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Marketing Research: Planning, Process, Practice

Student resources, multiple choice quizzes.

Try these quizzes to test your understanding.

1. Research analysis is the last critical step in the research process.

2. The final research report where a discussion of findings and limitations is presented is the easiest part for a researcher.

3. Two different researchers may be presented with the same data analysis results and discuss them differently, uncovering alternative insights linked to the research question, each using a different lens.

4. A reliable research is essentially valid, but a valid research is not necessarily reliable.

5. A valid research refers to the degree to which it accurately measures what it intends to measure.

6. Keeping an envisioned original contribution to knowledge in mind, the research report in appearance and content should highlights the outcomes and link back to objectives.

7. A good conclusion chapter should (please select ALL answers that apply) ______.

• have a structure that brings back what the research set out to do
• discuss the researcher’s own assumptions and ideas about the topic under study
• makes logical links between the various parts of the arguments starting from the hypotheses

Answer: A & C 

8. Research implications presented in a study must be either theoretical only or practical only.

9. Good researchers should aim for a perfect research, with no limitations or restrictions.

10. Examples of research limitations include (please select the answer that DOESN’T apply) ______.

• access to the population of interest
• the study’s coverage of possible contributory factors
• the researcher’s poor analysis skills
• the sampling technique used

11. A good structure outlining an effective research report starts with the ‘Analysis and Results’ section.

12. A good research study can just focus on its key outcomes without highlighting areas for future research.

13. If some of the research questions were not answered or some research objectives could not be achieved, then the final report must explain and reflect on the reasons why this is the case.

14. The importance of being critically reflective in presenting the future research section is that it allows for the advent of new arenas of thought that you or other researchers can develop on.

15. A weak future research section and weak discussion of the research limitations does not make the study fragile/lacking rigour and depth.

16. Once a research specifies a study’s limitations, this discredits all research efforts exerted in it.

17. Reporting research is about presenting the research journey through clear and evidence-based arguments of design, process and outcomes, not just describing it.

18. It is not important to present in every research report the ethical considerations that were anticipated or have ascended in the study.

19. Verbal and visual presentations of research aid in the dissemination of its outcomes and value, and allow for its strengths to be revealed.

20. In oral presentations, the audience expects you as a researcher to present your work in full detail even if they will ask further questions in the follow-up discussion.

Research Skills Tutorial: Quiz

• 1.1 Developing a Research Question
• 1.2 Searching with Keywords
• 1.3 Activity: Brainstorm Keywords
• 2.1 Activity: Use an Encyclopedia
• 3. Finding Books
• 4. Finding Articles
• 5. Evaluating Sources
• 6. Using Sources
• 7. Citing Sources

Test Your Knowledge!

• Research Skills Quiz Instructors - prefer to give out the quiz in class? Download the PDF version here.
• << Previous: 7. Citing Sources
• Last Updated: Mar 11, 2024 8:33 AM
• URL: https://columbiacollege-ca.libguides.com/research_skills

Research Skills MCQs with Answers

Welcome to the Research Skills MCQs with Answers. In this post, we have shared a Test Preparation for Research Skills Online Test for different competitive exams. Find practice questions with answers of the Research Skills test online multiple choice questions with answers here. Each question offers a chance to enhance your knowledge regarding Research Skills.

Research Skills MCQs with Answers Quiz

By presenting 3 options to choose from, Research Skills Quiz which cover a wide range of topics and levels of difficulty, making them adaptable to various learning objectives and preferences. Whether you’re a student looking to reinforce your understanding our Student MCQs Online Quiz platform has something for you.

• Test Name:  Research Skills Online Test
• Type:  MCQ’s
• Total Questions:  40
• Total Marks:  40
• Time:  40 minutes

Note:  Questions will be shuffled each time you start the test. Any question you have not answered will be marked incorrect. Once you are finished, click the View Results button.

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Download Research Skills Multiple Choice Questions with Answers PDF

You can also download Research Skills Multiple Choice Questions with Answers from the link provided below. To Download file in PDF click on the arrow sign at the top right corner.

If you are interested to enhance your knowledge regarding  English, Physics , Chemistry , Computer , and Biology please click on the link of each category, you will be redirected to dedicated website for each category.

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Research Skills: How to Find the Right Answers

Most jobs require some form of problem-solving. You might encounter an obstacle and come up with a question that you will need to answer to move forward. To answer this question, chances are you will need to have research skills to do some investigating. This kind of investigation is known as research.

