MRA Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield MRA facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. Which section of a research report summarizes the study's objectives and main findings? → Executive summary
2. Which of the following can help minimize interviewer bias? → Using standardized interview scripts
3. A consumer uses a price comparison app while standing in a store before purchasing. This behavior is known as: → Showrooming
4. A market researcher uses max-diff scaling. What does this technique measure? → The relative importance of attributes by having respondents choose best and worst options
5. A researcher reports a confidence interval of [2.1, 8.4] for a difference in means. What can be concluded? → The difference is statistically significant because the interval excludes zero
6. What is the primary advantage of using online panels for quantitative surveys? → They provide fast access to pre-recruited respondents at relatively low cost
7. Which digital analytics concept describes the sequence of interactions a user has with a brand before completing a purchase? → Customer journey
8. Usage-rate segmentation classifies consumers into categories such as: → Non-users, light users, medium users, and heavy users
9. When should a researcher use non-parametric tests instead of parametric tests? → When data violate assumptions of normality or are measured on ordinal scales
10. A participant in a depth interview keeps redirecting answers toward a topic the moderator did not raise. The BEST response is to: → Note the topic and probe it after completing the planned questions
11. The concept of 'market penetration rate' is calculated as: → Number of category buyers divided by total population
12. Which type of social media data is collected without users explicitly providing it, such as behavioral patterns and browsing history? → Passive data
13. A company tracks the same brand health metrics every quarter using identical methodology. This is an example of: → Tracking study
14. Which data collection method is best suited for studying consumer behavior in a retail store? → Observation
15. In a conjoint analysis, what does each 'attribute level' represent? → A specific version or value of a product feature
16. Which of the following best describes the 'consideration set' in consumer decision-making? → The subset of brands a consumer actively evaluates before purchase
17. Which of the following is a characteristic of primary research? → Data is collected first-hand for the specific research objective at hand
18. In which scenario would a researcher use stratified random sampling over simple random sampling? → When subgroups exist that must be proportionally represented
19. A normal distribution has a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. Approximately what percentage of scores fall between 85 and 115? → 68%
20. Which type of social media content format typically generates the highest average engagement rates according to platform data? → Short-form video content
21. A consumer who buys a luxury car to project success to colleagues is primarily driven by which type of motivation? → Symbolic/expressive motivation
22. Which statistical concept is most important when evaluating whether an A/B test result on a social campaign is reliable? → Statistical significance
23. Which chart type is best suited for showing the composition of a whole across a single time period? → Pie or donut chart
24. What is the primary purpose of conducting a 'pilot test' before full-scale data collection? → To identify and correct problems with the questionnaire, procedures, and instruments
25. Which element should appear first in a well-structured quantitative research report? → Title page, table of contents, and executive summary
26. In Digital & Social Media Analytics, what is the FIRST step a MRA professional should take when encountering a new case or situation? → Conduct a comprehensive assessment and gather all relevant information
27. A company measures its Net Promoter Score (NPS) through digital surveys. What does a score of +70 indicate? → A very high proportion of promoters relative to detractors
28. In questionnaire pre-testing, a 'cognitive interview' is primarily used to: → Understand how respondents interpret and process each question
29. Research shows that consumers rate a wine more favorably when told it costs $90 versus $10, even if the wine is identical. This best illustrates: → Price-quality inference heuristic
30. What does standardizing (z-scoring) a variable accomplish? → Transforms data to have mean=0 and standard deviation=1