comprehensive exam dissertation

Preparing for the Comprehensive Examination and the Dissertation

The comprehensive examination and the dissertation are the final projects in your doctoral journey.  These projects allow learners to demonstrate their skills as independent scholars and researchers.  In a real sense, the entire range of academic preparation up to this point has been preparation for this.  Between the conclusion of Track 3 of the Colloquia and the start of the comprehensive examination, there is time for continuing development and strengthening of one’s scholarly and research knowledge and skills.

Preparing for the Comprehensive Examination

As you know, in the comprehensive examination (hereafter called “comps”) you will be asked to answer sophisticated questions in your specialization or field of study.  Although you have a generous time period in which to answer the questions, you should have brought your skills to their highest level for the greatest chance of success.  These are skills in (a) using the library to discover relevant research and theory on the questions, (b) critically thinking about and analyzing that research, (c) formulating a focused and thorough answer to the question, and (d) writing in a professional or scholarly voice.

Scholarly Skills Needed in the Comps

There is a set of interrelated skills needed to pass the comps.  They derive from the four competencies of the Colloquia (scholar-practitioner, critical thinker, researcher, and professional writer): 

• Can you deconstruct complex questions to identify what is actually being asked?  (The “Comprehensive Manual” in the “Learning Resources/Comprehensive and Dissertation Resources” section of iGuide has a chapter on how to deconstruct questions.)
• Can you appropriately identify the levels of critical analysis needed? (Remember Bloom’s famous taxonomy of critical thinking?)
• Can you organize a sophisticated literature search for existing work on the various elements of the question?
• Can you thoroughly analyze and critique that existing work in order to build a framework for your own answer to the question?
• Can you write your answer using all the elements of APA formatting, proper citation, good grammar, word usage, and mechanics (punctuation, spelling, formatting, etc.)?
• Can you present your answer using the correct paper and paragraph formatting—the introduction, main body, and conclusion model for the paper and the M.E.A.L. plan for paragraphs?
• Can you answer the question thoroughly—answering all elements that are asked—and concisely—answering no elements that are not asked?
• Can you use the analytic service provided by Capella (e.g., Turnitin.com, SafeAssign.com) to check your writing for originality and make all necessary corrections?
• Can you work in an organized and focused way within a carefully constructed timeline, ensuring timely delivery of the answers?

If you are weak or unready in any of these skills, develop a plan (which you will present to the Courseroom instructor) for improving your skills between now and the quarter when you will take comps.  This plan can be proactive—that is, a positive approach to developing or strengthening a particular skill.  It can also include reactive elements, such as deciding to take a quarter off to concentrate heavily on developing or improving your skills.  The comps and the dissertation are crucial to your success:  Only successfully completing both will achieve your dream of becoming doctoral.  Don’t mistake that: Careful and thorough preparation is the key.  The more ready you are going in, the greater your chances of success.

Some Ideas for Your Readiness-for-Comps Plan

• Identify the courses that you still need to complete.  How can each of them be used to enhance your skill set for independent scholarship?
• Make a list of the various skills you’ll need in the comps.  Make a plan to practice them intentionally in your remaining courses.
• Set goals for that practice and assess your progress weekly.
• Inform your instructors about your plans and ask them to help you with feedback focused on your needs.
• Figure out how you can use remaining courses to deepen your literature review for your dissertation.  For instance, if a course is a methodology course, use it to deepen your literature on your own methodology and design.  If it is a content course, figure out how that content relates to your dissertation topic and try to focus your course paper or product that way.  In whatever way, build your lit review.
• Decide if you want or need to take an additional residency.  Capella offers “Track 4,” a colloquia refresher.  The tuition is much less than that of the required tracks, and many learners find Track 4 to be helpful in solidifying their skills.
• Capella also offers the “Dissertation Writers’ Retreat,” concurrent with the PhD Colloquia, in which faculty from the Writing Program and methodologists from the schools are on site to assist learners who are working on a part of their dissertation.  Although this is not likely to be as productive prior to comps, you might consider using it after the comps to prepare more fully for starting the dissertation.
• Review your Research Plan carefully as you continue to discover existing research.  Do not let it go fallow, but add in new work, revise your plans, and continue to develop it as you approach the comps.  Some courseroom mentors (the leaders of the comps courseroom) allow a question or two based on the learners’ own dissertation topic.  Some do not.  But if your mentor does, then the depth of your lit review will be extremely important and useful.
• Review the “Comprehensive Examination Manual” thoroughly before starting the exam.  Learn the process, the timelines, the requirements, and how to handle (understand and deconstruct) the questions.  You cannot ask for help once the examination starts—it is an examination, after all—and you may not use an editor or librarian at any point.  Consequently, come as prepared as you can so that you don’t waste time trying to understand the “rules and regulations.”

Preparing for the Dissertation

When you meet your dissertation mentor, one of the first things you and the mentor will discuss is your research plan, developed through the Colloquia.  So it is important that it be as well-prepared as you can make it before you have that discussion.  You should have been updating your literature review in the research plan through all the quarters you’ve been taking courses and attending Colloquia.  Between now and the comps, continue that.  Once you have passed the comps and are on track to start dissertation, continue building that lit review and revising your research plan according to your latest findings.

Before you start the dissertation, become very familiar with the resources available to you in your school.  Go to Research at Capella , and then click on the link to "Research in [your school's name]" at the bottom of the page.  Open every document and discover what is there for you.  Prepare yourself for talking with a mentor so that you sound knowledgeable about the processes and the various elements of the dissertation—do not wait for a mentor to tell you what is needed or how to find something.  The dissertation is a demonstration of independent research.

Before you pass the comps, do not spend a lot of time preparing for dissertation (except to keep working on your research plan and building that lit review).  Instead, devote the time to preparing for the comps—when you pass the exam, there will be plenty of time for gearing up for the dissertation.

Keep one thing in the forefront of your vision:  The comps and the dissertation demonstrate your independence , as a scholar (comps) and as a researcher (dissertation).  You will be asked to demonstrate not only that you have knowledge, not only that you can present that knowledge in a manner appropriate to a PhD, but that you can use that knowledge to generate new knowledge on your own initiative, independently.  Consequently, evaluate honestly the level of your scholarship skills, the breadth of your knowledge, and the degree of true independence in your work.

Independence does not mean isolation, though.  Scholars form a community, and they talk together, recognizing their limitations and asking for help when they need it.

Knowing when one needs help is a genuine dimension of independent scholarship.  Can you ask for help when you need it?  Can you tell when you need it?

Another thing to look at as you prepare for the dissertation (and the comps, for that matter), is to assess your comfort with difficult feedback.  Particularly in the dissertation, you will receive a lot of difficult feedback—about your ideas, about your writing, about details of your research design, about any and every aspect of the project.  You may even get differing feedback from different evaluators, and you’ll have to negotiate with them if the differences are extreme.  Are you ready to not take tough feedback personally, but to use it to strengthen your work?  Don’t pass over that point lightly—self-assess carefully on this point.

Finally, evaluate your time management skills.  Perhaps the hardest problem to solve with the dissertation is how to ensure that you get done in a reasonable period of time.  There are no real deadlines—although there are milestones—like there are in courses.  The work is relentless, but there is no one expecting a document on a certain day.  It is far too easy to get lost.  This is another aspect of the independence you must demonstrate: the ability to get the job done on your own.  If procrastination and time management have been problems during your coursework, they will be magnified enormously during the dissertation.  If you have all the other necessary skills but allow yourself to procrastinate, your chances of success drop.  So if that has been a problem, take time to investigate it and develop a plan to overcome it.  You can do it, with a plan.

Doc. reference: phd_t3_u06s1_h01_prepcomp.html

Student Guide: Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination

The comprehensive examination is a critical part of the GPIS PhD program. You should not view it simply as a bureaucratic hurdle to pass over on your way to the dissertation. Instead, before embarking on narrowly focused dissertation work, the comprehensive examination establishes that you have the broad familiarity and expertise with the field that is the mark of a doctoral education. It is the checkpoint that confirms that you are ready to pass from being a student to a scholar. The process of preparing for the comprehensive exam should help you organize and reflect on the variety of things you have learned over the past few years. While to this point, each of your seminars has been a distinct learning experience, you now can think about how your interdisciplinary work in international studies fits together. Preparation for the comprehensive exam should help you become better able to integrate and utilize the knowledge you have gained in your graduate study. It is also critically important for embarking on the dissertation. The best dissertations are effectively connected to the central questions and literature of the field. Unless you have developed an integrated overview of the field you will not have the necessary foundation for dissertation work.

The Comprehensive Character of the PhD Examination

It is important to note that the comprehensive PhD examination is not simply a test of your cumulative knowledge of seminar materials. It is, rather, a test of your preparation to work as an independent scholar at the highest level. By now you should be functioning like a scholar, and not just like a student. You should be aware of the major journals in your field and should be paying attention to them. You should know what the most important books, articles, and debates are regardless of whether they were used in your classes. It may have been a few years since you took IR theory, but it is unlikely that the scholars who work in that area have stopped pushing the field forward to wait for you to get through the comprehensive exams.

The Written Comprehensive Examination Process

The written comprehensive exams are usually scheduled for a Friday and Monday the weekend before the start of the new semester. You will do your major field on one day and your minor field on the other. We will try to schedule your major field for Friday and your minor field for Monday, but the order will be determined by the scheduling needs of the full set of students taking the written comprehensives on a given day. You will have eight hours to complete each part of the exam. The exam is closed book and no notes or other aids of any kind are allowed. For each of your fields you will be given five questions from which you will choose two to answer.

The Written Exam Grading

The exam will be graded by the appointed Doctoral Candidacy Examination Committee. The committee will usually, but not always, include the Committee Chair, and directors of the relevant tracks. It will usually take about two weeks to get the written exams graded.

Passing the Written Comprehensive Exam

Different examiners may read the exams in different ways, and it is the student's responsibility to write answers that are generally accessible and appealing across the variety of GPIS faculty. Most readers will be looking for a clear and direct answer to the question, evidence of familiarity and facility with the important literature, and an ability to integrate theory and empirical cases.

To pass the comprehensive exam, students must not receive more than one failing evaluation from a committee member.