What Is Research?

Research is the investigation of sources or facts to establish or draw conclusions. In an academic context, people often think of research in the sciences and the social sciences. But really, you will need to conduct some kind of research in any academic subject or while performing any job.

Find your bootcamp match

In fact, nearly every profession or job requires some amount of research and research skills. As long as you come across a question, which is a natural occurrence in almost everything, you should come across an opportunity to research. And when there is a call to research, strong research skills definitely come in handy.

What Are Research Skills?

Research skills mean that you are able to identify the answer to a question or a set of questions. Research questioning can lead to many different kinds of research. You might get started by using search engines to find reliable sources. You can evaluate information by scanning search results to embark on your research project. 

What Is the Purpose of Research?

Research can serve a few different purposes, depending on the kind of research you are doing. The three main kinds of research are exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory. 

Exploratory research seeks to explore a general question and possible answers without necessarily seeking one singular, specific answer. Descriptive research is often data-driven and seeks to describe research findings in great detail. Explanatory research is often more qualitative and does seek explanations to substantiate it and its findings. 

Below is a deep dive into the kinds of general research skills you will need to excel in any field, especially tech.

Different Kinds of Research Skills

Below are a few basic types of research skills that might help you get a better sense of what research is and why you need to master research skills.

Searching for Information

In its most basic sense, research is the search for information. This can take on many different forms. Though in 2020, we are all used to using Google as one of our primary research methods. 

Older generations remember having to go to the library any time they had a question about the way the world works or any time they needed to search for information.

Attention to Detail

By paying close attention to detail, you can conduct better research on a micro-level, noticing details and storing them away for future reference. During job training, an information session, or a webinar, for example, you can conduct research just by paying close attention to detail. This can also involve taking notes so you don’t end up forgetting all of this detail.

Time Management

You will likely never come across a question or a research question with absolutely no time limit. Research almost always requires time management skills to make sure you can get everything done on time. 

Depending on the kind of research you’re conducting, you may have to manage your time between one kind of research, interviews, for example, and another kind of research, such as online web searches. 

Problem-Solving

Research is all about problem-solving. Without problem-solving, research would just be looking for information. But research is about searching and then identifying information that provides a potential answer to a question or a solution to a problem. 

Communicating Results

Research results are useless if you don’t know what to do with them. Ideally, you will have the resources and ability to apply your research findings to your question or your problem. 

If you’re working on a team, you should be able to describe your research, your research methods, and your research results to your teammates. The goal is to get others on board by communicating your results. 

Online Research Skills

In a time when the Internet is overloaded with so much information, it’s hard to know what to trust. Though online research is by far the most accessible, it can also be the most difficult. 

Internet users using the web for research, including simple search engine searches, should understand how search engine results work and how to discern the reliable from the unreliable sources.

Below are a few tips for conducting discerning online research responsibly. 

Ask the Right Questions

Remember that all research starts with at least one question. The question you are asking absolutely makes a difference in the kind of research you will want to be conducting. It also makes a difference in how fruitful your online research might be. 

Ask the right question by considering how you are phrasing the question and what words and terms you are including in the question. To do this, try to be as specific as possible to get to the root of the question you are asking.

Check Your Sources

Always do some research on your source pages. Is the domain something you’ve never heard of? Does it look very outdated and low-budget? If the answer to these questions is yes, you might want to find more reliable sources. You will also need to evaluate the actual information you find from your sources, which might even require a bit of fact-checking.

Never Plagiarize, Always Interpet

Even if you find exactly what you’re looking for in an Internet search, you will need to interpret what you find. Never take anything for granted and always reinterpret information in your own words.

Conclusion: Start Your Research

Whatever your question, all you have to do to develop research skills is get started. Like with anything else in life, practice makes perfect. Good luck and check out our other Career Karma resources as you embark on your research projects.

About us: Career Karma is a platform designed to help job seekers find, research, and connect with job training programs to advance their careers. Learn about the CK publication .

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Research Skills Quiz

Can you name the answers to these questions using the internet for help.

• - This game is to test your research skills. Open a second internet page & find a search engine. You have 10 minutes to use any means possible to find the answers to these questions. Good Luck...

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Science knowledge quiz.

How much do you know about science topics?

