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.

Statement D is wrong because evaluative research necessarily uses explicit criteria and standards to judge merit or worth; it cannot be value-free in the sense of having no criteria. Statements A, B, C and E accurately describe evaluative research as effectiveness oriented, methodologically plural, attentive to stakeholder views and useful for decision making. Thus, D alone misrepresents the nature of evaluation by denying the use of explicit standards.

Option A:
Option A is correct because it isolates D as the only statement that conflicts with the accepted definition of evaluative research. It recognises that value judgments based on clear criteria are central to evaluative work, whereas the other statements truthfully capture purposes, methods and uses of evaluation.

Option B:
Option B is incorrect because it also labels A as a wrong statement, even though A correctly states that evaluation judges the value or effectiveness of programmes and policies. By treating A as wrong, this option denies the central function of evaluative research.

Option C:
Option C is wrong because it groups C with D as wrong, despite C being a true statement about the importance of stakeholder perspectives in many evaluation models. Misclassifying C as incorrect ignores participatory and responsive approaches to evaluation.

Option D:
Option D is also incorrect because it treats B, which correctly describes the use of qualitative and quantitative data in evaluation, as if it were wrong. Evaluative research often benefits from mixed methods, so including B among wrong statements is unjustified.

Statements A, B, C and E together capture the commonly accepted roles of basic, applied and evaluative research. Basic research extends theoretical knowledge, applied research addresses concrete problems and evaluative research judges the value of interventions or programmes. Basic work often feeds into applied and evaluative studies, so E is also correct. Statement D is false because evaluative research can and often does use quantitative methods, sometimes alongside qualitative approaches. Therefore the combination that includes A, B, C and E but excludes D is the only fully correct option.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because it omits statement E, which rightly notes that basic research can underpin applied and evaluative work. By leaving out this link between theory and practice, the option fails to include all true statements and hence is incomplete.

Option B:
Option B includes A, C and E but omits B, even though applied research focusing on practical problems is a core category in the basic–applied–evaluative triad. Excluding B means that one major correct statement is missing, so this combination cannot represent the full set of correct statements.

Option C:
Option C is correct because it includes all four true statements while excluding D, the false claim that evaluative research never uses quantitative methods. It recognises the complementary roles of theoretical development, problem solving and programme evaluation, and correctly portrays their interrelationships.

Option D:
Option D leaves out statement A, thereby ignoring the proper definition of basic research as theory oriented. Although B, C and E are true, failure to include A makes the description of the three main types of research incomplete and thus the option is not correct.