Q1. What is research in education best described as?

• (A) A careful review of one teacher’s classroom diary
• (B) A systematic inquiry carried out to discover reliable knowledge
• (C) A collection of teaching materials prepared for a lesson
• (D) An official inspection report on a single school

Q2. What is the main purpose of educational research?

• (A) To confirm traditional teaching practices without testing them
• (B) To produce a longer list of classroom activities for teachers
• (C) To rank schools by their examination results alone
• (D) To gain dependable knowledge that helps solve educational problems

Q3. A study that explores how memory works in learning, without an immediate classroom application in view, is an example of which type of research?

• (A) Evaluative research
• (B) Basic research
• (C) Action research
• (D) Historical research

Q4. A school tests a new homework routine to reduce late submissions in its own classes. This is mainly an example of which type of research?

• (A) Pure theoretical research
• (B) Applied research
• (C) Historical research
• (D) Philosophical research

Q5. What most clearly distinguishes action research from other research types?

• (A) It always uses a large national sample
• (B) It is conducted only in a laboratory
• (C) It relies only on documents from the past
• (D) A practitioner studies and improves his or her own practice

Q6. A researcher wants the views of 400 teachers quickly and at low cost. Which research tool is most suitable?

• (A) An in-depth personal interview with each teacher
• (B) A questionnaire distributed to the teachers
• (C) A case study of one school
• (D) A historical study of old school records

Q7. Research is called systematic mainly because it does what?

• (A) Uses the same questionnaire in every study it conducts
• (B) Reports its findings in a fixed number of chapters
• (C) Follows planned, orderly steps from problem to conclusion
• (D) Collects data only from very large samples

Q8. Which quality is essential for scientific research?

• (A) Objectivity based on evidence rather than personal bias
• (B) Strong personal preference for one result
• (C) Reliance on a single person’s opinion
• (D) Keeping methods secret from other researchers

Q9. Why should a practising teacher value educational research?

• (A) It helps the teacher make classroom decisions based on evidence
• (B) It removes the need for lesson planning
• (C) It guarantees promotion for every teacher
• (D) It replaces classroom experience entirely

Q10. How do basic and applied research mainly differ?

• (A) Basic research never uses numbers, while applied research always does
• (B) Applied research is unscientific, while basic research is scientific
• (C) Basic research seeks knowledge for its own sake, while applied research solves a practical problem
• (D) Basic research has no method, while applied research has a fixed method

Q11. A teacher who repeatedly tries a new grouping strategy, observes its effect and revises it is engaged in which kind of inquiry?

• (A) A one-time national survey
• (B) Laboratory theory-building
• (C) Archival historical study
• (D) Action research

Q12. Responses collected first-hand by a researcher through a new questionnaire for the present study are which type of data?

• (A) Historical data from old archives
• (B) Published data from a government report
• (C) Primary data collected by the researcher for this study
• (D) Secondary data taken from another study

Q13. Which step usually comes first in a research study?

• (A) Analysing the data
• (B) Writing the final report
• (C) Selecting the sample
• (D) Identifying the research problem

Q14. After identifying a research problem, what does a researcher normally do next?

• (A) Write the final report
• (B) Review related literature
• (C) Collect data from respondents
• (D) Draw the final conclusion

Q15. What is a key benefit of reviewing related literature?

• (A) It identifies gaps in knowledge and helps avoid duplicating earlier work
• (B) It replaces the need to collect any data
• (C) It proves the researcher’s opinion before the study begins
• (D) It shortens the study by removing the analysis stage

Q16. Why does a researcher formulate clear objectives before collecting data?

• (A) Objectives state precisely what the study intends to find out
• (B) Objectives replace the research problem
• (C) Objectives serve as the final conclusion
• (D) Objectives remove the need for a research design

Q17. What is meant by a research design?

• (A) A list of books consulted by the researcher
• (B) A list of people selected for the sample
• (C) The overall plan or blueprint for carrying out the study
• (D) A questionnaire used to collect responses

Q18. In the usual sequence, data collection takes place after which stage?

• (A) Before the problem is identified
• (B) After the final report is written
• (C) Before the research design is prepared
• (D) After the tools are developed and the sample is selected

Q19. What happens during the data analysis stage?

• (A) References are arranged alphabetically
• (B) A new research topic is selected
• (C) Collected data are organised and interpreted to answer the research questions
• (D) The population of the study is defined

Q20. Figures from a published census that a researcher reuses for a new study are which type of data?

