Information Literacy Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. What is a central purpose of citing sources in academic or professional work?
To replace the need to explain how evidence supports an argument
To show that every cited source supports exactly the same conclusion
To credit prior work and let readers trace the evidence behind claims
To ensure the work cannot be challenged by other researchers
2. A survey finds that people who read more books also report better sleep. Which conclusion is best supported by this finding alone?
Book reading and reported sleep quality are associated, but causation is not established
Better sleep directly causes people to buy more books
Reading more books directly causes better sleep
The relationship must be false unless every participant read the same books
3. You encounter an unfamiliar website making a controversial claim. Which action best demonstrates lateral reading?
Reading every page on the website before judging it
Opening other sources to investigate the website, its authors, and the claim
Judging credibility mainly from the site's design and domain name
Looking only at the references listed on the website itself
4. An online report now presents a conclusion different from the one quoted in an older article. How should you investigate the discrepancy?
Assume the older article misquoted the report because it has an earlier date
Look for a correction notice, publication history, archived version, or explanation of revisions
Use whichever version better supports your existing position
Treat both conclusions as equally current without checking their context
5. While beginning research on an unfamiliar topic, what is generally the most responsible use of a Wikipedia article?
Use it for orientation and follow its references to evaluate stronger sources
Assume every statement is reliable if the article is long
Use only its opening paragraph and ignore the citations
Cite it as conclusive evidence because it is frequently updated
6. You need pages containing the exact phrase climate migration rather than pages containing those words separately. Which search method is most effective?
Enter both words with a plus sign between them
Connect the two words with the Boolean operator AND
Place the complete phrase inside quotation marks
Add the word exact after the two search terms
7. A dramatic photograph is shared as evidence of an event happening today, but the post gives no source. What is the most effective verification step?
Accept it if the account has a large number of followers
Inspect the image for whether it looks professionally composed
Use a reverse-image search and trace earlier appearances and original context
Wait to see whether the post receives more likes than critical comments
8. Your search for renewable energy returns thousands of results, many unrelated to schools. Which revision is most likely to make the results more relevant?
Remove renewable energy and search only for schools
Add specific terms such as schools, solar panels, and your location
Use a broader term such as technology
Sort the existing results by title length
9. A national headline is based on a voluntary survey completed by 200 users of one fitness app. What is the main reason to question whether the results apply to all adults?
The self-selected app users may not represent the wider adult population
A study must include every adult before making any broader inference
Surveys cannot provide useful information about people's experiences
A fitness app cannot record any information accurately
10. A database search must find articles about sleep that use either the term adolescents or the term teenagers. Which search structure best expresses that requirement?
Require all three terms by joining adolescents, teenagers, and sleep with AND
Search for adolescents and sleep while excluding every result that mentions teenagers
Search for adolescents anywhere, or search only for results containing both teenagers and sleep
Group adolescents and teenagers with OR, then connect that group to sleep with AND
11. An influencer recommends a financial product in a polished comparison video. What information is especially important when evaluating possible bias?
Whether the video uses professional lighting and clear charts
Whether the influencer has posted consistently for several years
Whether the influencer was paid, receives commissions, or has another financial relationship
Whether viewers have left more positive than negative comments
12. What does peer review generally indicate about a scholarly article?
Relevant specialists evaluated it before publication, though that does not guarantee it is error-free
Independent researchers successfully reproduced all of its findings
The journal agrees with every conclusion presented by the authors
The article is written for readers without subject knowledge
13. What does it usually mean when a research paper is labeled a preprint?
It has been formally accepted by every journal in its field
Its findings have already been independently replicated
It is a shortened copy written exclusively for news organizations
It was shared publicly before completing the journal's standard peer-review process
14. A news story says a small study proves that a supplement improves memory. What is the best first step for evaluating the claim?
Check whether several other news sites repeat the same headline
Find the original study and examine its methods, sample, and conclusions
See whether the supplement has many positive customer reviews
Confirm that the story quotes a person with a professional title
15. Which item is a primary source for studying the daily experiences of a nurse during a historical epidemic?
A recent textbook chapter summarizing the epidemic
An encyclopedia entry about medical history
A documentary that quotes several historians
A diary written by the nurse during the epidemic
16. Several news sites publish nearly identical wording about a company's new environmental initiative. What should you do to assess whether the reports provide independent confirmation?
Count the number of sites carrying the wording
Choose the version published by the best-known outlet
Compare the articles' publication times and headline styles only
Trace the wording to its original press release and seek reporting based on independent evidence