Failing the Written Comprehensive Exam

Our goal and expectations are that every student will pass the comprehensive examination. The exam is not designed to be a barrier. It is meant to be a straightforward assessment of the student's command of their declared fields and their preparation to move on to the challenges of writing the dissertation. Nonetheless, and precisely because the exam is conceptualized as an assessment of this preparedness to move on, it plays a very important role in your doctoral education. Students who do not demonstrate an effective grasp of the relevant literature and empirics or who do not effectively and explicitly answer the questions as asked will not pass.

Students who do not pass the written portion of the exam on the first attempt will have to retake the exam in a subsequent semester. Failure on the second attempt will prevent the student from going on to write a dissertation. At the discretion of the examination committee, the failing student may be awarded the MA degree if the performance and coursework so merit, and if they do not already have a GPIS MA.

The Oral Comprehensive Examination process

Doctoral candidates are expected to be able to communicate effectively and knowledgeably both in writing and orally. Thus, the comprehensive examinations have both a written and an oral component.

The oral portion of the comprehensive examination will take place about three weeks after the written. Three to five faculty members will administer the examination. The examiners will usually, but not necessarily, include the Director or Associate Director of GPIS and the track coordinators from the student's major and minor fields. The examination will last about one hour. Each examiner will have a chance to ask questions, but the format will often shift between relatively structured questioning and a more free-flowing discussion.

The discussion will center on the student's answers for the written exam (students may use their written exam). The scope of the exam is not, however, limited to that material. The examiners will be looking to fill in any perceived gaps in the written work, and to assess the student's facility more generally with the literature and empirical material.

Passing the Oral Comprehensive Exam

Passing the oral comprehensive exam is a matter of convincing the committee members that you have an appropriate mastery of the central material of the field and are prepared to go on to focused and independent work on a dissertation. To pass, you must not receive more than one negative vote from a member of the examining committee.

Failing the Oral Comprehensive Exam

Students who do not pass the oral exam will be asked to return in one month for a second oral exam. Students who do not pass on the second attempt will not be allowed to continue for the PhD.

Tips for Preparing for the PhD Comprehensive Exam

The most important preparation for the PhD comprehensive examination is the GPIS coursework you have completed. Reviewing the notes and materials from your seminars and trying to organize it around some integrative themes is essential preparation. The following pages offer some further suggestions for effective preparation for the comprehensive examination, and for ensuring a strong examination performance.

1. Take appropriate classes

In consultation with your adviser and other faculty, be sure to select a variety of classes that will give you the broad background you need for the comprehensive exam. It is particularly important that you choose classes that will help you gain both a breadth of field knowledge, and a depth of knowledge in a few critical areas. The seminar papers you write should particularly help you develop depth in a few critical areas.

2. Keep effective class notes and reading notes

You should be thinking about preparation for the comprehensive exams from the beginning of your program. Keeping your seminar and reading notes in an organized manner will allow for more effective comprehensive exam review. You will particularly want to be careful about the material in the core classes.

You may find it useful to develop reading notes at different levels of depth. There may be a set of books and articles for which you will have 2-3 page summaries. There may be a second, larger, group for which you have paragraph length descriptions. Finally you should have a third very large group for which you have a sentence for each reading that gives you the central thrust of the argument.

3. Work on exam preparation in groups

Working with others can help you share the labor of summarizing and reviewing material. You can work with others on identifying the critical literature and on developing answers to hypothetical test questions.

4. Pay particular attention to the broad literature of international relations theory that will help you in answering a wide variety of questions

Many of the questions across the different tracks will benefit from an effective understanding of the broad currents and debates of international relations theory. One of the things a graduate education should help you do is to apply general theory to a variety of specific situations. Displaying that ability on the comprehensive exam is a good idea.

5. Identify some historical periods and important episodes and issues around which you will develop a particular expertise

Alas, no one can know everything about everything. You will see in this collection of sample questions that it is relatively rare for a question to demand knowledge of a particular event or historical period. Nonetheless, you will also see that you are often called upon to identify a critical historical period or event. You will be expected to evince in-depth knowledge of some issues or areas. Effective in-depth knowledge of a few critical issue areas or historical episodes can help you generate appropriate material for a wide variety of questions.

6. Identify some important literature with which you will be particularly familiar

You need to have a good feel for a very broad range of literature. For a lot of books and articles, remembering the author and the central thrust of their argument and evidence will serve you adequately for the comprehensives. But, just as it is essential that you have a greater depth of knowledge about a few historical episodes are critical issues, you will want to have a set of books and articles that you know extremely well. You should have an identified set of readings that you are confident you can apply to a reasonable range of questions and that you know very well and can talk about with some depth and sophistication.

7. Practice for the exam

Using the material in this booklet, you should write some practice exams. At the beginning you may want to take several hours and write an answer with open book resources. By the end you should be practicing with closed notes and a two-hour clock to simulate exam conditions. Such practice will not only help you think about how you will engage in the actual task of taking the exam, but will give you collection of sample answers that may be easily adapted to the real test questions. Just be careful that you don't mistakenly provide the answer to a similar old question and miss the slightly changed terms or requirements that are likely to show up in the real test.

The process of preparing practice exams is another area where working in groups can be extremely helpful. Having a study group can give you a larger stock of practice answers and will allow you to get feedback and to discuss the appropriate sources and arguments for a given question.

Tips for Writing an Effective Comprehensive Exam

1. Make sure you answer the questions explicitly and clearly.

The most common comprehensive exam mistake is to not explicitly and clearly answer the question. Read the question very carefully and make sure that you offer an explicit answer to the question. Do not rely on the readers to draw out implicit answers.

2. Make appropriate reference to the literature and relevant scholarly debates.

You will not, of course, be expected to provide detailed citations. But, you should demonstrate familiarity and facility with a range of the literature. You should be able to appropriately reference the scholars whose arguments are relevant to a particular issue. You may occasionally include the name of a book or article and the date of its publication.

3. Make appropriate use of theory and of empirical and historical knowledge.

If appropriately done, it is particularly effective to use theory to inform answers on history questions and history to inform answers on theory questions.

4. Write full answers that are structured with an introduction and conclusion.

As in all writing, structure and organization are important to effective communication. Just because it is a time-limited exam is no excuse for jumbled, incoherent writing. Take the time to think through and outline your argument and its structure before you write. As in all writing, signposting, headings, and clear explicit language can help communicate your ideas. Provide a clear introduction and conclusion that can help you summarize your central point and will reassure the readers that you have, in fact, explicitly answered the question.

5. Make an argument

As a scholar prepared to embark on independent thesis work, it is important that you demonstrate an ability to effectively articulate your own views. The comprehensive exam is not just about knowing the literature. It is also about demonstrating that you can think about international issues critically and come to your own conclusions. Avoid wishy-washy answers that simply describe some of the ideas extant in the field and then conclude that they are all correct. Take a stand and defend it with appropriate theoretical, analytical, and empirical material.

6. Make choices

You will notice that most of the questions are a lot bigger than can be fully answered in the two-hours you will have on average during the written exam. You have to make choices on how you will answer so that you can display your breadth and depth of knowledge while satisfying the committee that you have effectively addressed the question. It usually helps if you can be explicit about how you are managing the question ("While there are, of course, idiosyncratic elements in the complex relationship of each President to his national security team, I will focus in this short essay on the difficult relationship between Jimmy Carter, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Cyrus Vance because it effectively illuminates the problems every foreign policy team must face"). It is rarely a good strategy to try to present a broad and superficial survey of too many things ("In this essay I will discuss the relationship of each Post-WWII American president with his respective Secretaries of State and Defense").

7. Don't make big mistakes

This, of course, is common sense, but I can't overemphasize how difficult it is to certify someone as ready to move onto writing a dissertation who fundamentally misunderstands some essential literature, or who demonstrates a wanton disregard for historical accuracy.

Tips for the Oral Examination

1. Attitude matters

Attitude is important in the oral examination, just as it will be for the remainder of your career as a scholar. As a doctoral candidate, you should be able to present your views with confidence, but without becoming defensive. The examiners are likely to push against your views and expect to see you defend them effectively, but not irrationally.

The best way to figure out the right attitude is to attend the presentations of others at research workshops, dissertation defenses, and conferences. Start paying attention to the style as well as the substance. Take note of how other scholars deal with difficult questions and criticisms. What works and what doesn't work? What makes them sound defensive? What makes them sound arrogant? What makes them sound indecisive?

2. Being nervous is inevitable

It is likely that you will be nervous. How you perform when nervous is not irrelevant to your career as a scholar. You need to demonstrate that despite being nervous you can engage in appropriate scholarly discussion.

3. We probably know more than you, but knowing everything isn't required

It is likely that all together, the three to five professors conducting the examination know some things that you don't. With some pushing, they will probably be able to find out what some of those things are. We don't expect you to know everything. We do expect you to communicate effective knowledge of a broad range of subjects, and explicit and deep knowledge of a few selected areas.

4. Practice

The best way to practice for the oral exam is to speak up and engage in discussion in your seminars, in research workshops, and at conferences. If you aren't prepared to express and defend your views in the seminar setting, it is unlikely that you will be prepared to do so in the oral exam.

5. Work with other students

Again, preparing for the comprehensive examinations with other students will help you both with the substance and with the process. Scholarly discussions of exam questions with other students will give you the chance to practice articulating and defending your views with appropriate references to the literature and empirical facts.

The ODU Honor Pledge will be strictly enforced, and you will be asked to sign off on this pledge on the date of the exam:

I pledge to support the Honor System of Old Dominion University. I will refrain from any form of academic dishonesty or deception, such as cheating or plagiarism. I am aware that as a member of the academic community it is my responsibility to turn in all suspected violations of the Honor Code. I will report to a hearing if summoned.

Technical Instructions

Guidelines to answering questions.

This examination will be conducted in a BAL Computer lab. In an emergency, you must inform the proctor immediately.

• You may take short breaks (5-10 minutes) as needed
• You are not permitted to leave the building under any circumstance
• Food and beverages should be consumed during the exam
• Save your work often on the flash drive provided
• If any problems occur, notify the proctor immediately
• The examination is closed book and no notes or other aids including cell phone are allowed
• You will be given a blue book, pen, and pencil for writing notes
• Once the exam begins the computer browsers will be locked down
• You must sign and return the honor pledge provided

On the day of the exam arrive 5-10 minutes early to log into the computer and be ready to start promptly at 8:30 a.m. when the exam questions are distributed.

You will receive the exam questions, a flash drive, a blue book for notes and the honor pledge to sign and return to the proctor. Use the flash drive to save your work and give to the proctor at the end of the exam.

The examination consists of two parts.