Test your knowledge of science facts and applications of scientific principles by taking our 11-question quiz. When you finish, you will be able to compare your scores with the average American and compare responses across demographic groups. Our nationally representative poll of 4,464 randomly selected U.S. adults was conducted on Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel between Jan. 7 and Jan. 21, 2019. The analysis of the findings from the poll can be found in the full report, “ What Americans Know About Science .”

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

Research Methodology Quiz | MCQ (Multiple Choice Questions)

In order to enhance your understanding of research methodology, we have made thought-provoking quiz featuring multiple-choice questions.

This quiz served as a tool to assess your knowledge and comprehension of various research techniques and methodologies. Each question presented unique scenarios, challenging you to analyze and select the most appropriate methodological approach.

The quiz aimed to sharpen your critical thinking skills and reinforce our grasp on essential concepts in the realm of research. By actively participating in this exercise, we deepened your appreciation for the significance of selecting the right research methods to achieve reliable and meaningful results.

Other articles

Please read through some of our other articles with examples and explanations if you’d like to learn more about research methodology.

• PLS-SEM model
• Principal Components Analysis
• Multivariate Analysis
• Friedman Test
• Chi-Square Test (Χ²)
• Effect Size

 Methodology

• Research Methodology Quiz MCQ
• Research Methods
• Quantitative Research
• Qualitative Research
• Case Study Research
• Survey Research
• Conclusive Research
• Descriptive Research
• Cross-Sectional Research
• Theoretical Framework
• Conceptual Framework
• Triangulation
• Grounded Theory
• Quasi-Experimental Design
• Mixed Method
• Correlational Research
• Randomized Controlled Trial
• Stratified Sampling
• Ethnography
• Ghost Authorship
• Secondary Data Collection
• Primary Data Collection
• Ex-Post-Facto
• Table of Contents
•   Dissertation Topic
• Thesis Statement
• Research Proposal
• Research Questions
• Research Problem
• Research Gap
• Types of Research Gaps
• Operationalization of Variables
• Literature Review
• Research Hypothesis
• Questionnaire
• Reliability
• Measurement of Scale
• Sampling Techniques
• Acknowledgements

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Library Research Skills Quiz

Play this Library research skills test and gauge yourself on library skill researcher parameters. Library research is the most complex process of collecting and researching information for writing an article or preparing a project. This pretest quiz is to find out the level of your information literacy skills. Please answer the following questions to the best of your ability. So, let's try out the quiz. If you like the quiz, share it with your friends. All the best!

A call Number is:

Shelf address for a book or audiovisual material.

The phone number for the library.

The number you use to use computers.

I don’t know.

Rate this question:

Non-fiction books are arranged on the library shelves.

By publisher

By author’s first name

Journals differ from magazines in that

Journals are published periodically.

Journals are important sources of academic research.

Journals are available by subscription.

Journals have volume numbers.

Scholarly articles are most often published in:

What is the difference between a keyword search and a subject (controlled vocabulary) search on a database check all apply.

A keyword can appear anywhere in the citation, article, or a part of the record that comes up as your result.

A subject is a category or topic assigned to a book or article when it is placed in a database.

All of the above.

None of the above.

Which of the following statements is true?

Subject searches produce better (more related) records.

They usually produce the same lists of records.

I don't know.

A primary source is

An original document such as a diary, letter, etc.

The first book or journal article that is written on a topic.

An article or book that extensively analyzes a topic.

A collection of critical essays.

Most library databases and Internet search engines allow you to search in both basic and advanced modes. The advanced mode allows you to perform more complex searches. One such complex search methodology is referred to as Boolean searching. Boolean searching allows you to add the words (known as operators) AND, OR, and NOT if you need to find all the articles about cars. Which search will get you more articles?

Cars AND automobiles

Cars OR automobiles

If you need to narrow your research topic.  Which search will help you narrow your topic?

Teaching AND reading

Teaching OR reading

Which of the following statements is true about Wikipedia? Check all apply.

Because anyone can edit articles in Wikipedia, the information is always up-to-date, accurate, and reliable.

Wikipedia is a good place to start when you want to find general information about a topic.

Wikipedia should not be used without verifying the information in reliable sources such as primary research articles, review articles, field guides, websites, and databanks that are produced by recognized research organizations.

All of the above

None of the above

A research database is superior to a search engine because (check all apply)

The authority and sources have gone through some evaluation processes.

