Quiz version history

We want each question to be easy to understand and its answers to cover the likely responses. We may rewrite one if people could reasonably read it in two ways, a useful answer is missing, or two choices mean much the same thing.

We also revisit result descriptions. A score can stay exactly the same while the wording changes because an explanation made too much of what the answers showed.

Typos and broken links are housekeeping. They should not affect a result. New questions, revised answer choices, different scoring, and rewritten interpretations can.

Adding or removing a question can alter a result. So can changing the available answers, giving an answer a different weight, or moving the point at which one result replaces another. A new result name or explanation may change how you understand the result even when the calculation stays the same.

The formal Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing say that when test versions differ, we should document the differences and explain what they mean for interpretation and score comparability. The Educational Testing Service guide to score equating explains that scores need an equating process if they are meant to keep the same meaning across editions.

We have not equated scores across editions of our quizzes, so we cannot convert an older result into a current score. A different result may come from the revision, from different answers, or from both.

When a revision changes the quiz version, an unfinished attempt from the older edition will no longer resume. You will need to begin again with the current questions.

Losing your place can be frustrating, but combining old and new questions could produce a result that belongs to neither edition. If you return and do not see the option to resume, a version change may be the reason.

When you use Copy result, we copy the quiz title, result heading, and current page link. A screenshot may capture the full explanation and facets you saw. In either case, the link opens the current quiz, which may differ from the one you took.

We cannot reconstruct an older result from its headline and link alone. For a more useful personal record, note the date and save the result name, explanation, and displayed facets together.

We do not keep a personal result history or a public archive of retired quizzes. Read an old result as a snapshot of that attempt.

For the clearest comparison, both people or both attempts should use the current quiz. If one result came from an older edition, compare the result descriptions and facets informally. The scores may have been calculated from different questions or rules.

A different result after a retake may reflect new answers, a revised quiz, or both. The retake gives you a current result; it does not recalculate the older attempt.

We publish the current edition of each quiz. If you want to compare a result later, save the date with the result heading and strongest facets. A screenshot gives you more context than the copied headline alone.

We do not have a complete public record for every past revision. If you cannot tell whether two attempts used the same edition, treat the comparison as informal.