Part 1 - questions will be on your MAJOR concentration.  Part 2 - questions will be on your MINOR concentration

On both days you must answer TWO out of five questions. The questions are written broadly, but your essays must remain explicitly responsive to what is asked; simply referencing texts is not sufficient. Time is ample and running out of time is not an option. Ending early is also not advised. The examination will conclude at 4:30 p.m. and all answers must be saved on the flash drive and turned in.

1. There will be five questions. You must answer two.  

2. The exam lasts a total of eight hours. Allocate your time accordingly and make sure that each question has a concluding section.  

3. Also make sure that you:

• answer the questions as they are raised and not as you wish they had been raised
• illustrate your answer with appropriate empirical examples
• cite relevant sources
• make proper references to important interpretative debates, when appropriate  

4. Your answers will be reviewed in terms of:

• how effectively you address each of the questions
• how well you know and manage your facts
• how soundly you handle and cite the literature
• how well you have developed and organized your argument
• the quality of your writing

5. Failure to pass the exam may include, but is not limited to, the following shortcomings:

• errors of fact
• misattribution of arguments in text and/or citation
• spurious citation of literature
• presentation of answer in bullet point format
• failure to develop coherent argument

Past Field Questions

American foreign policy.

• According to Henry Kissinger, "It is an illusion to believe that leaders gain in profundity while they gain experience.... The connections that leaders have formed before reaching high office are the intellectual capital they will consume" during their time in office. Explain and discuss this assessment, which Kissinger made after he had served as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State, with explicit references to two high level foreign policy practitioners during the two decades that followed the US intervention in World War II (1941-1961).
• "Our security, our vitality, and our ability to lead," recently observed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, "must be based on a marriage of principle and pragmatism, not rigid ideology, on facts and evidence, not conviction or prejudice." Explain and discuss in the context of two high level foreign policy practitioners during the immediate postwar decade (1945-1965).
• Identify TWO crises, events, or issues that best characterize the latter part of the Cold War and its immediate aftermath (from January 1981 to January 2001). Do NOT describe any of these crises, events or issues at length but single out the features and patterns that best explain why these are so closely identified, in your judgment, with this initial post-Cold War period.
• Describe and discuss the evolution of U.S. policies toward any country (except the USSR/Russia) or region of your choice during a 6-year period of your choice, extended from January 1981 to January 2001. To introduce your answer, explain your choice of the period you wish to discuss. To conclude, explain the relevance of that region or country to current U.S. interests and policies.
• Whatever might be said about the events of September 11, 2001 and the wars that followed, their consequences have been epochal - meaning, system changing. After a quick review of these events, examine the conditions of what has been called a new "post-American world." What do you think of this emerging world: first, from the narrow perspective of U.S. interests, capabilities and purpose; but also, next, from the broader perspective of power and order during the coming decade? 2. "The United States," it has been noted, "never experienced what other nations experienced in achieving a position of world power. It moved within a very brief period from a position of isolation to one of global leadership, it has never been a mere nation among other nations." Explain and discuss the influence of the nation's distinctive past on the US role in the world in the twentieth century.

TRANSNATIONALISM AND INTERDEPENDENCE

• Great speculation exists on the extent to which the United States is in decline. Drawing on the central concepts and knowledge of the track, and on your broader study in the program, to what extent do you believe America is in decline? What factors could hasten or reverse this decline at the global level, insofar as you see it in play?
• To what extent, if any, is the world safer in the post-Cold War era? In what measure have transnational threats (terrorism, migration, energy interdependence, etc) replaced the threats inherent in the Cold War?
• Drawing on your coursework in this program, and especially on your courses in this track, to what extent do you think that the effects of anarchy can be tempered or lessened in world politics?
• Realists tend to assume that world politics is cyclical; and that the basic elements of world politics do not change much over time (such as power, balance of power politics, the centrality of states, and conflict). To what extent do you agree with this key realist assumption?
• To what extent, if at all, does interdependence decrease inter-state conflict in world politics?

INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY

• From World War II to the present, states have constructed regimes to manage some-but not all-aspects of the international economy. A once-strong regime to manage trade has weakened since the 1990s. Likewise, with the abandonment of dollar-gold convertibility in 1973, a robust regime to manage monetary relations collapsed. Conversely, states originally left finance unregulated but in 1988 created and progressively have strengthened rules to manage international banking. And in production, the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment collapsed in 1998 without ever securing necessary multilateral support. What explains these variations in institutions, both across issue areas and over the course of the last 65 years?
• The integration of gendered analyses of globalization has led to a substantive body of literature within the field of international studies. Imagine that an international studies department hires you to design and teach a graduate seminar on gender and globalization. What theoretical and empirical movements within the field would your seminar emphasize? How would you elucidate the central connections between gender and globalization? In your essay response, please explain how your choice of authors, themes and content provides an innovative approach to teaching graduate students about the complex interconnections between gender and global restructuring.
• After the May 2010 parliamentary elections in the United Kingdom, one observer wrote: The outcome in Britain underscores a problem roiling so many democracies. The economic change brought about by globalization and technological advances is not creating the happy, unified world of progress its promoters keep promising. Instead, it is splitting regions within nations that are fully part of the global market from those left behind. Does globalization foster or undermine democracy? Your answer should address at least one of the following dimensions of democracy: political behavior, democratic institutions, responsiveness, equality, and legitimacy. Please illustrate your argument using one democratic state of your choice.
• Numerous scholars argue that historical experiences condition a nation-state's contemporary political economy. That is, a state's past policies for economic development may profoundly affect its contemporary prospects for industrialization, the reduction of poverty, and the development of political institutions. To what degree are development and democratization path-dependent processes? Can states in the contemporary political economy escape the tyranny of their history? If so, how? If not, why not?
• Developing states face different economic, political and social challenges than do the wealthiest and most powerful states. Can international political economy offer us a coherent set of theoretical tools to explain such diverse problems in the global economy? Or must it rely upon ad-hoc, degenerative hypothesizing to accommodate such empirical challenges? To illustrate your theoretical argument, please compare at least one developing and one developed state.

CONFLICT AND COOPERATION

• For a region of your choice identify two instances of cooperation between states that advanced/improved the regional security environment. Explain your selections in detail. Choose your examples from the last decade.
• The spread of nuclear weapons is often cited as a major challenge to the international community. How might this threat best be countered? Your answer should critically review state policies and institutional responses.
• In an increasingly global security environment it is far from obvious how security should be organized. Reflecting on what you have learned, how would you conceptualize a 21st century security order? Why would you conceptualize it this way?
• To what extent does the transatlantic security community exist? Is it strong and if so, why? Is it weak and if so, why? What factors/developments are likely to determine its future?
• For a region of your choice, discuss two events or developments over the past decade that have significantly affected regional expectations about conflict and cooperation. In your answer, make sure to demonstrate familiarity with the scholarly literature and debates at the policy levels.
• Virtually absent from national policy agendas since the end of the Cold War, arms control is back. From a scholarly perspective and against the background of Cold War arms control, how do you evaluate the return of arms control, the emerging arms control agenda, and arms control's contribution to international peace and stability?
• How useful are policies of deterrence in a global security environment?
• From your understanding of the scholarly literature, single out two contributors whose work(s) you think have been critical in advancing the field of Security Studies. Carefully explain your choices.
• Critical theorists have issued a number of challenges to traditional understandings of peace and security. Identify three such challenges and discuss. Ultimately, do these challenges represent anomalies, in the Kuhnian sense, or are they the products of normal science?

COMPARATIVE AND REGIONAL STUDIES

• Both Rational-Choice and Political-Culture theories are prominent approaches in the field of comparative sociopolitical studies. What are the similarities and differences between these two approaches in terms of their intellectual geneses, theoretical assumptions, and major arguments (or hypotheses)? Discuss the major strengths and weaknesses of each approach.
• New Institutionalism is believed to have succeeded the so-called "Old" Institutionalism in comparative sociopolitical studies. Explain the intellectual genesis, theoretical assumptions and major arguments (or hypotheses) of the New Institutionalism. In what respects is the New Institutionalism similar to and different from the Old Institutionalism? Do you think that the New Institutionalism has helped advance comparative sociopolitical studies? Why or why not?
• Some analysts of comparative studies have advocated Statism, emphasizing the profound role of the state in shaping socioeconomic and sociopolitical developments in various countries. Explain theoretical assumptions and major arguments (or hypotheses) of Statism. Do you agree with Statism's arguments for the importance of the state (vs. society)? Why or why not?
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• To study socioeconomic development in different regions or countries, scholars have developed two distinct approaches: Modernization Theory and Dependency Theory. Briefly explain these two approaches in terms of their fundamental assumptions and theoretical arguments. Which theory do you prefer when studying socioeconomic development in developing countries? Use evidence from any region(s) or country (countries) with which you are familiar to support your reference.

INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL STUDIES

• Explain the social construction of culture(s) and its significance to current political economic realities.
• Cite a case study of a post-colonial critique of nationalism. Explain the role of the imperial power and how that is legitimized or not.
• How is the concept of "nation" constructed in Modernity? How is this construction relevant to issues in international studies? Cite case studies where appropriate.
• Explain how cultural studies theories are important to the study and practice of international relations.
• Explain the importance of the media in the construction or reflection of the identity of immigrant, multicultural or diaspora communities.

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Comprehensive Examinations Guidelines

Guide to Comparative Literature Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination Milestone

Comprehensive Examinations (also known as "Comps" or "Comp Exams") serve three purposes: 1) to solidify your education as a comparatist, 2) to help you get a handle on a field of expertise generally pertinent to comparatist inquiry and to your work specifically, and 3) to help you lay the groundwork for your dissertation. All three comprehensives are designed with these goals in mind, and all three examinations will be tailored accordingly under the supervision of the examination committee chair and with the input of committee members.

We also want you to think about how these three examinations are related as you fashion them. The first exam explores the works, contexts, critical traditions, methodologies and theories that define the primary field in which you will position yourself as a comparatist and more specifically as related to your dissertation. The second exam defines, constructs, and develops your expertise in theories and methods, within which you will write, research, and likely also teach as a comparatist. The third comprehensive examination, i.e., the dissertation prospectus, proposes a project in the primary field, conceived of in comparatist terms and addressing certain comparatist debates. 

