The processing of residues in FCC units has become a held of considerable interest over the past few years. The goal of our own work within this area, which has now extended over several years, has been to identify catalysts which are capable of giving improved process economy. In order to find the most suitable catalysts, and to understand why some catalysts are more suitable than others, a broad range of physical and chemical test methods have been employed. Those test methods employed by us are discussed in the current paper, exemplified by an authentic evaluation.The execution of such a test program involving a broad range of test methods is quite expensive, nevertheless it has been found to be of great value.