Impact Assessment Methodologies Questions and Answers

Q: Socio-economic Impact Assessment of proposed project can be best interpreted by :

The keyed answer is Rational threshold value (RTV).The rational threshold value is a named technique for judging whether the socio-economic effects of a proposed project are significant. It appears in the US Army's Economic Impact Forecast System, whose users' manual lists the Rational Threshold Value and Forecast Significance of Impacts techniques as the tools used to measure the "significance" of forecast changes in a region's economy. The forecast change in a socio-economic indicator is compared with a threshold based on how much that indicator has normally varied in the area, so a change inside the normal range is read as not significant and one outside it as significant.I could not find any standard EIA source that defines an "absolute", "critical" or "normal" threshold value as a named method for social and economic impacts, so options A, C and D are rejected because they are not recognised techniques, not because their definitions were checked. I confirmed that RTV exists as a socio-economic significance method, which is why the official key is kept.

Q: How many envioronmental attributes were used to display the relationships in a cross-impact matrix developed by Johnson and Bell ?

The keyed answer is 92 attributes.The question concerns the cross-impact matrix of Johnson and Bell, one of the matrix methods used in impact assessment to show how one factor affects another. Searches of reference sources during checking did not find the number of attributes in that matrix, so the figure 92 rests on the University's key alone and could not be independently confirmed.The other options, 90, 100 and 80, are round numbers. The key gives the one that is not round, which suggests it comes from a published count rather than an approximation, but that is an inference and not a confirmation. Cross-impact analysis in general lists the factors along both axes of a square matrix and scores the effect of each on every other.

Q: Which of the following is NOT a social impact ?

Investment is not a social impact.Social impact assessment looks at how a project changes people's lives: demographic impacts (displacement, migration, changes in population structure), cultural impacts (effects on customs, heritage and sacred sites), and gender impacts (different effects on women and men, for example in access to land or work).Investment is an economic factor, part of the project's cost and financial analysis. It may cause social impacts, but it is not itself a category of social impact, so it is the one that does not belong.

Q: Which of the following is an example of stepped matrix ?

The official key gives Johnson and Bell (1975). I could not confirm this attribution.Environmental impact matrices are grouped as simple and stepped. Leopold et al (1971) is the well-known simple interaction matrix of the US Geological Survey, which cross-tabulates project actions against environmental conditions, so it is the usual example of a simple, not a stepped, matrix. The Asian Development Bank (1987) item is a set of environmental guidelines rather than a matrix method.Searches of EIA method notes turned up no source linking any author in the list to the stepped matrix, so the key is kept because nothing contradicts it, not because it was verified. Treat this as a recall question about one textbook's list.

Q: Which method for impact identification in EIA links action to impact ?

The method that links action to impact is matrices.An impact matrix lists the project's actions along one axis and the environmental components along the other. Each cell where an action affects a component is marked, often with its magnitude and importance, as in the Leopold matrix of 1971. This directly ties each action to the impact it causes.Checklists only list the factors to consider, without connecting them to particular actions. Overlays map impacts spatially, and ad hoc methods rely on expert opinion without a structured link between action and impact.

Q: Match the following and select the correct answer from the codes given below :Method of Impact IdentificationExample(a) Simple matrix(i) Asian Development Bank (1987)(b) Cross impact matrix(ii) Carstea et al (1976)(c) Descriptive checklist(iii) Johnson and Bell (1975)(d) Simple checklist(iv) Leopold et al (1971)

The match is a-iv, b-iii, c-ii, d-i.The simple interaction matrix is the Leopold matrix, published by Leopold and others in 1971, which lists 100 project actions against 88 environmental characteristics. So (a) must pair with (iv), and only option B does that.In option B the remaining pairings follow: the cross impact matrix with Johnson and Bell (1975), the descriptive checklist with Carstea and others (1976), and the simple checklist with the Asian Development Bank (1987). Options A, C and D each give the Leopold matrix to a checklist instead.

Q: In EIA, the multiattribute theory is used to describe :

Multiattribute theory describes the identification of alternatives to be evaluated and structuring of environmental parameters.Multiattribute utility theory is a decision-analysis framework. It lists the alternatives (sites, technologies, or no project), organises the environmental parameters into a hierarchy of attributes, gives each a weight and a utility score, and combines them so that alternatives can be compared on one scale. The Battelle Environmental Evaluation System is a well-known EIA application.Describing existing environmental quality is baseline study, the socio-economic status of the area is a separate socio-economic assessment, and the risks of a project are handled by risk assessment. None of these is what the multiattribute approach sets out to do.