The examination committee must make a determination as to whether the performance is a pass or a fail.  In the case of a borderline performance, the committee may, at its discretion, give the student an opportunity to improve the performance, e.g. by rewriting the response to a question, before making the determination pass/fail.  A student who outright fails a portion of any of the comprehensives may retake the exam in question once within two to ten weeks after receiving the failing results.  The requirements for and timing of the retake depend on the student's particular performance, as evaluated in writing by the examination committee, and will be determined in consultation by the chair of the exam committee, the graduate advisor (DGS), and the program director.

The Student  is responsible for attending all meetings, responding to correspondences, and punctually completing all of the comprehensive examination directions, including answering and submitting responses in a timely manner to The Research Advisory Committee (RAC) and The Coordinator, as well as being in contact with The Primary Research Advisor for progressing through the Comprehensive Examination Milestone.

The Primary Research Advisor  is responsible for assisting the Student in assembling the three member Comprehensive Committee for the defense, for compiling and delivering written comprehensive examination questions to The Coordinator  in accordance to the Comparative Literature program Comprehensive Exam template, and for communicating pass/fail of all parts of each comprehensive examination to The Coordinator . 

The Research Advisory Committee (RAC)  should consist of at least three full-time Washington University faculty members who are authorized to supervise PhD students and who have appropriate expertise in the proposed field of study. The RAC is responsible for attending all meetings and examinations regarding the comprehensive examination process for The Student and communicating with The Coordinator regarding scheduling of all meetings involved in the comprehensive examination process.

The Coordinator ( Academic and Administrative Coordinator ) is responsible for coordinating dates, times, and locations of examinations with the Student and Comprehensive Committee, for emailing written examinations to the Student and RAC Committee, for recording pass/file according to The Primary Research Advisor on student milestone tracking, and for submitting appropriate Milestone Forms to the OGS via Portal including the Unsuccessful Qualifying Exam Form and the Successful Qualifying Exam Form.

The OGS provides information on the  Comprehensive Examination  (called the Qualifying Examination on OGS website).

Preliminaries

Before any Comprehensive Examinations can be scheduled, The Student will need to obtain a faculty member to lead their Research Advisory Committee: this member is The Primary Research Advisor. The Student, along with The Primary Research Advisor, will need to identify and secure two additional faculty members to add to their RAC.

Once this three member RAC is established, The Student will contact The Coordinator to arrange a date, time, and place to meet for a preliminary bibliography meeting. This meeting should be approximately 4 months before the first written exam is scheduled. See below for specific elements of the bibliography meeting and the comprehensives themselves. A timeline will be created at this meeting, which The Student and The Primary Research Advisor should share with The Coordinator for ease of scheduling. 

Comprehensive Exams 1 and 2

Comprehensive Exams 1 and 2 consist of both a written and oral portion, both of which are required to be passed before proceeding to the next exam. It is highly recommended to schedule both the written and oral portions of each exam together, in order to avoid both a long delay between written remarks and oral defense, and to avoid unnecessary extension of the overall scheduled time line. It is helpful to have an idea for when you would like your oral portion to occur, and work backwards to schedule the written portion to ensure your and your committee members’ schedules are open (for example, avoiding major holidays, major university and department events, and planned travel). 

The written portion of the first and second comprehensive exams will consist of three questions provided by the RAC, two of which you must answer within a one week period. These questions will be broad in nature and related to the general goals described above as well as to the goals specified below under each comprehensive.

The 1 hour oral examination will follow the written examination in approximately two weeks. Please note: proceeding to the oral does not in and of itself indicate a passing performance on the written. The oral examination may include follow-up questions having to do with your performance on the written examination and could include the question that you did not answer. Most importantly, the oral will include questions on works on your reading list that were not treated in your written answers.  

Upon completion of both parts of the examination, you will receive both an oral and brief written evaluation of your examination, including a passing or failing mark as well as next steps in the Comprehensive Examination process.

Comprehensive Exam 3

Unlike Comprehensive Exams 1 and 2, Comprehensive Exam 3's written portion is not in response to provided questions. Comprehensive Exam 3 explicitly prepares The Student to write a dissertation. It consists of a 20-25-page dissertation proposal, including detailed prospectus, primary texts, and critical sources, followed by an oral defense of the proposal. The Student will work with The Primary Research Adivsor to prepare the proposal. Once The Student and The Primary Research Advisor are satisfied with a draft, The Student will circulate it to the RAC. The 1 hour oral defense will follow approximately two weeks later.

In most cases, The Primary Research Advisor and RAC will continue and become three members of the five or six member Dissertation Defense Committee (including The Dissertation Director). Please see  Ph.D. Dissertation Guidelines  for further information. 

(After coursework is completed/4th year in program)

Approximately four months before you write your first comprehensive, with the help of The Coordinator and The Primary Research Advisor, you will arrange an hour-long meeting including The Student, all faculty members likely to serve on your RAC (3), the  Director of Comparative Literature , and the  DGS of Comparative Literature . During this meeting, faculty will review the expectations, goals and procedures of the examinations, discuss a time line for achieving these goals, and review your bibliography. The bibliography contains the content that The RAC will base their questions on for in the examinations.  This preliminary step is REQUIRED before the comprehensive examinations can commence. 

All those present will receive a brief summary of this meeting in writing, and the summary will be kept on file should you for any reason have to find different examiners over the course of the comprehensives.  

Comprehensive Examination #1

(Approximately 4 months after Preliminaries)

The first comprehensive is an examination in your primary comparatist field. It has four purposes: 1) to enable you to think about and become familiar with how a “field” of comparatist inquiry is defined and shaped; 2) to enable you to identify and familiarize yourself with the historical debates and recent criticism that has shaped comparatist inquiry in this field; 3) to provide you with the occasion to work closely on some of the most important works of criticism pertinent to this field; and 4) to re/familiarize yourself with some exemplary primary works in this field.

The definition of the “field” is flexible, but should have identifiable historical limits and specificity. Additional attributes of a field might include some of the following: important phases or modes of cultural contact; identifiable literary movements such as naturalism, realism, or modernism; transcultural, transnational, and/or translinguistic reach (drawing on your language training); technological developments (the invention of photography, cinema, digital technologies, etc); a set of questions, issues or concerns, etc. A field should be conceived broadly enough to be well populated with primary work and secondary literature. Your dissertation project should fall within the field broadly conceived. Examples of a field include, but are not limited to, comparative modernism, twentieth-century transnational poetics, early modern comparative theater and performance studies, medieval media theory (orality, manuscript culture, etc.), transnational feminist or queer literary studies, postcolonial literature, Sinophone literature, comparative ethnic literatures, etc. Such comparative fields might well be anchored in expertise in one or two areas (transnational poetics with an emphasis on Latin American poetry, comparative modernism with an emphasis in Chinese modernism, etc). You might also work in a “traditional field” such as Victorian British literature or German Romanticism, in which case we encourage you to think creatively about this field as a comparatist. 

Written Examination #1

Student Name: Comprehensive Examination No. 1   (Field) Committee Members:

This written examination consists of three questions that address the annotated bibliography that you submitted to your RAC for this examination. These questions will be made available to you at a specific  TIME  on  DATE . You will have exactly one week to complete your responses and return your completed work to all the members of your committee, as well as The Coordinator at the exact TIME one week from the DATE . Make sure that you answer all the parts of a given question unless the question gives you license to do otherwise. 

Oral Examination #1

The 1-hour oral examination #1 will follow the written examination #1 in approximately two weeks. Proceeding to the oral examination does NOT indicate a passing performance on the written.

Comprehensive Examination #2

(Approximately 2 months after Exam 1)

Your second comprehensive tests your familiarity with and ability to talk about methodologies and theories critical to comparatist analysis and asks you to position yourself within the broad discipline of Comparative Literature by specifying particularly methodologies/theories that will likely inform your future teaching and scholarship. For this examination, in consultation with your advisors, you will create a bibliography of key works from three methodologies/theories in which you wish to prove competence. These should pertain to at least two of the four areas of the core requirements and, where possible, be pertinent to your projected dissertation topic. You should be able to demonstrate knowledge of the origins of these methodologies and theories and key debates and practices and you should also be prepared to give examples of applications. Methodologies/theories might include postcolonial theory, performance theory, queer theory, affect theory, comparative performance study, cultural geography, theories of sound, media theory, philology, translation theory, etc. 

Written Examination #2

Student Name: Comprehensive Examination No. 2   (Theory/Methods) Committee Members:

This written examination consists of three questions that address the annotated bibliography that you submitted to your committee for this examination. These questions will be made available to you at a specific  TIME  on  DATE . You will have exactly one week to complete your responses and return your completed work to all the members of your RAC, as well as The Coordinator at the exact TIME one week from the DATE . Make sure that you answer all the parts of a given question unless the question gives you license to do otherwise. 

Oral Examination #2

The oral examination #2 will follow the written examination #2 in approximately two weeks. Proceeding to the oral does not indicate a passing performance on the written.

Comprehensive Examination #3 (aka "Proposal")

(Approximately 2 months after Exam 2)

Your third comprehensive explicitly prepares you to write your dissertation. It consists of a 20-25 page dissertation proposal, including detailed prospectus, primary texts, and critical sources, followed by a defense of the proposal. You will work with your Primary Research Advisor to prepare the proposal. Once you and your Primary Research Advisor are satisfied with your draft, you will circulate it to your RAC. The 1-hour oral defense will follow approximately two weeks later.

Written Examination #3/Proposal

A 20-25 page dissertation proposal challenges you to generate a blueprint of your project. It is usually composed of the following or most of the following elements:

• Abstract: a two to three sentence summary.
• Introduction: The introduction paints the "scholarly landscape." It addresses the following such questions: what is the issue or problem you mean to address, how does your inquiry relate to the (sub)field, and how does it fit into the current scholarly conversation?
• Review of scholarship (literature review): A review of scholarship addresses the following such questions: what have been the major developments relating to your topic, what are some questions that have been left open, and how do these lacunae bring you to your topic?
• The question: What is the problem or issue your dissertation will address, and what do you foresee as its contribution to the field?
• Methodology: This section outlines the conceptual/theoretical framework. Which theorists or school/s of thought do you expect to be using and why?  What is comparatist about your study?
• Research to date: Summarize what you have already done.
• Preliminary Outline: This section should include preliminary chapter divisions with brief explanations of what is in each (and even how one leads to the next).
• Timeline for Completion
• Selected Preliminary Bibliography

Oral Examination #3/Proposal Defense

In the 1-hour oral defense, your examiners will be trying to make the following judgments about your proposal: Is the topic viable? Is it original? Is the central question significant? Do you have the knowledge and skills needed to address the problem? Are the methods sound? Will the theory and methods enable you to make an argument? Are you likely to finish in a timely manner? The proposal generally serves as the basis for your introductory chapter and serves to guide you through the process of researching and writing your dissertation.