• (A) Secondary data, because they were collected by someone else for another purpose
• (B) Primary data collected for this study
• (C) Qualitative interview data
• (D) Experimental data from a laboratory

Q21. What is the purpose of a pilot study?

• (A) To publish results before the main study
• (B) To test the tools and procedures on a small scale before the full study
• (C) To replace the main sample entirely
• (D) To increase the size of the final sample

Q22. A good research problem should be which of the following?

• (A) Vague and extremely broad
• (B) Already fully answered by earlier studies
• (C) Beyond the researcher’s time and resources
• (D) Clear, feasible and significant for education

Q23. At what point in the process is a hypothesis normally formulated?

• (A) After reviewing literature and before collecting data
• (B) Before the research problem has been identified
• (C) Only after the data have been analysed, as a conclusion in disguise
• (D) When the report is being written, as a summary of the findings

Q24. Which statement best describes the research process?

• (A) A single guess followed by a report
• (B) A systematic sequence of steps, with earlier steps revisited when needed
• (C) A rigid routine that can never be revised
• (D) A writing task with no data stage

Q25. Which of the following is a common source of a research problem?

• (A) A textbook index alone
• (B) A single examination result
• (C) The date of a school holiday
• (D) Classroom difficulties observed by teachers and gaps found in earlier studies

Q26. What is a variable in research?

• (A) A characteristic that can take different values or vary across people or situations
• (B) A fixed rule that never changes in any study
• (C) A chapter heading in a thesis
• (D) A statistical table in the appendix

Q27. In a study of the effect of daily reading practice on reading scores, daily reading practice is which variable?

• (A) The outcome variable measured at the end
• (B) An intervening variable
• (C) The independent variable presumed to influence the outcome
• (D) A constant held fixed for all pupils

Q28. In the same study, the pupils’ reading scores are which variable?

• (A) The dependent variable, or outcome being measured
• (B) The variable manipulated by the teacher
• (C) A variable that never changes
• (D) The sampling frame of the study

Q29. A researcher studies a new teaching method, but some classes also receive extra tuition at home. The extra tuition is best described as which type of variable?

• (A) The main independent variable
• (B) The dependent variable
• (C) An extraneous variable that may also affect the outcome
• (D) A constant of the study

Q30. If a researcher keeps the test time the same for all groups, test time is being treated as which variable?

• (A) The dependent variable
• (B) The independent variable
• (C) A control variable held constant
• (D) An intervening variable

Q31. Which statement is a null hypothesis?

• (A) The new method will greatly improve scores
• (B) Boys will score higher than girls
• (C) Scores will fall after the intervention
• (D) There is no significant difference between the two teaching methods

Q32. Which statement is an alternative hypothesis?

• (A) There is no relationship between study time and achievement
• (B) There is a significant relationship between study time and achievement
• (C) The study has no variables
• (D) The sample is too small to study

Q33. A hypothesis stating that group A will score higher than group B is which type?

• (A) A directional hypothesis, because it predicts the direction of the difference
• (B) A null hypothesis
• (C) A hypothesis with no prediction at all
• (D) A research question without variables

Q34. In research, what does the term population mean?

• (A) The few people who return a questionnaire
• (B) The entire group about which the researcher wants to draw conclusions
• (C) A list of names used to draw a sample
• (D) The respondents in a pilot study only

Q35. What is a sample?

• (A) The whole population of a country
• (B) A subgroup selected from a population to represent it in the study
• (C) A list of research questions
• (D) The final chapter of a thesis

Q36. In simple random sampling, what is true of every member of the population?

• (A) Every member has an equal chance of being selected
• (B) Only the most willing members are selected
• (C) Members are chosen by the researcher’s personal judgement
• (D) Whole classes are selected as units

Q37. A researcher divides teachers into urban and rural groups and then draws a random sample from each group. This is which method?

• (A) Cluster sampling
• (B) Systematic sampling
• (C) Stratified sampling
• (D) Convenience sampling

Q38. A researcher randomly selects whole schools and then studies all pupils in those schools. This is which method?

• (A) Stratified sampling
• (B) Purposive sampling
• (C) Cluster sampling
• (D) Quota sampling

Q39. A researcher picks every tenth name from a school register after a random start. This is which method?

• (A) Systematic sampling
• (B) Snowball sampling
• (C) Purposive sampling
• (D) Quota sampling

Q40. A researcher deliberately selects experienced head teachers because they can give rich information on school leadership. This is which method?

