Passing Exams with Joy and Confidence

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Passing Examswith Joy and Confidence

• Summer 2006 Edition

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Welcome to the exam process

• Congratulations on completing your core courses.
• What you learned there forms the bulk of what you
  will be tested on.
• Past doctoral students have enjoyed the review
  and synthesis that comes with studying for exams.

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When and How

• The exam will be given Monday and Tuesday,
  September 18 and 19.
• It will be made available electronically at 8
  a.m., and is due back by email at 6 p.m.
• On the first day, you will answer three questions
  from Sections I and II.
• On the second day, you will do an article review
  (Section III).
• You can call the coordinator to clarify what
  questions mean.
• Your answers are graded anonymously.

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Resources available

• All past exams and the reading list are online at
  http//www.spp.gatech.edu/current-students/cs_phd_
  exam.php.
• Members of the exam committee are generally
  willing to read practice answers.

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2005-06 Exam Committee

• GSU member have not yet been appointed, but might
  include
• Greg Lewis
• John Thomas
• Christine Roch
• Gary Henry

• Ann Bostrom
• Marco Castillo
• Susan Cozzens
• Gordon Kingsley
• Juan Rogers
• coordinator, does not grade
• Shapira and Norton are non-voting members.

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Who writes the questions?

• We ask everyone you have had a core course with
  to submit questions, as long as they are still on
  the faculty.
• We cant guarantee that they will respond.
• Others may also write questions, as needed.

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Section I (4-5 questions)

• Theory questions
• E.g. Spring 2005, Section 1, Question 2
• Say that you are interested in determining what
  makes good policy. With this goal in mind,
  make a case for the importance of studying the
  policy-making process. Be sure to use specific
  examples and references when constructing your
  argument.

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Section I, Theory-based questions

• Theory-based questions
• E.g., Spring 2005, Section 1, Question 1
• Three leading public policy issues are (1)
  ensuring adequate low income housing (2)
  achieving effective technology-based economic
  development (3) developing transportation
  alternatives to abate air pollution. Assume that
  the leader of the state or country of your choice
  has asked you to do a 300,000, year-long
  evaluation of policy alternatives on one of these
  issues. Create a policy research design,
  specifying and justifying (a) a general approach
  and research methodology, (b) a budget (making
  any enabling assumptions you need), (c) possible
  dependent and independent variables, and (d) a
  tentative causal model. Identify the three
  empirical studies you feel are most germane to
  your work. Be as detailed as possible, being
  explicit about the assumptions you make.

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How long should my answers be?

• The suggested length is 1250-2000 words.
• This is about 5-8 double spaced pages.
• Dont confuse length with quality.
• It is very important to answer all the parts of
  the question.
• The most common way that students fail theory
  questions is by answering only part, but not all,
  of the question.

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Section II (usually 4-5 questions)

• Statistics questions
• See Spring 2005, Section II, Question 3
• What Greg Lewis looks for in answers (see
  handout)
• Interpret coefficients
• Think causally
• Clarify what we can generalize using confidence
  intervals and hypothesis testing
• Discuss ways to deal with endogeneity problems.
• Formal modeling questions
• See Spring 2005, Section II, Question 2
• Will be the kind of thing you have been asked to
  do in your economics class.

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Section III (article review)

• We will provide a short, unpublished article.
• Your critique should address
• Theoretical and practical significance
• Whether the concepts, measures, and methods are
  appropriate to the research questions asked
• Whether the policy conclusions are well founded.
• You should provide a summary and conclusion for
  your critique.
• The length should be about the same as for a
  theory answer, 1250-2000 words.

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Who will grade my answers?

• There will be two graders for each answer in
  Sections I and II.
• One of those is generally the person who wrote
  the question, and the other is usually a member
  of the exam committee.
• They grade pass or fail.
• If they are split, a third reader will be asked
  to give a grade.

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What do I need to pass?

• You must pass three out of four questions to pass
  the exam.
• We will report your results within a month of the
  date of the exam.

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What if something goes wrong during the exam?

• If it is an emergency, take care of it right
  away.
• Then as soon as you can, call Prof. Cozzens.
• You will have to document your emergency.

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Plagiarism tutorial

• Please plan to take the following online tutorial
  before you take the exam
• http//occawlonline.pearsoned.com/bookbind/pubbook
  s/long_longman_uoplezap_1/medialib/ap/indexmla.htm
  

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Plagiarism principles

• At the level of words
• Put quotation marks around any set of more than
  seven words that repeat from your source.
• Cite author, date, and page.
• At the level of sentences
• Cite a source you are paraphrasing every sentence
  or two while you are paraphrasing.
• At the level of paragraphs and arguments
• Do not follow the argument of another author
  without acknowledging in the text that you are
  repeating his or her argument, and following the
  rules above.

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Take care of yourself

• Get as much rest as you can ahead of time.
• Dont plan to do anything else during the day
  while you are taking the exam.
• Outline your answers early, while you are still
  fresh.
• Take breaks.
• Get a good nights sleep after Section I.

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Good luck!