Title, Scope, and Procedure (TSP)

(Before starting 5th year of graduate study)

Although usually linked with the Dissertation Phase, the Student may want to bring work on their Title, Scope and Procedure (TSP) form as part of their prospectus. You must file your TSP form before starting your fifth year of graduate study.

Your project's "scope" defines its limits—what you intend to cover and what you intend not to cover. Your "procedure" describes the manner in which you intend to conduct your research. By defining the scope and procedure of your dissertation, you provide an initial outline or model for yourself as you research your topic.

You may file your  Title, Scope, and Procedure Form  as soon as your Research Advisory Committee (RAC) has signed it. The form also serves as a contract between you and your RAC. RACs normally consist of three tenured or tenure-track Washington University faculty members from within your degree program. These three members normally continue to become the core of the larger five-member Dissertation Defense Committee. 

Your dissertation's title, scope, and procedure may change in the course of your research. You are not required to file an amended form with the Graduate School, although getting your committee’s written approval of the changes may be advisable.

More information on the TSP can be found at  Dissertation Guidelines

Questions from students may be addressed to The Coordinator or [email protected] , including for a copy of the explicit examination procedures and regulations including time frame and approximate numbers of works included on each examination. The Coordinator will work with you and your committee to schedule all of the steps in the examination process.

Problems arising during the process that for whatever reason require intervention or mediation should be directed to the Director of Comparative Literature.

A Note About Masters and Doctoral Comprehensive Exams

Passing Comps Is a Major Milestone

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Graduate students take two sets of comprehensive exams, both master's and doctoral. Yes, it sounds scary. Comprehensive examinations, known as comps, are a source of anxiety for most graduate students.

What Is a Comprehensive Examination?

A comprehensive examination is just what it sounds like. It is a test that covers a broad base of material. It assesses the student's knowledge and capacities to earn a given graduate degree. The exact content varies by graduate program and by degree: master's and doctoral comprehensive exams have similarities but differ in detail, depth, and expectations. Depending on the graduate program and degree, comps could test course knowledge, knowledge of your proposed research area, and general knowledge in the field. This is especially true of doctoral students, who must be prepared to discuss the field at a professional level, citing material from coursework but also classic and current references.

When Do You Take Comps?

Comps are generally given toward the end of coursework or afterward as a way to determine how well a student is able to synthesize the material, solve problems, and think like a professional. Passing a comprehensive exam lets you move to the next level of study.

What Is the Format?

Master's and doctoral exams often are written exams, sometimes oral, and sometimes both written and oral. Exams are usually administered in one or more long test periods. For example, in one program written doctoral comprehensive exams are given in two blocks that are each eight hours long on consecutive days. Another program administers a written comp exam to master's students in one period that lasts five hours. Oral exams are more common in doctoral comps, but there are no hard and fast rules.

What Is the Master's Comp Exam?

Not all master's programs offer or require that students complete comprehensive exams. Some programs require a passing score on a comprehensive exam for entry to the thesis. Other programs use comprehensive exams in place of a thesis. Some programs give students a choice of completing either a comprehensive exam or a thesis. In most cases, master's students are given guidance on what to study. It might be specific lists of readings or sample questions from previous exams. Master's comprehensive exams are generally given to an entire class at once.

What Is the Doctoral Comp Exam?

Virtually all doctoral programs require that students complete doctoral comps. The exam is the gateway to the dissertation . After passing the comprehensive exam a student can use the title " doctoral candidate ," which is a label for students who have entered the dissertation phase of doctoral work, the final hurdle to the doctoral degree. Doctoral students often receive much less guidance on how to prepare for comps as compared with master's students. They might get long reading lists, some sample questions from previous exams, and instructions to be familiar with articles published over the past few years in the prominent journals in their field.

What If You Don't Pass Your Comps?

Graduate students who are unable to pass a program's comprehensive exam are weeded from the graduate program and cannot complete the degree. Graduate programs often allow a student who fails the comprehensive exam another chance to pass. However, most programs send students packing after two failing grades.

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Guidance for comprehensive exam writing & revision, college of education.

As you work on revising your Comprehensive Exam, the reviewers recommend the following in addition to the feedback provided on the rubric:   

• Reference Pan (2017) Exemplar #5 and look at examples of literature reviews (chapter 2) in dissertations from your field.
• Pay attention to writing at the paragraph level and ensure that topic sentences are clear. Ensure that all sentences are on topic.  
• Keep direct quotes to a minimum. Paraphrasing is favorable . 
• Utilize multiple sources to back up any given claim when possible.   
• Use ‘roadmap’ sentences (those that give the reader a clear sense of where things are going) and introductions and conclusions that align to exactly what you say are going to do. Connective tissue is needed throughout each paper to help the reader understand the paper’s organization and how ideas are related. View Pan and Expository Paragraph Writing  for guidance.
• Ensure that writing falls in line with the scope of what you are writing/what your central argument is. If appropriately done, it is particularly effective to use theory to inform answers on history questions and history to inform answers on theory questions.
• If you are responding to a content-related question, utilize the question you are addressing to clearly distinguish the section headings in your paper to ensure that you are addressing all of the elements of the question.
• If you are responding to a content-related question, clearly indicate how you will go about answering this question definitively.
• Since you are not doing a study yet, avoid calling your literature review a study. This is a review of the literature , not yet part of a proposed study, and it also does not need a clear theoretical frame at this time. 
• Paragraphs should have clear topic sentences which should dictate how they are both distinct from what has already been written and how they are related to the central topic.  Information that follows topic sentences in each paragraph should be on topic and all analysis should move claims forward in key and clear ways. 
• All literature in your reference list must be found using the CUC Klinck Memorial Library Resources . This ensures that the literature you include is academic, credible, and most often, peer-reviewed , due to the library's networks:  I-Share , CARLI , and OCLC WorldShare .  Anything that is unavailable, or not full-text, can be requested through the library team , it is a free and unlimited service for graduate students at CUC. 
• Ensure that any comment from a reviewer is applied throughout–often, if you are making this error once, you are most likely making it throughout your document.
• If you are making truth claims, they must be backed up.  Anything you are claiming as fact, or claiming as what is “known” must be backed up with literature, otherwise it is conjecture, or from your own personal experience, which must be made clear. Otherwise, you will unintentionally plagiarize . 

Download rubrics for easy editing

• Pan's Chapter on Revising and Refining the First Draft Go here for the suggested guidelines regarding revising and refining your first dissertation draft.
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Home > Blog > Tips for Online Students > Tips for Students > What Is a Comprehensive Exam? a Grad Students’ Guide

Tips for Online Students , Tips for Students

What Is a Comprehensive Exam? a Grad Students’ Guide

Updated: June 19, 2024

Published: April 17, 2020

Any graduate student on both the master’s and doctoral level has likely heard of a comprehensive exam, which are sometimes simply known as “comps.” It may sound a bit overwhelming and scary, but by understanding what is a comprehensive exam and everything they entail, students can reduce the anxiety that tends to come with these exams.

What is a Comprehensive Exam?

Similar to how it sounds, a comprehensive exam is a test that covers a large array of material. Such a test aims to assess the knowledge and capabilities of a student before granting them with a graduate degree.

What’s included in the comprehensive exam varies depending on the type of degree, and passing the exam allows you to continue onto higher levels of education.

The Most Common Formats

The format for a comprehensive exam varies greatly, and it depends on your school. You may even have to take multiple types of exams.

They are often given in the form of an academic paper, but can also be given as a formal oral exam or a traditional supervised written exam that can be broken up over a few days. In certain cases, a comprehensive exam is merely a review of your academic portfolio.

What Is Required

Although the requirements for a comprehensive exam vary between schools and programs, in general, a minimum GPA is required prior to taking this exam.

Students who take a comprehensive exam must have completed all of the coursework, and if relevant to their field of study, they may need to have completed a doctoral residency prior to taking the exam. Other requirements include a request form for the comprehensive exam that must be filled out and submitted.

What The Exam Entails

The aim of comprehensive exams are to ensure that students have understood the main ideas of both their field and research focus. These exams are used as a tool to make sure that students don’t begin their dissertation without being fully prepared.

Therefore, these exams tend to include questions about research methodologies and how to apply them in specific fields of study.

Comprehensive exams also entail a variety of concepts and theories related to the subject of study, both for adding to the already existing knowledge, and on how to solve problems.

What Are Cumulative Final Exams?

Cumulative final exams aim to ensure that students have managed to retain everything they learned in class. The exam therefore focuses on material that was covered throughout the entire study period.

Other than simply retaining the information, these types of tests also evaluate your ability to understand and apply the material taught from the entire semester or even year.

Many people confuse cumulative final exams with comprehensive exams, and although they both have their benefits and sound similar, they are two different types of exams!

The most obvious difference is that comprehensive exams focus more on a student’s readiness for the next stage (dissertations), and less on their academic performance.

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When should you start thinking about comps.

While it’s common to want to start planning out our every move as soon as possible, for many young students, our career goals and interests tend to change very quickly — especially as we are exposed to different ideas. Ideally, for most students, they start to think about comprehensive exams during the spring semester of their second year in the program, but this is not necessarily right for everyone.

When Should They Be Taken?

Comprehensive exams tend to be given towards the end of coursework , since they are seen as the determining factor as to whether or not a student is prepared to move to the next professional step of writing their dissertation.

What Is The Exam Format?

At the master’s and doctoral level, comprehensive exams tend to be written, though they can be oral, and in certain cases are even a combination of both formats. The exams last in some cases for more than one test period, and can be as long as eight hours in each sitting.

The Difference Between Master’s vs. Doctoral

Is there a difference between master’s and doctoral comprehensive exams?

Master’s Comp Exam

When it comes to master’s programs, taking a comprehensive exam is not always required. Certain programs will request passing a comprehensive exam to begin a thesis, while others may accept the exam instead of a thesis. If you’re lucky, your college will even give you the choice between the two!

Doctoral Comp Exam

As opposed to master’s programs, almost all doctoral programs require that their students complete a comprehensive exam, and it is seen as the first step to starting a dissertation. Once the student has passed the exam, they are given the title of ‘doctoral candidate’ and can then begin their research.

