Subject Questions

Q1. What is the worst case search time for a binary search tree with n nodes?

(a) O(n) (b) O(log n) (c) O(n2) (d) O(n0.5)

Ans: (A)

Q2. What is the min-heap property?

(a) value(node) > value(Parent(node))

(b) value(node) >= value(Parent(node))
(c) value(node) < value(Parent(node))
(d) value(node) <= value(Parent(node))

Ans: (B)

Q3. For two sorted lists of length n and m, what is the worst case time for performing a merge
operation?

(a) O(n) (b) O(m) (c) O(nm) (d) O(n+m)

Ans: (D)

Q4. Prim’s algorithm is based on

(a) divide and conquer (b) dynamic programming (c) backtracking (d) greedy technique

Ans: (D)

Q5. Which is the preferred data structure for a constant time lookup (on average case) of a value in
a set?
(a) queue (b) hash table (c) binary search tree (d) doubly linked list

Ans: (B)

Q6. How many subsets are possible for a set of n elements?

(a) n2 (b) n! (c) 2n (d) nC2

Ans: (C)

Q7. The function f(x) = x mod p, for some prime number p

(a) is one-to-one, but not onto

(b) is not one-to-one, but onto
(c) is neither one-to-one nor onto
(d) is both one-to-one and onto

Ans: (B)

Q8. The relation ‘<’ on the set of integers

(a) is not symmetric or reflexive
(b) is an equivalence relation
(c) is not symmetric, but reflexive
(d) is both symmetric and reflexive, but not transitive

Ans: (A)

Q9. How many distinct permutations of the word GOOGLE are possible?
(a) 720 (b) 360 (c) 180 (d) 90

Ans: (C)

Q10. What is the probability that on two tosses of an unbiased die, the sum will be 6?
(a) 5/36 (b) 1/36 (c) 1/6 (d) 5/72

Ans: (A)

Q11. Which of these is not true about virtual memory?

(a) Enables programs to have continuous address space.
(b) Virtual address space can be greater than physical address space.
(c) Used to speed up reads and writes.
(d) Removes the dependence of programs on physical address space.

Ans: (C)

Q12. Which of the following is true about multitasking?

(a) It cannot be done without multiple CPUs.
(b) Performed by allotting a fixed time quantum for a process to run, after which another process is
allotted its time quantum.
(c) Multitasking is done on DOS operating system.
(d) It requires enough memory to store code and data of all executing processes.

Ans: (B)

Q13. Which of the following is not an inter-process communication primitive?

(a) files (b) semaphores (c) message queues (d) monitors

Ans: (A)

Q14. What is not a reason for inter-process communication primitives?

(a) as a communication channel for coordination between jobs working towards the same objective.
(b) to enable atomicity of certain operations.
(c) for execution of operations on shared data in proper sequence.
(d) as processes sharing data can end up with unpredictable results.

Ans: (A)

Q15. Which is not a technique for deadlock prevention?

(a) Prevent mutually exclusive access to resources.
(b) Allow access of resources only in a certain order.
(c) Allow hold and wait of resources.
(d) Allow preemption of resources from a process.
Ans: (C)

Q16. An ambiguous grammar

(a) is a context-free grammar for which every string has more than one derivation.
(b) is a context-free grammar for which there exists a string that can have more than one derivation.
(c) is a context-free grammar for which every string has more than one leftmost derivation.
(d) is a context-free grammar for which there exists a string that can have more than one leftmost
derivation.

Ans: (D)

Q17. The language of the context free grammar

S -> 0S0 | 1S1 | 0 | 1
is
(a) L = { 0n1n | n >= 0}
(b) the set of all binary strings
(c) the set of all binary string palindromes
(d) the set of binary strings with even number of 0s and 1s

Ans: (C)

Q18. Which of the following is true?

(a) NFAs are more powerful than DFAs, which are more powerful than regular expressions.
(b) DFAs, NFAs and regular expressions are equally powerful and equivalent representations.
(c) Regular expressions are more powerful than NFAs, which are more powerful than DFAs.
(d) NFAs are more powerful than regular expressions which are more powerful than DFAs.

