An inside look at how questions are created
CCIP members keep exam updated, relevant
Each year the Council for Certification of IRB Professionals (CCIP) meet with representatives of the Professional Testing Corp. (PTC) to prepare the next year's Certified IRB Professional (CIP) examination.
"We take a close look at the content outline in our handbook and see if there are any new regulatory areas that need to be addressed," says Susan Delano, CIP, deputy managing director of the Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene of Menands, NY. Delano is the chair for the CCIP.
"Once a year we get together to prepare the exam for the next year," she adds. "It's a new exam every year."
PTC helps put together questions, including some that are similar to those in previous exams and others that are entirely new.
For each section in the exam, there is a pool of questions that PTC maintains, and these include new and previously used questions.
"We look at all questions for the next year's exam to make sure these are accurate, well-written, applicable, and to make sure the federal guidance hasn't changed any questions," Delano says. "Each area is weighted, and the questions are selected in order to make sure we cover all of the areas."
During an annual item review session, CCIP members in small groups spend time going over new questions to assess them for their relevance to the body of knowledge and for their appropriateness for two-year candidates. They also make sure each question has the correct answer indicated.
"When a question survives this process, it goes into a pool of questions that PCT can propose for the exam," Delano says.
Security and reliability are major concerns, so old questions are checked, refreshed, and improved whenever possible.
"Then after we individually review it as a group, we go through every question and discuss any issues anyone might have with a question and see if we can write it more clearly," Delano says.
"We lock ourselves in a room for one and a half days to go over the questions," she adds. "We're guided by PTC, who provides technical expertise."
Their goal is to make the exam as valid and reliable as possible.
"We check the statistics on the exam at the time of review and after each exam is given," she says.
Each year the Council for Certification of IRB Professionals (CCIP) meet with representatives of the Professional Testing Corp. (PTC) to prepare the next year's Certified IRB Professional (CIP) examination.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content