Boolean operators in search – UGC NET Question

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.