RA Cheat Sheet 2026

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

1. Which type of bias occurs when participants change their behavior because they know they are being observed? → Hawthorne effect
2. A survey item asks, "How satisfied are you with the clinic's staff and wait times?" What is the main problem with this item? → It is a double-barreled question
3. A laptop containing unencrypted identifiable study data is lost. What should the research assistant do first? → Promptly report it to the PI and institutional privacy/IRB office per policy
4. What does the ALCOA principle require of research data? → Accurate, Legible, Contemporaneous, Original, Attributable
5. A reviewer quotes a finding from a review article without reading the original study it cites. What is the main risk? → Propagating misinterpretation or citation errors from secondary sources
6. A participant tells a research assistant midway through a study visit that they want to stop. What is the correct response? → Respect the decision and follow the protocol's withdrawal procedures
7. A synthesis matrix in a literature review is primarily used to do what? → Organize sources by key themes or variables to compare them side by side
8. What ethical standard governs assessment and evaluation practice? → Adherence to the profession's code of ethics and applicable laws and regulations
9. What is the main purpose of continuing education requirements for certified research staff? → To keep knowledge current as regulations, guidance, and best practices change
10. What quality assurance measure supports professional standards and ethics? → Regular self-assessment, peer review, and adherence to established standards
11. Which analysis population includes only participants who followed the protocol closely enough with no major deviations? → Per-protocol population
12. Which of the following is an example of quantitative data? → The income of participants.
13. What is the purpose of data analysis in research? → To organize and interpret data.
14. In the ALCOA principles of data integrity, the 'C' stands for: → Contemporaneous
15. A study coordinator asks an RA to perform a protocol task not listed for them on the delegation log. What should the RA do? → Decline until the PI delegates the task and documents it on the log
16. What is the primary function of reference management software like Zotero or Mendeley? → Organizing and citing sources
17. A research assistant measures every 10th patient on a clinic list after a random start. This is: → Systematic sampling
18. Under ICH E6 Good Clinical Practice, who holds ultimate responsibility for the conduct of a clinical trial at a study site? → The principal investigator
19. What does 'sampling' refer to in research? → Choosing participants to represent the larger population.
20. What is a 'request for proposals' (RFP) in the context of research funding? → A funder's announcement inviting research proposals on specific topics
21. A participant's study visit occurred outside the protocol-defined window. How should the RA handle it? → Document it as a protocol deviation and report per IRB and sponsor requirements
22. The National Science Foundation (NSF) primarily funds research in which area? → Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
23. What distinguishes synthesis from summary in a literature review? → Synthesis integrates findings across sources to identify patterns, agreements and gaps
24. Which UN number applies to shipping Category B biological substances, such as routine clinical trial blood samples? → UN3373
25. A sponsor learns of a fatal, unexpected suspected adverse reaction in an IND study. What is the deadline for notifying FDA? → No later than 7 calendar days
26. When should an enrolled participant usually be re-consented? → When new information emerges that may affect their willingness to continue
27. The same participants have cholesterol measured before and after a diet program. Which test compares the two means? → Paired t-test
28. A coworker asks to borrow your EDC login to finish data entry. What is the correct response? → Decline, because credentials are unique to each user and sharing them breaks attribution
29. Which software is specifically designed for qualitative data analysis? → NVivo
30. Eligibility criteria for a review should ideally be defined at which point? → Before the search, in a written protocol