An Analysis of the Difficulty of the Recent Online Tests

This is where all of the games are discussed.

Moderators: alietr, trainman, econgator, dhkendall

User avatar
Woof
Swimming in the Jeopardy! Pool
Posts: 5125
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2011 9:53 pm

An Analysis of the Difficulty of the Recent Online Tests

Post by Woof »

Many people weighed in on their subjective impression of the difficulty of the three recent online tests. I decided to look into the issue by tabulating the scores of those boardies who reported scores for all 3 tests. Thanks on the threads I found 34 people who reported all three scores:
Spoiler
acthomas
Anachronism
Bartleby
bbird
berto
billiej
BigDaddyMatty
Blue Lion
boson
Carpe Diem
Cat Hammarskjold
ceeslaw
cf140
cinemaniax7
clt013
dhkendall
DysonSphere
goongas
harrumph
hscer
immaf
IronNeck
jjwaymee
Leander
Lefty
LucasioSnooper
MarKBarrett
MasterCone
morbeedo
mrparadise
NewsToTom
nivek1385
nklotz
oduguy22
OntarioQuizzer
ouachoaut
rbakker
rjaguar3
sarisson
seaborgium
SpiffJumper22
Steven H
triviawayne
twelvefootboy
Ultraman
Woof
The results: Tues 3/6. Ave= 38.7 (5.1)
Wed 3/7 Ave= 40.4 (4.1)
Thu 3/8 Ave= 42.9 (3.9)

In parentheses are the standard deviations. As can be seen, Tuesday’s did have the lowest average, thought it does lie within a standard deviation of Wed. And Thursdays was indeed the easiest as determined by this analysis. If your name isn’t on my list and you took all three tests, feel free to reply with your data and I’ll incorporate you into this study, too.

ETA: autofilll typos fixed, stats updated through rjaguar3
Last edited by Woof on Wed Mar 14, 2018 6:39 pm, edited 4 times in total.
User avatar
triviawayne
Hoping I don’t drown in this contestant pool
Posts: 2677
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2015 9:50 pm

Re: An Analysis of the Difficulty if the Recent Online Tests

Post by triviawayne »

34, 37, 36--pretty normal for me, I have often hit the magic 35+ on all three, but recent (possibly faulty) memory has me missing the mark on 1/3 the last few rounds, luckily not on my "official" test.

Something I haven't done in a while is to try and classify the questions by category using the classic Trivial Pursuit categories to see what areas they ask about most. Just not enough categories, and there needs to be a miscellaneous I think to do it right; but I always used to notice a larger percentage of Art & Literature and History than anything else.

Anyone else do something like this, what did you notice?
Total game show career losings = $171,522
User avatar
MasterCone
Loyal Jeopardista
Posts: 228
Joined: Sat Apr 22, 2017 6:06 pm

Re: An Analysis of the Difficulty if the Recent Online Tests

Post by MasterCone »

37/39/43 were my scores
User avatar
jjwaymee
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 747
Joined: Mon Feb 10, 2014 8:28 am
Location: Holland, Michigan

Re: An Analysis of the Difficulty if the Recent Online Tests

Post by jjwaymee »

40/45/43 for me. I took it for real on Tuesday since that was the only night of the three that I was completely sober. :)
clt013
J! and SJ! Pool Participant
Posts: 942
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:56 pm
Location: Center Point, IA

Re: An Analysis of the Difficulty if the Recent Online Tests

Post by clt013 »

I was right on the average for two of the three...

Tue - 39
Wed - 38
Thu - 43
User avatar
twelvefootboy
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 2702
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2016 11:18 pm
Location: Tornado Alley / Southwest Missouri

Re: An Analysis of the Difficulty if the Recent Online Tests

Post by twelvefootboy »

If you want to bend the curve:

27 / 34 / 36

I took them in Wed (for real) / Thur / Tues order because I didn't know about the replay option or the answer sheet for grading. I had about the same proportion of brain farts for Wed/Thurs but Tuesday was just brutal for me and I don't think I hit any of my WAGs.
Disclaimer - repeated exposure to author's musings may cause befuddlement.
User avatar
cf1140
Not Jeopardy! Material
Posts: 500
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2014 10:04 pm

Re: An Analysis of the Difficulty if the Recent Online Tests

Post by cf1140 »

:twisted: TRENDBUCKER :twisted:

I had 47 / 45 / 46 ,

Regardless of my scores I still though the third test was the easiest.
User avatar
AndyTheQuizzer
Lots and Lots of Interviews
Posts: 2594
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2011 11:01 am
Location: St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Contact:

Re: An Analysis of the Difficulty if the Recent Online Tests

Post by AndyTheQuizzer »