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The best ways to prepare for the comprehensive exam.

Now that you know all about what is a comprehensive exam, the next step is to figure out how to best prepare for this big test. Here are 14 steps to prepare:

1. Start Early

The best way to prepare for just about anything in life is to start early. When it comes to comprehensive exams, this is especially important since graduate programs require you to have a committee and a set date, as well as no shortage of paperwork to be dealt with.

2. Create A Packet

Make yourself a packet with all of your information. Keeping it all in one organized place can help you stay on track, and can make it a lot easier to share with your committee.

3. Always Take Notes

Taking notes is the key to success in any field. As soon as a new idea, thought, theory, or just about anything related to your studies comes up — write it down!

4. Educate Yourself

If you’re going to be a professional in your field, then be professional! Educate yourself as much as possible and constantly look for new ways to add to your knowledge by asking questions and reading relevant material. Figure out where you can expand your knowledge.

5. Watch Others

Watch how other successful people in your field work and research. Learn from these fellow professionals and remember that once upon a time they were also in your place. Talk to other doctoral candidates or professors, and see what kind of advice they can offer you.

6. Put Yourself In Their Shoes

Put yourself in the shoes of a fellow professional in your field. What would they think in this situation? What would they do?

7. Practice Makes Perfect

Keep practicing no matter what. It’s no lie that practice makes perfect, so don’t give up.

8. Memorize and Roleplay

Aim to memorize quotes from the sources you’ve used as you may need them when you defend yourself in front of your committee. Even just paraphrasing what you read is also good enough. Using role play techniques, such as having a friend ask you questions, can also help you be well prepared for your comprehensive exam, especially if it’s given in an oral format.

9. Change Up The Words

Rephrasing what you want to say can help you better remember. Once you know how to say what you wanted to in several different ways, it’s likely to stick with you.

10. Don’t Be Afraid

The goal of the exam is to see what you know, and if you don’t know something, that’s ok! That’s why the exam was created. Don’t be so hard on yourself, because at the end of the day, this test is to help you be as best prepared as possible, and you can always try again.

11. Be Strategic About Your Reading

There are endless texts, journals, and reports out there that can help you with your comprehensive exam. But it’s not exactly realistic to expect to read everything out there. Be strategic about your reading, and make sure you’re only reading the most relevant and important information to avoid burnout and save yourself time.

12. Stay On Top Of Your Field

You’re about to be a professional in your field, and it’s up to you to stay on top of what’s going on in your field, whether that be keeping up to date with popular journals or even shadowing a professor.

13. Always Ask Questions

If you really want to succeed, you’re going to need to ask for help. Find a patient and understanding professional who is willing to give you the tips you need and help you fill in the missing blanks.

14. Mind And Body Is Important

The mind and body connection is completely undeniable. Even if you’re well prepared mentally, make sure that your body is too. You want to be able to handle any stress that may come your way.

You can do so by ensuring that you get enough sleep each night, drink plenty of water, prepare healthy meals, and maybe even practice some yoga or meditation! These things may seem time consuming, but they will be worth the investment.

How Is The Overall Outcome Determined?

If you unfortunately do not pass the comprehensive exam, you are required to take it again in order to pass the program. Students are only allowed to take the test twice before a different project is given.

For students that are given an oral exam, a committee of staff members (2-3 people) will undergo an oral review for an hour, which will go over areas that were considered to be below the expected standard.

When Should You Start Preparing?

While every student is different, the general consensus is that you should start preparing anywhere from 6-8 months before your comprehensive exam.

What Is The Aim Of A Comprehensive Exam?

If you were now asked what is a comprehensive exam, you would surely be able to give a seriously comprehensive answer. The goal of a comprehensive exam is for graduate students to show their deep understanding of concepts related to their field of study, as well as how to properly conduct research in their field. That’s because we need you to continue adding to our knowledge!

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Comprehensive Examination, Prospectus, & Dissertation

Comprehensive PhD Examination

1. General information:   Your comprehensive exam will test your knowledge in areas of specialization appropriate for your anticipated dissertation topic.  The exam will take place in the second or third year, depending on whether you are entering with a BA or MA and, if the latter, how many coursework credits have been applied from the MA. (See "Timelines" section of handbook.)  You will take your exam in the spring semester. The exam is based on a reading list that you assemble in close consultation with the members of your committee.  It consists of a take-home written exam followed by a two-hour-long oral examination that concentrates on the written exam, but may also address texts and topics on your reading list that are not covered in the written exam.  (Note:  your committee chair and two additional committee members will submit questions for your written comprehensive review.  All of your committee members will participate in your comprehensive exam defense.)  The composition of the comprehensive exam committee follows the guidelines of the prospectus & dissertation committee composition below.  Once you pass the comprehensive exam, you will need to submit the candidacy application for an advanced degree.  See #4. Graduation Requirements below.

2 . Reading list : You will design your reading list for the comprehensive exam in close consultation with your advisor and your dissertation committee.  Your committee must approve the list.  The reading list should include a body of work roughly equivalent to at least thirty book-length works, and it should include a significant amount of material related to your secondary concentration. You will also write a 3-4-page abstract describing the coherence of the list and articulating a research goal related to the list. 

3. Exam format: You will be given three groups of two or three questions each, and you will choose one question from each group. Your responses should be about 10 double-spaced pages each.  The exam will be e-mailed to you by the Graduate Program Assistant or your committee chair by 2:00 pm on Friday.  You should return your responses to the Graduate Program Assistant by 2:00 PM the following Friday. You may also start your exam on another day of the week, as long as the Graduate Program Assistant or your committee chair is available to send the exam to you.  You will then be responsible for submitting your responses one week later.  You can consult any materials you wish while writing your exam.

Prospectus & Dissertation Committee

After successful completion of the comprehensive examinations, you will form a dissertation committee and prepare a dissertation prospectus, which you will submit no later than the end of the fifth week of the semester following the successful completion of the comprehensive examination, to be followed by its defense a week later.

• Dissertation advisor: It is permissible for the dissertation advisor to be different from the comprehensive examination advisor and different from the MA thesis advisor. 
• Committee composition: The committee is formed in consultation with the Graduate Associate Chair and the dissertation advisor.  The committee is comprised of the committee chair and four other graduate faculty members. The chair must have a regular Graduate Faculty appointment in the German Program.  One committee member must come from outside your home department (GSLL). A member of GSLL’s REEES Program may count as the outside committee member with the approval of the Graduate Associate Chair and the Graduate School.  The other committee members must have regular or special Graduate Faculty appointments.  (In general, all CU tenure-track faculty have regular appointments, and some instructors and affiliated faculty members have special appointments.  See the Graduate Program Assistant for more information.)   The majority of the committee must be members of the German Program faculty.  With permission of the Graduate Associate Chair, a faculty member from another university who has special expertise in the student’s dissertation topic may also be a member of the committee.  Permission to include such a member must also be obtained by petitioning the Graduate School. (See the Graduate Program Assistant for assistance.)  Once finalized, the names of the dissertation committee’s members are submitted for approval to the Graduate Associate Chair.   After the Graduate Associate Chair approves the committee, the student should submit the names of committee members to the Graduate Program Assistant.  The dissertation committee should be finalized no later than the end of the fifth week of the semester following the successful completion of the comprehensive examination.

The prospectus should be approximately 2500 words long (no longer than 3000 words) and provide an outline of the dissertation argument, your rationale for choosing the topic, an overview of relevant secondary literature, a timeline for its completion, and a bibliography. The prospectus defense will take place with the members of the dissertation committee. The prospectus should be submitted no later than the end of the fifth week of the semester following the successful completion of the comprehensive examination, to be followed by its defense a week later.  The prospectus defense lasts approximately an hour. If the prospectus is approved, the student begins to write the dissertation; if the prospectus is not approved, the student may be put on probation.

Dissertation

1. General information: You will formally begin to write your dissertation after you have successfully completed your comprehensive exam and defended your dissertation prospectus. You should work closely with your dissertation advisor and committee members as you are writing your dissertation. In particular, you are advised to submit draft copies of each chapter to all members of your committee. Any subsequent changes to your "timeline for completion" will need to be circulated to the committee for approval. 

You will submit a final draft of your dissertation to your committee members at least three weeks before your defense. See the Graduate School website for dissertation specifications .

2. Dissertation hours: You must register for a total of 30 dissertation hours.  You may not register for more than 10 dissertation credit hours in any one semester.  No more than 10 credit hours taken prior to the semester in which the comprehensive exam is passed may be counted toward the 30 dissertation hours required for the degree.  You must be enrolled in a minimum of 5 dissertation hours during the semester in which you defend your dissertation (including summer session, if the defense is held over the summer).  To register for dissertation hours, e-mail the Graduate Program Assistant the number of hours you would like to register for, and the name of your dissertation advisor.

3. Continuous registration requirement:  You are required to register continuously for a minimum of five dissertation hours in the fall and spring semesters of each year, beginning with the semester following the passing of the comprehensive exam and extending through the semester in which you successfully defend your dissertation.

A student not required to maintain full-time status and not using campus facilities may claim off-campus status.  In such cases, registration for three rather than the minimum of five dissertation credit hours is allowed. Off-campus status (3 credits of dissertation hours) is considered part-time.  All University considerations for part-time status apply.

A student who fails to register continuously for dissertation credit hours after passing the comprehensive exam must retake and pass the exam, and validate any coursework more than five years old, to regain status as a student in good standing with the graduate school.  At its discretion, the department may petition the Dean of the Graduate School for a time limit for completion of all degree requirements of up to one year after retaking of the comprehensive exam.  The department must petition the Dean of the Graduate School to waive the requirement to retake the comprehensive exam.

4. Graduation deadlines: Students will begin to submit paperwork for graduation the semester they pass their comprehensive exam. See the Graduate School Deadlines for PhD students.

• The online Candidacy Application for an Advanced Degree must be submitted no later than two weeks after passing the comprehensive exam (form should not be submitteed before passing comps).  Students should list no more than 30 hours of courework required for the PhD (any courses not listed on the candidacy applicaiton could potentially be used toward another degree).
• To graduate, you must apply online through MyCUinfo. (Click on student tab, Academic Resources, “apply for graduation”).  
• The Graduate Program Assistant will submit the PhD Exam Report form to the Graduate School at least two weeks prior to your PhD dissertation defense to receive approval of your committee. At least two weeks before your defense, email the Graduate Program Assistant date, time and location of your defense.
• Check the “ Deadlines for Doctoral Degree Candidates” on the Graduate School website for dissertation defense deadlines.
• Students should submit the online Thesis Approval Form (TAF) once their committee has approved the dissertation for submission. The committee chair and one commiittee member will need to sign the TAF.  Student will need to upload a copy of their dissertation when submimtting the TAF.