Ans: (B)

Q19. Which of the following is not true?

(a) A full adder is implemented using a sequential circuit.
(b) Sequential circuits have memory.
(c) Combinational circuits are memoryless.
(d) A counter is implemented using a sequential circuit.

Ans: (A)

Q20. If there is a hit rate of 65% for the L1 instruction cache, with an access time of 1ns, and a hit
rate of 90% for the L2 cache with an access time of 5ns, and main memory has an access of 10ns,
what is the average time for an instruction access?
(a) 2.4ns (b) 4.15ns (c) 2.575ns (d) 1ns

Ans: (C)

Q21. Which of the following is not true?

(a) In RISC machines, instructions have a fixed size.
(b) In CISC machines, instructions have variable size.
(c) In the ideal case, RISC machines would perform an instruction fetch in every clock cycle.
(d) In CISC machines only load and store instructions access memory.

Ans: (D)
Q22. Which of the following is true?
(a) Subnetting provides the ability to split a single IP network number among different physical
networks.
(b) Subnetting provides the ability to coalesce different physical networks into a single logical
network.
(c) Subnetting provides the ability to split a single physical network among different logical
networks.
(d) Subnetting provides the ability to coalesce different logical networks into a single physical
network.

Ans: (A)

Q23. Which of the following functions is the responsibility of the data link layer?
(a) Encoding of signals
(b) Framing
(c) Reliable delivery
(d) Forwarding
Ans: (B)

Q24. Which of the following is not performed by TCP?

(a) Reliable delivery
(b) Ordering of packets
(c) Packet forwarding
(d) Congestion control
Ans: (C)

Q25. DES is an example of

(a) symmetric key cryptography
(b) asymmetric key cryptography
(c) cryptographic hash function
(d) key distribution mechanism

Ans: (A)

Research Methodology Questions

Q1. Which among these is the most suitable attribute of a good research topic?
(a) High monetary worth of research.
(b) Simplicity.
(c) Mathematical nature.
(d) Individual interest in the research topic.
Ans: (D)

Q2. Which of the following is true about the sources for generating research ideas/topics?
(a) Ideas could be generated from diverse sources including media, academic articles and classes.
(b) Ideas are generated only by talking to experts in the field.
(c) Ideas are generated mainly in the classroom.
(d) Ideas are generated principally by innovative thinking.
Ans: (A)
Q3. Which among the following is not the content of a research proposal?
(a) Methodology of proposed research.
(b) Derivations of known results.
(c) References.
(d) Timeline of research.
Ans: (B)

Q4. Which of the following is not true about designing a questionnaire?

(a) It is mandatory to obtain names of participants.
(b) Questionairre should be ordered from easy, general to difficult, specific questions.
(c) It is recommended to do a pilot study before the main survey.
(d) Objectives should be decided before writing down questions.
Ans: (A)

Q5. Which of the following is the correct order of steps involved in scientific inquiry?
(a) Ask a question and formulate a hypothesis, test prediction, prediction based on hypothesis,
make an observation, formulate new hypotheses.
(b) Ask a question and formulate a hypothesis, make an observation, prediction based on
hypothesis, test prediction, formulate new hypotheses.
(c) Make an observation, ask a question and formulate a hypothesis, prediction based on hypothesis,
test prediction, formulate new hypotheses.
(d) Prediction based on hypothesis, test prediction, formulate new hypotheses, make an observation,
ask a question and formulate a hypothesis.
Ans: (C)

Q6. If you would like to find out if algorithm B better than algorithm A, what would be your null
and alternate hypotheses?
(a) Null: B performance differs from A; Alternate: B performance cannot be distinguished from A.
(b) Null: B performance cannot be distinguished from A; Alternate: B performance differs from A.
(c) Null: B performance is within 5% performance of A; Alternate: B performance is not within 5%
performance from A.
(d) Null: B performance is not within 5% performance from A; Alternate: B performance is within
5% performance of A.
Ans: (B)

Q7. What is the benefit of a review article over a research article?