Q: Which method for impact identification in EIA uses GIS ?

The method that uses GIS is overlays.The overlay method, introduced by Ian McHarg, maps each environmental factor (soils, slopes, vegetation, settlements) on a separate transparent sheet and lays them over each other to find where impacts concentrate. GIS does exactly this digitally with map layers, so overlay analysis is now carried out in GIS.Checklists list factors to consider, matrices cross project actions against environmental components (as in the Leopold matrix), and networks trace chains of cause and effect. None of them is spatial by design.

Socio-economic Impact Assessment of proposed project can be best interpreted by :

A.Absolute threshold value (ATV)
B.Rational threshold value (RTV)
C.Critical threshold value (CTV)
D.Normal threshold value (NTV)

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2018, SET Exam - 2018,

Answer: B

The keyed answer is Rational threshold value (RTV).

The rational threshold value is a named technique for judging whether the socio-economic effects of a proposed project are significant. It appears in the US Army's Economic Impact Forecast System, whose users' manual lists the Rational Threshold Value and Forecast Significance of Impacts techniques as the tools used to measure the "significance" of forecast changes in a region's economy. The forecast change in a socio-economic indicator is compared with a threshold based on how much that indicator has normally varied in the area, so a change inside the normal range is read as not significant and one outside it as significant.

I could not find any standard EIA source that defines an "absolute", "critical" or "normal" threshold value as a named method for social and economic impacts, so options A, C and D are rejected because they are not recognised techniques, not because their definitions were checked. I confirmed that RTV exists as a socio-economic significance method, which is why the official key is kept.

Discuss in Forum

How many envioronmental attributes were used to display the relationships in a cross-impact matrix developed by Johnson and Bell ?

A.90
B.100
C.92
D.80

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2018, SET Exam - 2018,

Answer: C

The keyed answer is 92 attributes.

The question concerns the cross-impact matrix of Johnson and Bell, one of the matrix methods used in impact assessment to show how one factor affects another. Searches of reference sources during checking did not find the number of attributes in that matrix, so the figure 92 rests on the University's key alone and could not be independently confirmed.

The other options, 90, 100 and 80, are round numbers. The key gives the one that is not round, which suggests it comes from a published count rather than an approximation, but that is an inference and not a confirmation. Cross-impact analysis in general lists the factors along both axes of a square matrix and scores the effect of each on every other.

Discuss in Forum

Which of the following is NOT a social impact ?

A.Demographic
B.Cultural
C.Gender
D.Investment

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2019, SET Exam - 2019,

Answer: D

Investment is not a social impact.

Social impact assessment looks at how a project changes people's lives: demographic impacts (displacement, migration, changes in population structure), cultural impacts (effects on customs, heritage and sacred sites), and gender impacts (different effects on women and men, for example in access to land or work).

Investment is an economic factor, part of the project's cost and financial analysis. It may cause social impacts, but it is not itself a category of social impact, so it is the one that does not belong.

Discuss in Forum

Which of the following is an example of stepped matrix ?

A.Leopold et al (1971)
B.Johnson and Bell (1975)
C.Carstea et al (1976)
D.Asian Development Bank (1987)

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2019, SET Exam - 2019,

Answer: B

The official key gives Johnson and Bell (1975). I could not confirm this attribution.

Environmental impact matrices are grouped as simple and stepped. Leopold et al (1971) is the well-known simple interaction matrix of the US Geological Survey, which cross-tabulates project actions against environmental conditions, so it is the usual example of a simple, not a stepped, matrix. The Asian Development Bank (1987) item is a set of environmental guidelines rather than a matrix method.

Searches of EIA method notes turned up no source linking any author in the list to the stepped matrix, so the key is kept because nothing contradicts it, not because it was verified. Treat this as a recall question about one textbook's list.

Discuss in Forum

Which method for impact identification in EIA links action to impact ?

A.Overlays
B.Matrices
C.Checklists
D.Ad hoc

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2020, SET Exam - 2020,

Answer: B

The method that links action to impact is matrices.

An impact matrix lists the project's actions along one axis and the environmental components along the other. Each cell where an action affects a component is marked, often with its magnitude and importance, as in the Leopold matrix of 1971. This directly ties each action to the impact it causes.

