Unit 2: Problem identification and formulation - Practice Quiz

1 What is a research question?

2 A good research question should generally be:

3 What is the main purpose of a literature survey?

4 A research gap refers to:

5 Which activity most directly helps in identifying a research gap?

6 What does problem identification involve in research?

7 Which is typically the first step in the research process?

8 A well-defined research problem should be:

9 What is a problem statement?

10 Aligning a research problem with industrial and societal needs helps to:

11 A good problem statement should be:

12 Which of the following is a popular academic search engine?

13 What is the main purpose of a research database like Scopus or IEEE Xplore?

14 Which platform is a well-known research gateway for connecting researchers and sharing publications?

15 Using keywords while searching databases mainly helps to:

16 What is a Gantt chart commonly used for?

17 In a Gantt chart, the horizontal bars usually represent:

18 Why is a research timeline important?

19 What is a hypothesis in research?

20 The null hypothesis () generally states that:

21 A student writes the research question: "Is technology good?" Which characteristic of a strong research question is most clearly violated?

22 Which of the following research questions best fits the FINER criteria (Feasible, Interesting, Novel, Ethical, Relevant)?

23 During a literature survey, a researcher finds many studies on solar panel efficiency in temperate climates but almost none for humid tropical regions. This observation most directly represents a:

24 Which sequence best represents an effective approach to conducting a literature survey?

25 A "systematic literature review" differs from a "narrative review" primarily because it:

26 A manufacturing plant notices that 15% of its output is defective, but the underlying cause is unknown. In research terms, the 15% defect rate is best described as a:

27 Which of the following is the MOST important reason for clearly identifying a research problem before starting a study?

28 Which factor is generally NOT a valid source for identifying a research problem?

29 Which of the following best qualifies as a well-constructed problem statement aligned with industrial needs?

30 A good problem statement addressing societal needs should primarily emphasize:

31 When constructing a problem statement, which element is typically considered LEAST appropriate to include?

32 A researcher wants peer-reviewed engineering journal articles with citation metrics. Which resource is MOST appropriate?

33 Using the Boolean search query ("machine learning" AND "healthcare") NOT "finance" will retrieve records that:

34 Which statement about Google Scholar compared to a subscription database like Web of Science is MOST accurate?

35 A researcher wants to connect with peers, share preprints, and follow other researchers' work. Which platform is MOST suitable?

36 In a Gantt chart, the horizontal length of a bar most directly represents:

37 Two tasks in a Gantt chart overlap on the same time period. This most likely indicates that the tasks are:

38 A project's "critical path" shown alongside a Gantt chart represents:

39 A researcher tests whether a new fertilizer changes crop yield. Which is the correct pairing of hypotheses?

40 A test yields a p-value of at a significance level . The correct decision is to:

41 A researcher frames the question: "Does the intervention work?" A methodologist critiques it as unsuitable for empirical study. Which reformulation best converts it into a researchable question satisfying the FINER and PICO criteria?

42 A study tests whether a new fertilizer changes crop yield. The researcher writes and , sets , and obtains . Later they realize they only cared about increases in yield. What is the most serious methodological error if they now switch to after seeing the data?

43 During a systematic review, a researcher finds 15 studies on a topic, all conducted in high-income countries with similar methods and consistent findings. Which type of research gap is MOST defensibly identified here?

44 In a hypothesis test, increasing the sample size while holding effect size and constant will primarily affect which quantities?

45 An engineering team writes: "We will build a better water purifier." A reviewer rejects this as a problem statement. Which revised version best embodies the components of a strong problem statement (context, gap, magnitude, and consequence)?

46 A researcher wants a reproducible, comprehensive search of peer-reviewed literature with controlled vocabulary (MeSH) and Boolean precision for a systematic review. Which resource choice and rationale is most appropriate?

47 A pharmaceutical trial fails to reject (no difference between drug and placebo) with . A journalist reports "the study proves the drug does not work." What is the correct methodological interpretation?

48 In a Gantt chart, Task B (data collection, 4 weeks) cannot start until Task A (ethics approval, 3 weeks) finishes, and Task C (analysis, 2 weeks) needs B complete. Task D (literature review, 6 weeks) runs independently from the start. What is the minimum project duration and the critical path?

49 A team observes declining employee productivity and immediately proposes buying new software. A mentor warns they are committing a common problem-identification error. Which error is this?

50 A researcher relies only on the first 20 highly-cited papers found and ignores recent low-citation studies. Which combined bias most threatens the validity of their gap identification?

51 A search returns 8,000 results with the query machine learning AND healthcare OR diagnosis. The researcher expected far fewer. What is the most likely cause given Boolean operator precedence?

52 A researcher conducts 20 independent hypothesis tests, each at , all with true null hypotheses. What is the approximate probability of at least one false positive, and what correction addresses it?

53 A qualitative researcher and a quantitative researcher study the same phenomenon. Which pairing correctly matches the research question form to its appropriate paradigm?

54 Two problem statements target the same issue. Which is better aligned to industrial needs versus societal needs, and why does the distinction matter for scoping?

55 A PhD student's Gantt chart shows every task as a rigid finish-to-start dependency with zero slack and no milestones. What is the most significant risk this design introduces?

56 A researcher states: ": The new teaching method improves scores by exactly 5 points." A statistician objects to this as an alternate hypothesis. Why?

57 Using an Ishikawa (fishbone) diagram, a team lists causes under Machine, Method, Material, and Manpower. They then treat the longest branch as automatically the root cause. What is the flaw in this reasoning?

58 A researcher finds two meta-analyses on the same intervention reaching opposite conclusions. Which action best leverages this discrepancy for identifying a legitimate research gap?

59 A reviewer notes that a systematic search reported only 45 hits, suspiciously low for a broad topic. The author used many specific AND clauses and no synonyms or truncation. What is the most likely methodological consequence?

60 In an equivalence (bioequivalence) study, a researcher wants to show a generic drug is not meaningfully different from the brand. Why can't a standard test of (failing to reject) be used to claim equivalence?