UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

Statements A, B, D, E and F collectively describe good search practices, whereas C is poor scholarly behaviour. Exact phrase searches, Boolean operators and advanced filters enable more precise retrieval. Evaluating website credibility and avoiding unnecessary or unrelated keywords help maintain relevance. Depending solely on the first result can miss important sources and increases vulnerability to ranking biases, so C must be rejected.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because it omits F, which explains how adding unrelated keywords can harm search relevance. While A, B, D and E are true, neglecting the effect of poor keyword choice provides an incomplete view of search strategy. Therefore this combination does not include all correct statements.

Option B:
Option B is correct because it contains A, B, D, E and F, covering query formulation, filtering and critical evaluation. It also excludes C, appropriately rejecting overreliance on the top-ranked result. This combination best represents the full set of correct statements about academic web searching.

Option C:
Option C is incorrect because it leaves out B, which highlights the role of Boolean operators in refining searches. Without B, the set underrepresents how logical connectors enable complex queries. Thus it is not the complete set of correct statements.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect because it omits A, which specifies exact phrase searching as a useful technique. Although B, D, E and F are correct, leaving out A ignores a widely used and important search feature. Hence this option cannot be taken as correct.

Statements A, B, D and E accurately describe how ICT tools support literature review: databases provide access to peer-reviewed sources, search operators refine queries, alerts track new work and digital management systems organise notes and references. Statement C is false because personal blogs alone are not sufficient for a rigorous review; peer-reviewed and scholarly sources are essential. Thus, the option with A, B, D and E is correct.

Option A:
Option A is incomplete because it omits E, leaving out the important role of digital note and reference management in maintaining an organised, traceable review.

Option B:
Option B is correct because it gathers all the relevant true statements about search, monitoring and organisation tools, while excluding the misleading suggestion in C that non-reviewed blogs can replace scholarly literature.

Option C:
Option C is incorrect because it leaves out A, not explicitly acknowledging the centrality of academic databases for systematic searching, even though it retains some true statements.

Option D:
Option D includes C, the claim that blogs alone are sufficient, which contradicts standards for scholarly reviews and therefore renders the combination invalid.

Statement D is the only wrong statement because the NOT operator typically restricts or refines the result set rather than increasing it. A, B and C are standard explanations for AND, OR and phrase searching in information retrieval. Using NOT excludes records containing certain terms, which often reduces or changes the number of hits. Therefore, the option that selects only D as wrong is correct.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because it considers both A and D to be wrong statements. Statement A is true, as AND requires all specified terms and therefore narrows the search. Misclassifying this correct statement makes the option invalid.

Option B:
Option B is correct because it identifies D alone as the incorrect statement and recognises that A, B and C accurately describe commonly used search strategies. It reflects the actual impact of NOT on the size and composition of search results.

Option C:
Option C is incorrect because it labels A, C and D as wrong. A and C are standard instructions regarding AND and phrase searching, respectively. Including them in the wrong set and accepting D as wrong alone would contradict established database search behaviour.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect because it declares all four statements wrong, which would require rejecting even the basic definitions of AND, OR and phrase search. Since only D is actually incorrect, this combination cannot be accepted.