Checklists only list the factors to consider, without connecting them to particular actions. Overlays map impacts spatially, and ad hoc methods rely on expert opinion without a structured link between action and impact.

Discuss in Forum

Match the following and select the correct answer from the codes given below :

Method of Impact Identification	Example
(a) Simple matrix	(i) Asian Development Bank (1987)
(b) Cross impact matrix	(ii) Carstea et al (1976)
(c) Descriptive checklist	(iii) Johnson and Bell (1975)
(d) Simple checklist	(iv) Leopold et al (1971)

A.a-i, b-ii, c-iii, d-iv
B.a-iv, b-iii, c-ii, d-i
C.a-ii, b-iv, c-i, d-iii
D.a-iii, b-i, c-iv, d-ii

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2020, SET Exam - 2020,

Answer: B

The match is a-iv, b-iii, c-ii, d-i.

The simple interaction matrix is the Leopold matrix, published by Leopold and others in 1971, which lists 100 project actions against 88 environmental characteristics. So (a) must pair with (iv), and only option B does that.

In option B the remaining pairings follow: the cross impact matrix with Johnson and Bell (1975), the descriptive checklist with Carstea and others (1976), and the simple checklist with the Asian Development Bank (1987). Options A, C and D each give the Leopold matrix to a checklist instead.

Discuss in Forum

In EIA, the multiattribute theory is used to describe :

A.The identification of alternatives to be evaluated and structuring of environmental parameters
B.Existing environmental quality of study area
C.Socio-economic status of the area
D.Risk involved in a development project

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2021, SET Exam - 2021,

Answer: A

Multiattribute theory describes the identification of alternatives to be evaluated and structuring of environmental parameters.

Multiattribute utility theory is a decision-analysis framework. It lists the alternatives (sites, technologies, or no project), organises the environmental parameters into a hierarchy of attributes, gives each a weight and a utility score, and combines them so that alternatives can be compared on one scale. The Battelle Environmental Evaluation System is a well-known EIA application.

Describing existing environmental quality is baseline study, the socio-economic status of the area is a separate socio-economic assessment, and the risks of a project are handled by risk assessment. None of these is what the multiattribute approach sets out to do.

Discuss in Forum

Which method for impact identification in EIA uses GIS ?

A.Checklists
B.Matrices
C.Overlays
D.Network

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: C

The method that uses GIS is overlays.

The overlay method, introduced by Ian McHarg, maps each environmental factor (soils, slopes, vegetation, settlements) on a separate transparent sheet and lays them over each other to find where impacts concentrate. GIS does exactly this digitally with map layers, so overlay analysis is now carried out in GIS.

Checklists list factors to consider, matrices cross project actions against environmental components (as in the Leopold matrix), and networks trace chains of cause and effect. None of them is spatial by design.

Discuss in Forum

Which of the following impact identification method is easy to use and understand as well as popular ?

A.Checklists
B.Network
C.Matrix
D.Overlay Maps

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2025, SET Exam - 2025,

Answer: D

The method that is easy to use and understand, and popular, is checklists.

A checklist lists environmental parameters, such as air, water, soil, flora, fauna and socio-economic factors, which the assessor ticks off as likely to be affected. It needs little data or expertise, so it is the most widely used method, especially at the screening and scoping stages. Its weakness is that it does not show interactions between impacts.

Matrices (such as the Leopold matrix) cross project activities with environmental factors and need more effort to fill. Networks trace chains of secondary and indirect impacts and are complex. Overlay maps superimpose transparent maps of environmental features and need spatial data or a GIS.

Discuss in Forum

10.

Match the Impact Assessment Methodologies (List - II) with the corresponding environments (List - I). Identify the correct answer from the codes given below the lists.

List - I	List - II
a. Air	i. Ecosystem models
b. Biological	ii. Gaussian models
c. Water	iii. Mass balance approach
d. Land	iv. G.I.S.

Codes : a b c d

A.ii i iii iv
B.i ii iv iii
C.iii iv ii i
D.iv iii i ii

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: A

The correct matching is air with Gaussian models, biological with ecosystem models, water with the mass balance approach and land with G.I.S., the code 'ii i iii iv'. Gaussian plume models predict the dispersion of air pollutants. Ecosystem models are used to predict impacts on biota, and the mass balance approach tracks the inputs and outputs of pollutants in water bodies. Geographic information systems handle land-use and spatial overlay. The other codes assign a method to an environment it does not suit, such as G.I.S. to air.

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