UGC NET flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Paper 2 structure

The subject-specific paper of UGC NET: 100 compulsory multiple-choice questions, each worth 2 marks, totalling 200 marks, with no negative marking.

Qualifying cutoff

Candidates must score at least 40% aggregate across Paper 1 and Paper 2; reserved-category candidates need 35%. Top scorers are additionally eligible for JRF.

Bloom's taxonomy order

Cognitive levels ascend as remember, understand, apply, analyse, evaluate, create. Lower levels test recall; higher levels test synthesis and judgement.

Formative vs summative evaluation

Formative assessment occurs during instruction to guide teaching; summative assessment occurs at the end to certify learning outcomes.

Reliability versus validity

Reliability means consistent repeated measurement; validity means measuring what is intended. A test can be reliable without being valid, but not valid without reliability.

Probability sampling types

Random, stratified, systematic, and cluster sampling give every unit a known selection chance, supporting generalisation from sample to population.

Non-probability sampling types

Convenience, purposive, quota, and snowball sampling rely on judgement or availability rather than random selection, so sampling error cannot be estimated statistically.

Null and alternative hypothesis

The null hypothesis states no effect or difference; the alternative states the expected effect. Testing seeks evidence to reject the null.

Type I and Type II error

Type I error rejects a true null hypothesis (false positive); Type II error fails to reject a false null hypothesis (false negative).

Contrapositive rule

The statement 'if P then Q' is logically equivalent to its contrapositive 'if not Q then not P'; both always share the same truth value.

Converse fallacy

From 'if P then Q' one cannot infer 'if Q then P'. Affirming the consequent is a formal fallacy distinct from valid modus ponens.

Syllogism validity

A categorical syllogism is valid when its conclusion follows necessarily from the premises by form alone, regardless of factual truth of content.

Percentage change formula

Percentage change equals (new value minus old value) divided by old value, multiplied by 100. A positive result is an increase, negative a decrease.

Pie chart degree conversion

Each sector's share of 360 degrees equals its value divided by the total, multiplied by 360; converting back gives the percentage share.

Mean, median, mode

Mean is the arithmetic average; median is the middle ordered value; mode is the most frequent value. Median resists outliers better than mean.

Standard deviation meaning

Standard deviation is the square root of variance, expressing average dispersion of scores around the mean in the original measurement units.

LAN versus WAN

A LAN connects devices within a limited area such as a building; a WAN spans large geographic distances, often linking multiple LANs.

URL and HTTP

A URL is the address of a resource on the web; HTTP is the protocol governing request and response transfer of that resource.

Hardware, software, firmware

Hardware is physical equipment; software is programs and data; firmware is fixed low-level code embedded in hardware to control it.

Greenhouse gases

Principal greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons, which trap outgoing infrared radiation and warm the atmosphere.

Ozone depletion cause

Chlorofluorocarbons release chlorine in the stratosphere, catalytically destroying ozone molecules and thinning the ozone layer that filters ultraviolet radiation.

UGC and NAAC roles

UGC regulates and coordinates higher education standards; NAAC assesses and accredits institutions on graded criteria of teaching, research, and infrastructure.

Ancient Indian universities

Takshashila and Nalanda were early centres of higher learning in India, attracting students across Asia for philosophy, medicine, and mathematics.

Durkheim's anomie

Anomie denotes a condition of normlessness in society, where weakened collective standards leave individuals without clear behavioural guidance, often producing deviance.

Weber's bureaucracy

Weber described bureaucracy as rational-legal authority characterised by hierarchy, written rules, division of labour, impersonality, and merit-based appointment.

Accounting equation

Assets equal liabilities plus owner's equity. Every transaction preserves this balance by affecting at least two elements equally.

Current ratio

Current ratio equals current assets divided by current liabilities; it measures short-term liquidity, with roughly 2:1 traditionally considered comfortable.

Break-even point

Break-even quantity equals fixed costs divided by contribution per unit, where contribution is selling price minus variable cost per unit.

Learner-centred approach

Instruction organised around students' needs and active participation, with the teacher as facilitator rather than sole transmitter of information.

Communication barriers

Physical, semantic, psychological, and organisational factors that distort or block message transmission between sender and receiver in teaching contexts.

Research design types

Exploratory design clarifies problems, descriptive design measures characteristics, and experimental design tests causal relationships through controlled manipulation.

Plagiarism definition

Presenting another person's words, ideas, or data as one's own without attribution; it violates research ethics and institutional academic integrity norms.