UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools such as bibliographic databases, search engines and reference managers greatly assist researchers in conducting a systematic review of literature. They enable efficient searching of large bodies of published work, retrieval of full texts and organised storage of citations and notes. This support makes it easier to map existing knowledge, identify gaps and prepare coherent literature review sections. Hence, the activities described in the stem clearly represent ICT use for review of literature.

Option A:
Data analysis typically involves processing and interpreting collected data using statistical software, coding schemes or qualitative analysis tools. While ICT can assist here as well, the stem focuses on identifying and organising published sources rather than analysing study data. Therefore, data analysis is not the best completion.

Option B:
Hypothesis testing refers to using statistical or logical procedures to determine whether data support or refute proposed hypotheses. Citation management software does not directly test hypotheses; it helps manage references. Since the stem is about finding and organising literature, hypothesis testing is not the correct option.

Option C:
Review of literature requires systematically locating, screening and synthesising previous studies and theoretical works relevant to a research problem. ICT tools greatly streamline this process by allowing targeted searches and structured citation storage. For this reason, review of literature is the right term to complete the sentence in the question.

Option D:
Sampling concerns the selection of participants or units from a population for data collection, often supported by statistical reasoning. Bibliographic databases and citation managers are not primarily used for choosing samples of individuals for a study. Thus, sampling does not fit the activities mentioned in the stem.

A reference manager stores bibliographic information, PDFs and notes, allowing researchers to insert citations and generate reference lists automatically. It integrates with word processors to apply different citation styles. This simplifies the otherwise tedious task of managing references. Thus, such software is called a reference manager.

Option A:
Option A is correct because the main function of these tools is to manage references for academic writing.

Option B:
Option B, task, manager monitors running processes or to do lists and is unrelated to citing literature.

Option C:
Option C, password, manager securely stores login credentials, which is a different security oriented role.

Option D:
Option D, image, manager handles pictures and media files, not bibliographic data.