UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

Statements A, B and D correctly outline major objectives of educational research, whereas C and E are false. Educational research seeks to improve practice, predict learner behaviour under certain conditions and contribute to theory building about teaching–learning processes. Evaluating programmes is very much within its scope, so C is incorrect, and educational research is inherently critical rather than committed to unquestioningly maintaining the status quo, so E is also wrong. Therefore the combination that includes A, B and D, and excludes C and E, is correct.

Option A:
Option A restricts the objectives to A and B only and omits D, which recognises the theoretical contribution of educational research. Since theory building is a central aim in higher education research, this omission makes the option incomplete.

Option B:
Option B is correct because it acknowledges the three major objectives: improving practice, predicting learner behaviour and developing theory. By excluding C and E, it avoids the mistaken notions that programme evaluation is outside the scope of research and that research merely preserves existing practice.

Option C:
Option C is incorrect because it includes C, which wrongly pushes programme evaluation outside the boundary of research, even though evaluation studies are a major branch of educational research. This makes the overall combination conceptually flawed.

Option D:
Option D incorporates E, which incorrectly claims that simply maintaining the status quo is a central objective. In reality, research often challenges existing practices. Mixing this false statement with true ones invalidates the option.

Option E includes C, which misrepresents the role of evaluation, and leaves out B, which is a genuine predictive objective of research. Because it both omits a true statement and adds a false one, this option cannot be accepted.