In most cases, you are not able to take out ref-erence books from a library. Sometimes, you can use and read books from a collection for a specific period of time before they have to be returned. If you need to take home the infor-mation, you can photocopy or print out com-puter listings of the material available to you. | Pretest Before you begin the steps it takes to write a research paper it is a good idea to find out how much you know about the research process. This pretest is designed to ask you some basic questions ones that cover all the lessons in Research Writing Skills. The objective of the pretest is to measure what you already know and what you need to know. The questions in this pretest do not cover all the topics discussed in each chapter so even if you can answer every single question in this pretest correctly there are still many practical writing strategies and style issues to learn. On the other hand if there are many questions on the pretest that puzzle you or if you find that you do not get a good percentage of answers correct don t worry. This book is designed to take you through the entire research writing process in effective step-by-step lessons. This pretest should be a diagnostic tool for you. If your score is high you might be able to spend a little less time with this book than you originally planned. If your score is lower than you would like it to be you may want to devote a little more than twenty minutes to practice each day in order to acquire some necessary research skills. Either way the amount of time you devote to this book and these lessons will be time well spent. You will learn valuable techniques to help you write a good research paper on any topic. 1 PRETEST On the next page you will find an answer sheet for the pretest. If you do not own this book you can write the numbers 1-50 on a piece of blank paper and mark your answers there. Before you begin relax find a quiet place to work and take as much time as you need for this short test. Once you have finished you can check your answers with the answer key at the end of this the test. Every answer includes a reference to a corresponding lesson. If you answer a question incorrectly turn to the chapter that covers that particular topic and you will be able to understand the question better. Good