If you are unable to meet the spring graduation deadlines, you have the option of summer graduation.  If you successfully defend your dissertation before summer session A begins (typically at the beginning of June), you will not have to register for summer courses and should submit graduation paperwork and your dissertation using the summer graduation deadlines.  (Note: You should expect to defend your dissertation before the spring semester ends, as many faculty are not available for a dissertation defense once classes have ended.)  Summer graduates are invited to walk in the spring commencement ceremonies, because CU does not hold a summer commencement ceremony.

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Department of English

College of arts and sciences, ph.d. comprehensive examinations, goals of the written and oral exams.

Comprehensive exams occur after the completion of course work and before the beginning of the dissertation. As a transition, the exams provide an opportunity to add both breadth and depth to your program of study. The comprehensive exams should you achieve the following:

• candidate engages in a sustained critical argument in support of a central thesis statement through effective analysis (of texts, contexts, discourses);
• candidate synthesizes a diverse, multi-authored range of sources from comps lists;
• candidate intervenes in disciplinary discourses or areas of expertise with unique insights and original thinking.

Comprehensive exams must be completed no later than 12 calendar months after the completion of the student’s coursework.

Extensions may be granted on a per case basis. Students must apply to the Graduate Director or Department Chair for an extension. Extensions shall be in one semester increments, with a maximum of two. Students taking a leave of absence from the program do not need to apply for an exam extension. If a student does not complete the exams in the required time period, including approved extensions, they shall be removed from the program according to the guidelines set forth by the Graduate School. Students may appeal to the Academic Appeal Board per the Graduate School regulations.

Written Exam Structure

Students will prepare three lists in preparation for the exams. There will be two written examinations meeting the following specifications:

• The first exam will survey the student’s knowledge of two related lists of titles, the first list, of primary texts (see below), and the second, of critical and theoretical texts. The student will provide a single rationale explaining the list areas, selections of individual works, and interrelation of lists.
• The student will determine the composition of this list in consultation with his or her major professor and core committee.
• To complete this examination, the student will write three essays totaling 45 pages responding to questions drawn from a list of six questions or more. The questions will be designed to elicit thinking from the student that places the two lists in conversation with each other.
• The student will have one week to complete this examination.
• The first list on this first exam will represent a historically defined core field . This core field list of 30-35 book-length works will consist of primary texts (with “primary texts” understood as principal objects of study , such as novels, poetry, plays, films, letters, diaries, or other appropriate documents).
• The second list on the first examination will contextualize the first in criticism and theory . This list must include secondary approaches to some of the primary texts, but it may also include theoretical and/or interdisciplinary titles that inform the approach the student has chosen to pursue. Significant articles may be included among the 30-35 titles on this list.

General Instructions for the Written Comprehensive Exam 1.

• The second exam will test the student’s knowledge of a secondary core field or a sub-field .
• There should be no significant overlap with any of the material on the first exam.
• This exam list will consist of 30-35 titles . Along with the list for this second exam, the student will prepare a rationale for it.
• The second exam will be taken within four weeks of the first exam . The second exam must be completed within 48 hours.
• To complete this exam, students must write one essay approximately 15 pages in length in response to a question chosen from a list of at least three .

General Instructions for the Written Comprehensive Exam 2 .

Oral Exam Structure

The comprehensive oral examination is distinguished from the oral defense of the dissertation proposal. 

The oral exam must take place within 4 weeks of the completion of the comprehensive examinations. This exam will be scheduled for two hours and will take the form of a rigorous discussion between the student and the student’s oral comprehensive exam committee of five faculty members (see below under “Committee members and Responsibilities.” Faculty questions will arise from the student’s exam rationales and lists, as well as from the responses from the written examinations. The dissertation prospectus is not part of the oral exam.

Department Responsibilities

The Department will arbitrate any disputes arising from students and committee members or major professor and shall seek a resolution that will help the student continue to be a productive member of the graduate student body. Disputes will be resolved in a timely manner.

Committee members and Responsibilities

As per the Graduate School Manual, the doctoral committee is composed of the major professor as chairperson and two additional members, one from within the Department and one from an outside area. This is the “core” committee that will guide the student toward completion of the written comprehensive exams. The major professor shall help the student understand the level of work required to pass exams at the University of Rhode Island.

At the time of the oral exam, two additional committee members shall be added to the “core” committee: one from within the Department and one from outside the department. The major professor will serve as chairperson of the oral comprehensive exam.

The committee shall be required to respond to student queries and written submissions in a timely manner (2 weeks) in order to aid students in meeting the time and deadline requirements of the comprehensive exam procedures.

Departmental Notes

Accommodations will be made for documented disabilities or illness.

A student who fails the C omprehensive Written Examination may be allowed one re-examination in the part or parts failed if recommended by the doctoral committee and approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. A second examination, if permitted, may be taken only after a minimum of two weeks has passed to allow for additional student preparation. In all cases, a second examination must take place before one year has elapsed. ( GSM 7.57.1.1 – please note this is not the Qualifying Examination. Scroll down to the Comprehensive [Written] Examination )

*Note—the Oral Defense of the Dissertation Proposal is part of the dissertation process and not the comprehensive examination. For further guidance, please see the Department and graduate school procedures.

Updated 3/20

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Doctoral Comprehensive Examination, Candidacy, and Dissertation

All doctoral students must complete and successfully pass a Doctoral Comprehensive Examination. The comprehensive exam has both a written and oral component and is usually taken after two years of coursework is completed. The written and oral exam evaluates students’ mastery of their specialization and the counselor education and supervision core curricular areas. The exam can include but is not limited to, content from core doctoral coursework, the student’s field of specialization, and research interest areas.

The Ph.D. in Counselor Education at Ohio University is a research doctorate intended to prepare scholars in the sciences, humanities and the arts to carry out significant research and produce scholarly work. To this effect, all doctoral candidates must complete a dissertation, a scholarly account of research in the new area of knowledge. Students are required to complete at least 10 credit hours of dissertation.

To be admitted to Doctoral Candidacy, a doctoral student must complete the coursework listed in their program of study, successfully pass a comprehensive exam, and have an approved dissertation proposal. Specifically, the following criteria must be met:

• Program of Study courses successfully completed, including all courses with a prior grade of PR.
• Scholarly Tools Courses on Program of Study successfully completed.
• Comprehensive Examination successfully completed.
• The Dissertation Committee Approval form was completed and submitted to The Patton College Office of Graduate Records.
• The Dissertation Proposal was successfully defended and the Proposal Defense Report was completed and submitted to The Patton College Office of Graduate Records.
• IRB approval or waiver must be obtained and submitted to The Patton College Office of Graduate Records.

Forms indicating completion of the above steps are available on the Patton College of Education forms page . Doctoral students should also consult the Patton College of Education Doctoral Handbook and Thesis and Dissertation Services (TAD).

Doctoral students are not permitted to schedule the oral examination of the dissertation until they have met all requirements for formal admission to candidacy. Formal notification of admission to candidacy will be provided by the PCOE Office of Student Affairs. A copy will be sent to your advisor and kept on file in the Office of Student Affairs in The Patton College of Education.

After formal admission to doctoral candidacy, all doctoral students must successfully complete a final dissertation defense followed by The Patton College dissertation submission process, and, to graduate, meet the TAD requirements for dissertation submission associated with the academic term in which graduation is intended.

Additional information can be found in the Appendices.

