This lower limit is known as the floor.
Floor effect definition.
This is even more of a problem with multiple choice tests.
The specific application varies slightly in differentiating between two areas of use for this term.
For example the distribution of scores on an ability test will be skewed by a floor effect if the test is much too difficult for many of the respondents and many of them obtain zero scores.
Floor effect basement effect.
A ceiling effect can occur with questionnaires standardized tests or other measurements used in research studies.
This could be hiding a possible effect of the independent variable the variable being manipulated.
In research a floor effect aka basement effect is when measurements of the dependent variable the variable exposed to the independent variable and then measured result in very low scores on the measurement scale.
In pharmacology a ceiling effect is the point at which an independent variable which is the variable being manipulated is no longer affecting the dependent variable which is the variable being measured.
In layperson terms your questions are too hard for the group you are testing.
The ceiling effect is observed when an independent variable no longer has an effect on a dependent variable or the level above which variance in an independent variable is no longer measurable.
Statistics definitions the floor effect is what happens when there is an artificial lower limit below which data levels can t be measured.
A floor effect is when most of your subjects score near the bottom.
Usually this is because of inherent weaknesses in the measuring devices or the measurement scoring system.
There is very little variance because the floor of your test is too high.
Floors can be established for a number of factors including.
In statistics a floor effect also known as a basement effect arises when a data gathering instrument has a lower limit to the data values it can reliably specify.
In statistics and measurement theory an artificial lower limit on the value that a variable can attain causing the distribution of scores to be skewed.
Ceiling effect is used to describe a situation that occurs in both pharmacological and statistical research.
It essentially describes when the dependent variable has leveled.
The term ceiling effect is a measurement limitation that occurs when the highest possible score or close to the highest score on a test or measurement instrument is reached thereby decreasing the likelihood that the testing instrument has accurately measured the intended domain.