It is organized by both human and electronic brain power.

The text comes from verifiable and reputable sources.

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I tried the new Google. Its answers are worse.

Google’s ai-‘supercharged’ search generative experience, or sge, sometimes makes up facts, misinterprets questions and picks low-quality sources — even after nearly 11 months of public testing..

Have you heard about the new Google ? They “ supercharged ” it with artificial intelligence. Somehow, that also made it dumber.

With the regular old Google, I can ask, “What’s Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth?” and a reasonable answer pops up: “169.8 billion USD.”

Now let’s ask the same question with the “experimental” new version of Google search. Its AI responds: Zuckerberg’s net worth is “$46.24 per hour, or $96,169 per year. This is equivalent to $8,014 per month, $1,849 per week, and $230.6 million per day.”

Um, none of those numbers add up.

Google acting dumb matters because its AI is headed to your searches sooner or later . The company has already been testing this new Google — dubbed Search Generative Experience, or SGE — with volunteers for nearly 11 months, and recently started showing AI answers in the main Google results even for people who have not opted in to the test .

Should you trust that AI?

The new Google can do some useful things. But as you’ll see, it sometimes also makes up facts, misinterprets questions, delivers out-of-date information and just generally blathers on. Even worse, researchers are finding the AI often elevates lower-quality sites as reliable sources of information.

Normally, I wouldn’t review a product that isn’t finished. But this test of Google’s future has been going on for nearly a year, and the choices being made now will influence how billions of people get information. At stake is also a core idea behind the current AI frenzy: that the tech can replace the need to research things ourselves by just giving us answers. If a company with the money and computing power of Google can’t make it work, who can?

SGE merges the search engine you know with the capabilities of a chatbot. On top of traditional results, SGE writes out direct answers to queries, interspersed with links to dig deeper.

Geoffrey A. Fowler

SGE is a response to the reality that some people, including me, are starting to turn to AI like ChatGPT for more complex questions or when we don’t feel like reading a bunch of different sites. Onely , a search optimization firm, estimates that using SGE can make a user’s overall research journey 10 to 20 times shorter by assembling pros and cons, prices and other information into one place.

An all-knowing answer bot sounds useful given our shrinking attention spans. But Google has a lot to work out. We expect searches to be fast, yet Google’s AI answers take a painful second or two to generate. Google has to balance the already fragile economy of the web, where its AI answers can steal traffic from publishers who do the expensive and hard work of actually researching things.

And most of all, the new Google has to deliver on the promise that it can consistently and correctly answer our questions. That’s where I focused my testing — and kept finding examples where the AI-supercharged Google did worse than its predecessor.

Putting Google’s AI answers to the test

Often when you’re Googling, what you really want is a short bit of information or a link. On a day-to-day basis, the new Google is often annoying because its AI is so darned chatty.

A goofy example: “What do Transformers eat?”

The AI answer told me that fictional robots don’t really need to eat or drink, though they need some kind of fuel. Meanwhile, old Google had the one-word answer I was looking for: Energon. (It’s a kind of magical fuel.) You got that answer from new Google only by scrolling down the page.

This doesn’t just happen with alien robots. When SE Ranking, a firm dedicated to search engine optimization, tested SGE with 100,000 keyword queries, it found the average answer it generated was 3,485 characters — or roughly a third as long as this column. One of Google’s challenges is figuring out when its AI is better off just keeping quiet; sometimes, SGE asks you to press a “generate” button before it will write out an answer.

Most of all, when we search, we expect correct information. Google claims SGE has a leg up on ChatGPT because its knowledge is up-to-date.

Yet I found the new Google still struggled with recent affairs. Three days after the most recent Academy Awards, I searched for “Oscars 2024.” It told me the Oscars were still to come and listed some nominees.

And nothing undermined my trust in Google’s AI answers more than watching it confidently make stuff up.

That includes facts about yours truly. I asked it about an award-winning series I wrote for The Washington Post, and it attributed it to some stranger — and then gave a link to some other website.

Then there was the time SGE all too happily made up information about something that doesn’t even exist. I asked about a San Francisco restaurant called Danny’s Dan Dan Noodles, and it told me it has “crazy wait times” and described its food.

The problem is that this is an imaginary shop I named after my favorite Chinese dish. Google’s AI had no problem inventing information about it.