• (A) Simple random sampling
• (B) Purposive sampling
• (C) Cluster sampling
• (D) Systematic sampling

Q41. A researcher surveys teachers who happen to be present at a training workshop because they are easy to reach. This is which method?

• (A) Convenience sampling
• (B) Stratified sampling
• (C) Simple random sampling
• (D) Cluster sampling

Q42. In a study of a small, hard-to-reach group of specialist tutors, each participant is asked to suggest another tutor for the study. This is which method?

• (A) Quota sampling
• (B) Systematic sampling
• (C) Stratified sampling
• (D) Snowball sampling

Q43. What is the defining feature of a true experimental design?

• (A) Manipulation of a variable under controlled conditions with comparison groups
• (B) Study of documents from the past only
• (C) A single in-depth case with no comparison
• (D) Collection of opinions through one open interview

Q44. A quasi-experimental design differs from a true experiment mainly because it lacks what?

• (A) Any manipulation of a variable
• (B) Full random assignment of participants to groups
• (C) Any form of data collection
• (D) A comparison between groups

Q45. A researcher distributes a questionnaire to 500 parents to describe their views on homework. This is mainly which design?

• (A) An experimental design
• (B) A historical design
• (C) A survey design
• (D) A single case study

Q46. A researcher spends a term studying one struggling school in great depth, using interviews, observations and documents. This is which design?

• (A) A large-scale survey
• (B) A laboratory experiment
• (C) A correlational study
• (D) A case study

Q47. A researcher compares the exam results of pupils who attended preschool with those who did not, without manipulating anything. This is which design?

• (A) A true experiment
• (B) An ex post facto study, because the cause has already occurred
• (C) A historical study of old records only
• (D) A laboratory experiment

Q48. A study that measures both library use and examination scores to see how closely they move together, without changing either, is which design?

• (A) A cause-and-effect experiment
• (B) A single case study
• (C) A correlational study
• (D) A historical study

Q49. Historical research in education mainly relies on which sources?

• (A) Past records, documents and other traces of earlier events
• (B) A new laboratory experiment
• (C) A questionnaire given next week
• (D) Random assignment of present-day pupils

Q50. Which of the following is an example of quantitative data?

• (A) Interview descriptions of classroom life
• (B) Field notes describing pupil behaviour
• (C) Open-ended comments from parents
• (D) Test scores expressed in numbers

Q51. A head teacher rates each teacher on a scale from poor to excellent for classroom management. Which research tool is being used?

• (A) An open-ended questionnaire
• (B) A personal interview
• (C) A rating scale
• (D) An achievement test

Q52. For the ordered scores 3, 5, 9, 12 and 20, which value is the median?

• (A) 5
• (B) 12
• (C) 20
• (D) 9 as the middle value in the ordered list

Q53. In the scores 2, 5, 5, 7 and 9, which value is the mode?

• (A) 2
• (B) 7
• (C) 5, because it occurs most often
• (D) 9

Q54. What does a large standard deviation tell a researcher about a set of scores?

• (A) The scores have a high average
• (B) The scores are widely spread around their mean
• (C) The scores are strongly related to another variable
• (D) The two groups have very different means

Q55. A correlation coefficient close to +1.00 indicates which relationship?

• (A) No relationship between the variables
• (B) A strong negative relationship
• (C) A weak positive relationship
• (D) A strong positive relationship

Q56. A t-test is most commonly used for which purpose?

• (A) Comparing the means of two groups
• (B) Finding the most frequent score
• (C) Measuring the spread of one set of scores
• (D) Describing a single case in depth

Q57. A chi-square test is most suitable for which kind of data?

• (A) Comparing the means of two groups
• (B) Testing association between categorical variables, such as pass and fail counts
• (C) Measuring correlation between two test scores
• (D) Finding the spread of numerical scores

Q58. Action research is best characterised by which of the following?

• (A) It is carried out by outside researchers who never teach the classes studied
• (B) It aims only at producing general laws that apply in every country
• (C) It studies past events from documents and never changes practice
• (D) It is carried out by practitioners to improve practice in their own setting, in repeated cycles

Q59. What does informed consent require in research with human participants?

• (A) Hiding the purpose of the study from participants
• (B) Forcing participants to take part
• (C) Participants agreeing to take part after understanding the purpose and any risks
• (D) Publishing participants’ names without asking

Q60. Which order is correct for the main parts of a research report or thesis?

• (A) References, introduction, results, methodology
• (B) Results, literature review, introduction, references
• (C) Methodology, references, introduction, discussion
• (D) Introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion and references