of opinion or other context where appropriate.

5. Word items precisely so that they can be unequivocally determined to be true or false. Use quantitative rather than qualitative language or make comparative rather than absolute statements. The keyed response should be clearly defensible and agreed on by experts in the field.

6. Reformulate principles or use examples, rather than use the same language as the text or reference materials, especially stereotyped phrases, to avoid encouraging reliance on rote memorization.

7. Avoid negatively worded statements in general and particularly double negatives. If the statement cannot be formulated positively, be sure to emphasize negative terms with underlining or bolding.

8. Do not use "specific determiners," such as "always", "never", "every", just to make a proposition false; conversely, do not use qualifiers such as "usually", "often", and "seldom" only in true statements. Such terms can serve as extraneous cues to test wise students unless the pattern of their use is varied.

9. If a proposition expresses a relationship, such as cause and effect or premise and conclusion, present the correct part of the statement first and vary the truth or falsity of the second part.

10. Use somewhat more false than true statements because false statements discriminate better between high-ability and low-ability students. (Students tend to mark true more often than false when guessing blindly.)

11. Make true and false items of approximately equal average length throughout the test.

12. Randomize the sequence of true and false statements.

13. Make use of popular misconceptions or beliefs as false statements.

14. Try to word items so that the incorrect response is more plausible or attractive to those without the specialized knowledge being tested.

15. Make use, where appropriate, of multiple true-false items, in which a single stem is followed by several statements or phrases based on the stem, each of which requires a true-false response. (Note that this guideline is the complement of the guideline to avoid writing multiple-choice items in which the options are just a set of true-false statements. The latter are inefficient because they provide just one scored response per item, whereas the multiple true-false item provides as many scored responses as there are parts to the item.)

16. Consider the use of introductory material to base true false items such as maps, graphs or written passages.