So-called hallucinations about real and fake topics are a known problem with current AI. A disclaimer above SGE results says, “Generative AI is experimental,” but that doesn’t solve the problem. Google needs to figure out how to say “I don’t know” when it isn’t confident.

Suspect sources

To give us answers to everything, Google’s AI has to decide which sources are reliable. I’m not very confident about its judgment.

Remember our bonkers result on Zuckerberg’s net worth? A professional researcher — and also regular old Google — might suggest checking the billionaires list from Forbes . Google’s AI answer relied on a very weird ZipRecruiter page for “Mark Zuckerberg Jobs,” a thing that does not exist.

In my tests, suspect sources were a pattern. At the suggestion of Onely, I asked the new Google which was more reliable: Apple iPhones or Samsung phones. As a longtime reviewer, I could tell you lots of good sources of information on this, including professional journalists and repair organizations like iFixit.

Instead, the AI cites random views of people pulled from social media. Beyond the limited usefulness of a single Reddit user’s experience, how does Google know that it wasn’t a fake review posted by the phonemaker?

“Google SGE plays by a different set of rules compared to the traditional search engine we know today,” said Tomek Rudzki, Onely’s head of research and development.

SEO firms have been trying to do quantitative studies of SGE’s values, though they’re limited by Google’s requirements on test accounts. But they’ve found a similar pattern in the disconnect between the sites that the old and new Google link to. The SEO software company Authoritas tested searches with a thousand shopping terms in late March, and found that 77 percent of the time, the domain of the No. 1 traditional search result showed up nowhere in the AI-written answer.

And in its study of 100,000 keyword searches, SE Ranking found that the question-and-answer service Quora is the most-linked source by SGE; LinkedIn and Reddit were fifth and sixth. How often would those sources be acceptable on an eighth-grade term paper?

On searches about tech topics — including lots of “how to” questions — SE Ranking found the most-linked domain was simplilearn.com . I’d never heard of it before; the site describes itself as an “online bootcamp.”

“This trend not only diminishes the quality of search results but also reduces traffic and revenue for many small businesses, including affiliate websites,” says SE Ranking’s head of SEO, Anastasia Kotsiubynska.

A work in progress

Google says SGE is an opt-in experiment. But Google already blew past its expected end last December, and it hasn’t offered any update on when it will come to search for everyone. It’s possible that Google doesn’t think SGE is accurate or fast or profitable enough and that it will end up changing it dramatically.

They are wise to go slow, even if it makes Google look as though it’s behind in the AI race. The rival search engine Bing from Microsoft made a similar AI overhaul in February 2023, but its AI is still best known for going off the rails .

In an interview, Elizabeth Reid, a Google vice president leading SGE, characterized it as a work in progress.

“We’re really focused on ensuring we get the experience really right. There are a lot of different factors on this — things like latency, accuracy, helpfulness,” Reid said. “What we’ve been finding as we’re iterating and learning is that it’s pretty nuanced.” In other words, there are times the AI is helpful and other times it’s not — and Google is still trying to figure out where to draw the line.

When I shared the examples in this column, Reid told me that SGE’s hallucination rates are “very low” and have decreased “meaningfully” since SGE’s May launch, though she declined to be specific.

“I don’t want to minimize it — it is a challenge with the technology” and something “we’re really working on,” Reid said. Putting links right next to the AI answers, she added, is important to enable people to check the facts for themselves.

Here’s a proposal: Because Google acknowledges correct facts are a problem, it ought to disclose its own data on accuracy before it brings SGE to a broader audience. With billions of searches daily, even 0.001 percent can add up to a lot of wrong information.

Another area of Google’s focus is “trying to help ensure that we get to the core of the question as quickly as possible, and then give additional elaboration,” Reid said.

As for citing low-quality sources, Google disputed the outside research on SGE, saying it is based on searches that are more limited than what Google sees in practice. But it declined to share data of its own.

Reid said SGE doesn’t have a different standard than old Google. “We do see more diversity of sources that are coming forth. But the aim is really to continue to put high-quality content at the top,” she said.

Choosing who to believe is hard enough for humans. What makes Google think its current AI tech, known as LLMs, or large language models, is up to the task?

“They’re not perfect,” Reid said. “We want to take this thoughtful approach because the brand of trust that people have with Google is really important.”

The future of our information depends on it.

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