How we build quizzes | Big Time Trivia

This page explains how the quizzes on Big Time Trivia are made: how questions are written and checked, how your answers become a result, what that result can and can't tell you, and how sources are handled. If a quiz doesn't do what this page says, please tell us.

Writing the questions

Instead of asking you to rate a statement about yourself on a scale, many questions here describe a concrete situation and ask what you would do, feel or want. Others ask how you see yourself or what matters to you. A situation gives you something specific to picture. It also brings in things the question isn't about, like your mood that day or a job you happen to have, which is one reason a result is a rough reading rather than a measurement.

Each answer option counts toward one outcome, and that link is set in the quiz data, not by where the option sits on the page. The options appear in a new random order each time the page loads, so being first or last on the list can't favor any outcome.

Editorial standards

Checked against sources. Questions, result descriptions and articles are written with the help of AI tools. Drafts are checked against the sources they link, also with the help of AI tools, including whether each option fits the outcome it counts toward. A claim that can't be traced to a source is cut, and corrections are welcome.
No invented numbers. The site doesn't publish how many people get a result, or what "most people" choose, unless the figure comes from data the site has actually counted, shown with its date range and the number of results behind it.
No invented people. The site doesn't present made-up people, quotes or anecdotes as real. When an article uses an imagined example to explain an idea, it says so.
Fiction checked against its sources. Details about characters in a show or book are checked against the episode and book sources the quiz page lists.
Dated. Articles show when they were published, and when they were last updated if they have been. Each quiz page shows when it was last updated.
Corrected in the open. Errors are fixed when they're found or reported, as described on the About page.

How scoring works

Scoring happens in your browser when you ask for your result, and it's plain counting: each answer counts once toward the outcome it's tied to. The result shows where your answers landed and the count behind it, so you can see whether it was a clear lead or a narrow one. You can change any answer and ask again to see how the result moves.

Close calls aren't settled quietly. If two or more outcomes tie, the quiz names all of them. On the personality type quiz, which scores pairs of opposite preferences, a close split on a pair is flagged instead of being quietly settled; that quiz page gives the exact rule and how often it comes up.

Each quiz has a short and a full version on the same page. The full version asks more questions, so any single answer carries less weight. If the two versions give you different results, look at the counts: a close result can tip on one answer.

Each quiz page also has a section called "How this quiz works" with the details for that quiz: what it draws on, how many questions each version asks, how its answers are scored and what it can't tell you, followed by its sources.

What a result can tell you

Which outcome your answers leaned toward when you took the quiz, and by how much.
A shared vocabulary for comparing notes with a friend or partner who took the same quiz.
Something to think about. If a result surprises you, the answers that produced it are worth a second look.

What a result can't tell you

It isn't a diagnosis, a clinical assessment or professional advice. Don't use it for decisions about work, health, money or relationships, or to judge other people, such as in hiring. A qualified professional is the right person for those.
It reflects how you describe yourself, which isn't always how you act or how other people see you.
It can change. A different week, a different mood, or the short version instead of the full one can give a different result, especially when the count was close.
These quizzes haven't been tested the way research questionnaires are, for whether they give the same result twice or measure what they set out to measure.

Popular frameworks

When a quiz here draws on a popular framework whose support in research is limited or contested, its "How this quiz works" section says so plainly and links the research it relies on. That's also one reason every result shows the full count rather than a single label.

Sources

Every research claim, statistic or outside fact on the site links the source it comes from, and a source is opened before it's cited. A claim that can't be traced to a source is cut. Links go to the original study, its official record or the primary source wherever possible, rather than to a write-up of it, and articles list their sources at the end. If a linked source moves or changes, the link is updated or the claim comes out.

For details about a show or a book, the source is the work itself, and the quiz page names it. Questions and answer options don't carry citations, because they describe situations to respond to rather than state facts.

Correction, October 10, 2026: an earlier version of this page said every draft is edited for clarity and every factual claim is checked against its source before publication, that details about a show or book are checked against the episodes or the text, and that a source is opened and read before it is cited. The checking is done with the help of AI tools, against the sources the pages link, and the page now says so. Checks like these can miss things, so corrections are welcome.