The biggest problem that students face during their preparatory phase is confusion & panic in certain questions that have different answers in different MCQ Guidance books. Let us see why the answers differ from edition to edition, author to author and book to book.
Genesis of this problem:
There are many questions, probably hundreds and hundreds of them that were framed at different points of time - some in 1970s, some in 1980s, similarly 1990s, and some very recently. Hence, different examination boards would have different answer keys based on the answers provided by the different examiners who took the best evidence available at 'that time'. This leads to two things.
1. Science is exciting, ever changing, dynamic and progressive. Drugs of choice, materials of choice, techniques of choice, pontic of choice, prevalence, incidence of a disease, name of a micro-organism, the best diagnostic technique, laws like Ante's law are all bound to change. They have changed and will continue to change. And what holds good today won't remain the same later.
2. Suppose a question repeats now, say for the 10th time, there is a possibility that the answer might be different now, since the evidence might have changed by now. This is if you compare it with the evidence that was available at the time when this question was framed. But nobody can come to know who had framed it and in which year- these are the factors that decide the key that was provided at the time of preparation of question. But MCQ book authors take the latest evidence that is available now. This is why many answers differ from edition to edition, author to author and book to book.
So how to overcome this hurdle?
1. The best foolproof method is to understand the current scientific evidence. If you know the current evidence based explanation to a question, then a lot of confusion and unnecessary struggle can be avoided. Through this a lot of concepts will get interlinked and you will be in a position to generate answers to many more questions other than this one particular controversial question.
2. And suppose there is an exam, where all such 'controversial' questions happen to come together by sheer coincidence, what to do? Even if they all come together, even then they would not comprise more than 5% questions of that exam. And logically, it can be assumed that you were confused about only these 5% controversial questions and know the answers of remaining 95% questions. In that case you can afford to leave these 5% unattempted, because you will be dead sure about the answers of rest 95% questions. And even if you go wrong in that 95%, due to "problem in peak performance", you should be able to reach at least 85% to 90%, a score that rarely anybody gets.
3. That's why whenever anybody posts a controversial question on any forum, I ask the student "what is YOUR answer?”. You MUST have your own answer, your own explanation based on your own text book (latest edition) reference. Then you will not go wrong even if all controversial questions come together in the same examination by coincidence. Peak performance is all about quick retrieval, connecting different concepts and generating the right answer on the day of examination. While others would be struggling with controversies, you will be having a time of your life - with the latest evidence based answers taken directly from the literature.
That's why comparing different MCQ books & authors is a time wasting exercise.
Conclusion:
Two strategies for controversial questions:
1. Self referenced answers.
2. Ignoring these questions.
If you do not have your self- searched answers, reading about controversies is useless. And if you have your self- searched answers, controversies do not matter.
Genesis of this problem:
There are many questions, probably hundreds and hundreds of them that were framed at different points of time - some in 1970s, some in 1980s, similarly 1990s, and some very recently. Hence, different examination boards would have different answer keys based on the answers provided by the different examiners who took the best evidence available at 'that time'. This leads to two things.
1. Science is exciting, ever changing, dynamic and progressive. Drugs of choice, materials of choice, techniques of choice, pontic of choice, prevalence, incidence of a disease, name of a micro-organism, the best diagnostic technique, laws like Ante's law are all bound to change. They have changed and will continue to change. And what holds good today won't remain the same later.
2. Suppose a question repeats now, say for the 10th time, there is a possibility that the answer might be different now, since the evidence might have changed by now. This is if you compare it with the evidence that was available at the time when this question was framed. But nobody can come to know who had framed it and in which year- these are the factors that decide the key that was provided at the time of preparation of question. But MCQ book authors take the latest evidence that is available now. This is why many answers differ from edition to edition, author to author and book to book.
So how to overcome this hurdle?
1. The best foolproof method is to understand the current scientific evidence. If you know the current evidence based explanation to a question, then a lot of confusion and unnecessary struggle can be avoided. Through this a lot of concepts will get interlinked and you will be in a position to generate answers to many more questions other than this one particular controversial question.
2. And suppose there is an exam, where all such 'controversial' questions happen to come together by sheer coincidence, what to do? Even if they all come together, even then they would not comprise more than 5% questions of that exam. And logically, it can be assumed that you were confused about only these 5% controversial questions and know the answers of remaining 95% questions. In that case you can afford to leave these 5% unattempted, because you will be dead sure about the answers of rest 95% questions. And even if you go wrong in that 95%, due to "problem in peak performance", you should be able to reach at least 85% to 90%, a score that rarely anybody gets.
3. That's why whenever anybody posts a controversial question on any forum, I ask the student "what is YOUR answer?”. You MUST have your own answer, your own explanation based on your own text book (latest edition) reference. Then you will not go wrong even if all controversial questions come together in the same examination by coincidence. Peak performance is all about quick retrieval, connecting different concepts and generating the right answer on the day of examination. While others would be struggling with controversies, you will be having a time of your life - with the latest evidence based answers taken directly from the literature.
That's why comparing different MCQ books & authors is a time wasting exercise.
Two strategies for controversial questions:
1. Self referenced answers.
2. Ignoring these questions.
If you do not have your self- searched answers, reading about controversies is useless. And if you have your self- searched answers, controversies do not matter.
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