These kinds of questions eliminate the chance that the applicant will randomly choose the correct answer from a list.

Choose the "Typed Response" option as the Question Type when you add or edit a question.

Beneath "Answers," you'll need to add all of the answers that an applicant should receive full or partial points for. Any answers that aren't listed will receive 0 points.

This field ignores capitalization, so you do not need to enter different answers based on capitalization. (Ex: "blue," "BLUE," and "Blue" are all read as the same answer.)

However, you do need to include any spelling variants or misspellings that you want to give full or partial credit for. You can assign these answers full or partial credit.

Additionally, if an applicant might spell out numerical answers, you can add both answer fields. (Ex: "2" and "Two.")

Remember that because you must anticipate all possible correct answers, typed response questions work best for very short answers, such as numeric or one-word answers.

Here's an example of a typed response question where the applicant receives full credit for the correctly spelled full name, but also receives partial credit for using a common misspelling or only the last name: 

(Remember that with typed response questions, any answer besides the ones listed will receive no points.)

When you're deciding whether or not to assign partial credit, as yourself: What are you trying to test? Which answers show that knowledge or skill?

For example, think about the above question about the President of France. If you were hiring copyeditor to edit  international news articles, you would only give credit for a correctly spelled full name. That's something they need to know.

However, if you were hiring a portfolio manager who needs to be aware of how current events affect the market, spelling is less important; someone who misspells the name still clearly knows the answer. You'd likely want to give credit (maybe even full credit) for common misspellings.

For more context, see our complete walk-through of the Custom Test Builder.