You can throw in a 41 / 41 / 44 if you'd like for me.
Andy Saunders
J! Archive Founding Archivist
Publisher - The Jeopardy! Fan
bbird
Valued Contributor
Posts: 89
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2015 8:32 pm

Re: An Analysis of the Difficulty if the Recent Online Tests

Post by bbird »

31 - 36 - 31 for me. Unfortunately Thursday is the one I actually took.
User avatar
Blue Lion
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 1515
Joined: Fri Jan 24, 2014 9:12 pm
Location: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Re: An Analysis of the Difficulty if the Recent Online Tests

Post by Blue Lion »

Immediately after taking the Eastern test, I thought I was on the bubble. However, all five of my guesses were correct and I wound up with 43. Taking the Central and Pacific tests for funsies, I got 46 and 45, respectively. That said, I thought the Eastern test was the toughest, followed by Central and Pacific.
User avatar
acthomas
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 304
Joined: Wed Sep 14, 2016 2:29 pm
Location: Durham, NC
Contact:

Re: An Analysis of the Difficulty of the Recent Online Tests

Post by acthomas »

45-45-48 here. Definitely felt like it played easier overall this year and on Thursday in particular (though that could be the studying talking too.)
sarisson
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 871
Joined: Wed May 06, 2015 8:39 pm
Location: New Jersey

Re: An Analysis of the Difficulty of the Recent Online Tests

Post by sarisson »

45 (for real), 38, 45. I would've had two more on the third test, but the answers came to me just after time ran out.
Hoping for a third lap
harrumph
Voyeur
Posts: 1846
Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2011 12:00 pm
Location: Princeton, NJ

Re: An Analysis of the Difficulty of the Recent Online Tests

Post by harrumph »

I went Tues 28 Wed 31 Thurs 38.
Leander
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 2189
Joined: Thu Oct 04, 2012 10:18 am

Re: An Analysis of the Difficulty of the Recent Online Tests

Post by Leander »

41, 44, 45 for me. I thought the Tuesday test was the hardest in some time.
John Boy
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 2981
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2011 7:11 am

Re: An Analysis of the Difficulty of the Recent Online Tests

Post by John Boy »

Tuesday (practice) 40

Wednesday (real) 41

Thursday (fun) 44


Note: many times in years past I have taken all three tests like this. I believe this is my best trio of scores ever. I chalk that up to the relative absence of pop culture clues in all three. (Thank you, writers)
User avatar
billiej
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 789
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2011 2:56 pm
Location: Maine

Re: An Analysis of the Difficulty of the Recent Online Tests

Post by billiej »

35 (real)/35/43.... Wow! Thursday was definitely easier.
Last edited by billiej on Wed Mar 14, 2018 1:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Carpe Diem
Boardeh
Posts: 692
Joined: Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:27 am
Location: LAND OF LINCOLN

Re: An Analysis of the Difficulty of the Recent Online Tests

Post by Carpe Diem »

Tuesday: 41
Wednesday: 45
Thursday: 46
(In that order, from sherder's videos--thanks to sherder!)
SpiffJumper227
Contributor
Posts: 30
Joined: Mon Mar 04, 2013 11:11 pm

Re: An Analysis of the Difficulty of the Recent Online Tests

Post by SpiffJumper227 »

42 - 44 (for real) - 48 for me.

It would also be interesting to run the stats for real vs for practice, as well as before your real test vs after. Does making it real make it harder, at least subconsciously.
User avatar
LucarioSnooperVixey
Carrying Letters and Lemons
Posts: 3513
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2017 8:41 pm
Location: New Jersey

Re: An Analysis of the Difficulty of the Recent Online Tests

Post by LucarioSnooperVixey »

43-43-44

Could have been 43-44-44 had I watched a certain video beforehand.
Douglas Squasoni
User avatar
hscer
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 500
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2014 7:57 pm
Contact:

Re: An Analysis of the Difficulty of the Recent Online Tests

Post by hscer »

SpiffJumper227 wrote: Tue Mar 13, 2018 9:42 pm 42 - 44 (for real) - 48 for me.

It would also be interesting to run the stats for real vs for practice, as well as before your real test vs after. Does making it real make it harder, at least subconsciously.
It might. On my actual attempt, I never thought of Yale for "Connecticut" and "Ivy League," and put down f'ing Dartmouth which would be embarrassing enough if it wasn't the difference between 34 and 35. I can imagine the for-realness had an effect there.
Now Completed: TD 224 - Airplane!
Coming Eventually: hscer's 3rd TD

Twitter: http://twitter.com/hscer
Sporcle: http://www.sporcle.com/user/hscer
Post Reply