(a) A review article is easier to understand.
(b) A review article contains more authentic information.
(c) A review article represents the state of the art which may not be true of a research article.
(d) A review article presents an overview of research in a particular area.
Ans: (D)

Q8. What is the benefit of a literature review?

(a) It provides ideas for future work.
(b) It presents the state of the art of research work in that area.
(c) It presents the objective of the research work.
(d) It provides the background for the research work.
Ans: (B)

Q9. Which among the following is a popular website to search for research articles without
subscriptions?
(a) Google Research
(b) ACM
(c) IEEE
(d) Google Scholar
Ans: (D)

Q10. Which among the following is not a publisher for research articles?
(a) Scopus
(b) Springer
(c) Elsevier
(d) Wiley
Ans: (A)

Q11. If Journal X publishes 50 papers in 2010 and 2011 each, and the number of citations to these
papers in 2012 are 100 and 120 respectively, what is the impact factor of journal X for the year
2012?
(a) 2.2 (b) 0.45 (c) 2.4 (d) 2.0
Ans: (A)

Q12. What is true about impact factors?

(a) Impact factors can be compared across different fields.
(b) The impact factor of a journal absolutely determines the quality of all research articles contained
in it.
(c) An impact factor over 1.0 indicates a good quality journal.
(d) Not all journals have impact factors.
Ans: (D)

Q13. What is not a part of research ethics?

(a) Being honest about research results.
(b) Being a good teacher.
(c) Avoiding plagiarism.
(d) Maintaining confidentiality during peer review.
Ans: (B)

Q14. Which of the following does not constitute plagiarism in research?

(a) Paraphrasing from another article after citing it.
(b) Copying a figure freely available on Internet.
(c) Copying a sentence from another research article.
(d) Copying a table from another research article.
Ans: (A)

Q15. Which among the following is a prominent government organization for research funding in
India?
(a) UGC
(b) AICTE
(c) NAAC
(d) DST
Ans: (D)

Q16. Which among the following do not constitute good oral communication?
(a) Voice modulation
(b) Eye contact
(c) Winning an argument
(d) Smooth flow of ideas
Ans: (C)

Q17. Which among the following is not a characteristic of a good oral presentation?
(a) Writing paragraphs where required
(b) Using bullets
(c) Use of figures where applicable
(d) Preference of graphs or plots over tables
Ans: (A)

Q18. Which among the following is not a reason to rehearse an oral presentation?
(a) Proper selection of words
(b) To memorize the script for easy delivery
(c) Proper time allocation for the topics
(d) Smooth flow from one topic to another
Ans: (B)

Q19. Which among the following is a benefit of a well-written research article?

(a) Gets more citations
(b) Aids in extensions to the research
(c) Clarifies the concepts to the reader
(d) All of the above
Ans: (D)

Q20. Which among the following is not acceptable for a thesis?

(a) Derivation of mathematical proofs
(b) Copying images freely available on the Internet
(c) Quoting other sources with proper citation
(d) Summarizing other researchers work
Ans: (B)

Q21. Which among the following is a popular tool to avoid plagiarism?

(a) turnitin
(b) checkitout
(c) diff
(d) windiff
Ans: (A)

Q22. The time between events of a Poisson process follows a ____________ distribution
(a) bernouilli
(b) binomial
(c) exponential
(d) normal
Ans: (C)

Q23. If X1, X2, ... Xn are random variables that follow a bernouilli distribution, then X1 + X2 + ... +
Xn follows a _________ distribution
(a) bernouilli
(b) binomial
(c) exponential
(d) poisson
Ans: (B)

Q24. What is the benefit of ANOVA over Student t-test?

(a) ANOVA does not assume normal distribution of populations like Student t-test.
(b) ANOVA does not assume that populations have same variance like Student t-test.
(c) ANOVA can be used to determine if more than two populations have the same mean or atleast
one pair is different.
(d) none of the above.
Ans: (C)

Q25. Which models are most suitable to forecast a value based on the past history of values?
(a) Naive Bayes model
(b) logistic regression
(c) regression models
(d) time series models
Ans: (D)