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	North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University
	Sep 12, 2024   2023-2024 Graduate Catalog     2023-2024 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG] Theses and Dissertations A thesis or dissertation presents the results of the student’s original investigation in the field of major interest. It must represent a contribution to knowledge, be adequately supported by data and be written in a manner consistent with the highest standards of scholarship. Thesis/Dissertation Research Topic The thesis/dissertation research topic must be approved by the thesis/dissertation advisory committee. Students whose research involves human subjects, animals, biohazards, or radiation must have their research proposals approved by the appropriate compliance committee before beginning their research. Qualifying Examination The Qualifying Examination is given to assess a doctoral student’s competence in a broad range of relevant subject areas. Only students with unconditional admission status and in good academic standing may take the Qualifying Examination. A student may not register for dissertation credits before passing the Qualifying Examination. A student may be permitted to attempt the Qualifying Examination at most twice. A student who wants to retake the Qualifying Examination must apply to retake the Qualifying Examination by the posted deadline. A student not recommended for re-examination or who fails the exam on a second attempt will be dismissed from the doctoral program. While it is expected that the student takes the Qualifying Exam during his/her first year, he/she must take the exam before the end of three semesters or 27 attempted credit hours. A student who fails on the first attempt must retake the exam and pass it in the following semester, but no later than the end of the first four semesters or 36 attempted hours. The results of the qualifying exam will communicated by the department to the Graduate College within 30 days from the date of the exam. Each program will offer the qualifying examination at least once each semester (fall/spring) through a process administered by the graduate coordinator. The program handbook and website will clearly publish the exam format including subjects tested, number of questions from each subject, time allowed for each question and total exam duration, whether the exam is open book or closed book, written or oral, and passing score. Consequences of failing one or more parts of the exam will be clearly mentioned. All students taking the exam in the same academic year will receive the same exam format; therefore, any changes in the exam format will be published at least one year in advance. Preliminary Examination The Preliminary Examination is conducted by a doctoral student’s dissertation committee and is an oral defense of the student’s dissertation proposal. Only students with unconditional admission status, in good academic standing, and a confirmed dissertation advisor may take the Preliminary Examination. A student may be permitted to attempt the Preliminary Examination at most twice. A student who wants to retake the Preliminary Examination must apply to retake the Preliminary Examination by the posted deadline. At least one full semester must elapse before the re-examination. A student not recommended for re-examination or who fails the exam on a second attempt will be dismissed from the doctoral program. A student who has not passed the Preliminary Exam by the time he/she has attempted 45 doctoral credit hours will be dismissed from the program. The results of the preliminary exam will communicated by the department to the Graduate College within 30 days from the date of the exam. Each program will offer the preliminary examination at least once each semester (fall/spring) through a process administered by the graduate coordinator. The program handbook and website will clearly publish the exam format including material tested, exam duration, whether the exam is open book or closed book, written or oral, and passing score. Consequences of failing one or more parts of the exam will be clearly mentioned. All students taking the exam in the same academic year will receive the same exam format; therefore, any changes in the exam format will be published at least one year in advance. Admission to Candidacy A doctoral student will be admitted to candidacy upon successful completion of the Qualifying Exam and the Preliminary Oral Exam. Thesis/Dissertation Defense The thesis/dissertation defense is conducted by the student’s thesis/dissertation committee and is an oral defense of the student’s final thesis/dissertation and is scheduled after the thesis/dissertation is completed. Copies of the thesis/dissertation must be presented by the student to his or her faculty advisor for review by the examining committee no later than one week prior to the defense of the thesis/dissertation. The examination may be held no earlier than one semester (or four months) after admission to candidacy. The results of the defense must be submitted by department to the Graduate College within 24 hours. Failure on the examination may result in dismissal from the program. The student’s Advisory Committee may permit one re-examination. At least one full semester must elapse before the re-examination. Failure on the second attempt will result in dismissal from the program. Submission of Thesis/Dissertation After the thesis/dissertation has been successfully defended, the thesis/dissertation must be approved by each member of the student’s thesis/dissertation committee. The student must submit the approved thesis/dissertation to the Graduate College by the deadline posted on the academic calendar, and must conform to the Graduate College’s formatting guidelines for theses and dissertations. Prior to or at the time of submission, the student must complete and sign the Non-Exclusive Distribution Agreement granting North Carolina A&T State University a limited, nonexclusive, royalty-free, license to reproduce the thesis or dissertation in electronic form and make it available to the general public at no charge, subject to the embargo choice/publishing restrictions of the student. This form should be delivered to the Graduate College along with the original copy of the signature page bearing signatures of committee chair, department chair and/or dean of the school. Thesis/Dissertation Advisor All students in graduate programs must have a graduate advisor who is a member of the graduate faculty in the student’s major program. In the case of doctoral programs and master’s programs requiring theses and/or final oral examinations, the thesis/dissertation advisor is the chair or co-chair of the thesis/dissertation committee and serves as the graduate advisor. It is the student’s responsibility to reach mutual agreement with a thesis/dissertation advisor and, in consultation with the advisor, to select a thesis/dissertation committee consisting of graduate faculty members. Master’s student: A student pursuing a master’s thesis should reach agreement with a full member of the graduate faculty to serve as his/her thesis advisor by the time he/she has attempted 18 credit hours. The Graduate Coordinator or Department Chair approves and submits the advisor and committee names on the student’s Plan of Study by the end of the second semester to the Graduate College for final approval. A student who is unable to reach agreement with any qualified faculty member to serve as his/her advisor by the time he/she has attempted 18 credit hours may be approved to graduate under a non-thesis option; this will require a revised Plan of Study and approval by the graduate coordinator/department chair and the Graduate College. Doctoral student: A doctoral student should reach agreement with a full member of the graduate faculty to serve as his/her dissertation advisor by the time he/she has attempted 27 credit hours. The Graduate Coordinator or Department Chair approves and submits the advisor and committee names on the student’s revised Plan of Study by the end of the third semester to the Graduate College for final approval. A student who is unable to reach agreement with any qualified faculty member to serve as his/her advisor by the time he/she has attempted 27 credit hours will be dismissed from the program. In this case, the student may submit a new application for admission to another program at North Carolina A&T State University or may transfer to another institution. Advisory Committee Role The primary function of the committee is to advise the student in all aspects of the educational program and to monitor and evaluate that student’s progress toward the degree. The student is expected to meet with committee in formal sessions at appropriate intervals to critically assess the student’s progress; such meetings may be requested by the student or by any member of the committee. The advisory committee is responsible for the following aspects of the thesis or dissertation and the related or associated research experience: Advisory Committee Composition The advisory committee for a master’s thesis is composed of at least three members of the Graduate Faculty, including the committee chair. At least two committee members must be Full or Associate members of the graduate faculty. The student’s advisor serves as chair of the committee and is a Full member of the graduate faculty. The advisory committee for a doctoral dissertation is composed of at least four members of the Graduate Faculty. At least three committee members must be Full or Associate members of the graduate faculty. The student’s advisor serves as chair of the committee and is a full member of the graduate faculty. The Advisory Committee is selected by the student in consultation with his/her advisor. The members of the committee must be approved by the graduate coordinator or department chair. The Graduate College verifies the eligibility of faculty to serve on advisory committees when the Plan of Study is submitted. The Graduate College will appoint an additional external committee member for all doctoral dissertation committees. The Graduate College faculty representative serves on the doctoral dissertation committee with all the rights and responsibilities of any other member. In addition, the Graduate College faculty representative also represents the Graduate College to (i) protect the interest of the University by ensuring that the dissertation meets the highest academic standards, (ii) provide assurance that appropriate procedures are followed; and (iii) provide an ‘outside’ point of view by sharing expertise with a new perspective or theoretical vantage that might not otherwise be available. Committee Members from Other Institutions At most one of the required committee members may be selected from an external institution. If such a committee member is from another university, he/she must have graduate faculty status at his/her home institution; the program coordinator or department chair will provide evidence to the Graduate College before the appointment is approved. If the external committee member is from a non-academic organization, the appointment will be considered, and if appropriate, approved by the Graduate College after receiving a request and copy of the CV from the program coordinator or department chair. In all cases, it should be made clear to that person that he or she will be expected to participate in the comprehensive oral examinations. Substitution of Committee Members Under extenuating circumstances, it may be necessary for a member of a graduate advisory committee to have a substitute at committee meetings or the exam. The substitution of a committee member on an oral examination must be requested in writing by the program coordinator or department chair and approved by the Graduate College in advance of the examination. Permanent Changes in Committee Members Should the student, in consultation with his/her advisor, wish to change any of the committee members, he/she must submit a revised Plan of Study with the new members, indicating that this change has been approved by the advisor and by the graduate coordinator or department chair. Changes in committee membership after the preliminary exam requires signatures of both outgoing and incoming committee members and the student, as well as justification for the committee change. Approval by the Graduate College is required before holding any examinations. Comprehensive Exams Students enrolled in a graduate program may be tested by a comprehensive examination to determine the student’s knowledge and skills in a general subject area or a concentration. The comprehensive examination date will be announced by the departmental graduate committee chairperson at the beginning of the semester. This examination will be administered to the enrolled student by an examining committee of the department. Comprehensive Exam and Dissertation Comprehensive examination. The comprehensive examination covers two different areas of linguistics (normally corresponding to your primary and secondary areas of concentration) and consists of written and oral components. The written comprehensive may consist of two research papers, two closed-book or take-home exams, or some combination of these. At least one of the two papers or exams should deal with a core area of linguistic theory. The format of the written examination will be determined by your Advisory Committee on the basis of your areas of concentration. When you pass the written examination, you should proceed to the oral portion of the comprehensive within two weeks. While the written exam format will involve a separate exam for each of the two areas (see below), students following the research paper format may write papers that reflect a combination of their areas of concentration (e.g., sociolinguistics and phonetics, historical linguistics and syntactic theory, etc.). However, the two papers should still indicate breadth of knowledge as well as depth, which could be shown by the use of different research methodologies or by focusing on different languages, for example. Details specific to the different formats of the exam are given below. A. Written comprehensive exam 1. research paper format, first paper. No more than ~25 pages, usually a revised and expanded version of a paper written for a course Must be approved by the Major Professor and then submitted to other members of advising committee At the discretion of the committee, if the first paper is initially presented at the Linguistics Colloquium or at a conference, the oral defense of the first paper may take place at the same time as the defense of the second paper.  Second Paper If based on a paper written for a course, the second paper should go well beyond the original course paper in depth and/or breadth Must be approved by Major Professor then submitted to advisory committee for approval Once the paper has passed, the 90-minute oral comprehensive exam will be scheduled as outlined below. 2. Take-home exam format The two finalized reading lists MUST be sent all three members of the advisory committee AT LEAST 2 WEEKS BEFORE THE EXAM. There will be a separate exam for each reading list, and the exam format will be determined by the Advisory Committee  To pass each exam, the student must demonstrate a good understanding of the subject matter and provide a level of detail and quality of argumentation commensurate with the time and resources allowed. 3. Closed-book exam format The exam may be hand-written or typed on a computer at the discretion of the committee. B. Oral comprehensive exam The Doctoral Oral Comprehensive Exam must be announced with the Graduate School, as it is technically a public event. You must contact the Graduate Coordinator's Assistant to announce your Oral Comprehensive Exam two weeks prior to the scheduled event. The oral comprehensive exam lasts for 90 minutes. It will begin with an oral defense of your second research paper (or both the first and second papers if the separate "mini-defense" of the first paper is waived by your committee) or a consideration of your performance on the written exams, but after this, questions may range over any material on the exam reading lists and/or your program of study. Written and oral exams will be graded on the scale High Pass/Pass/Fail. Two passing votes are required to pass each portion of the exam. If you should fail any portion of the exam, you may retake it once, no sooner than two weeks after the first attempt but within one additional semester. If you should fail this portion of the exam a second time, you will be dismissed from the program. Dissertation Prospectus Within one semester after passing the comprehensive examination, you should submit a dissertation prospectus to your Advisory Committee for approval. The prospectus should propose a problem for a doctoral dissertation, ascertain the originality of the idea with reference to available literature, and demonstrate the availability of means and materials required to solve the problem. The prospectus need not be lengthy, and should not exceed 5,000 words (excluding references). When you, your Major Professor, and your Advisory Committee agree that the prospectus is complete, a copy must be filed with the Department Head. The Head will publish a list of dissertation topics currently in progress in the department for the faculty and students at least once per year, along with the names of the students and their Advisory Committees. Click here for instructions regarding the dissertation prospectus Dissertation and Oral Defense Upon approval of the prospectus by the Advisory Committee, you will prepare a dissertation. The dissertation is based on original research which makes a significant contribution to knowledge in some area of theoretical and/or applied linguistics. Previous dissertations by students in the department are available for your consideration. You must present a bound copy of the completed dissertation to the department. Theses and dissertations will be otherwise submitted electronically to the Graduate School. Consult the UGA Graduate School Policies and Procedures regarding electronic theses and dissertations. You must contact the Graduate Coordinator Assistant to announce your Oral Comprehensive Exam two weeks prior to the date of the defense. The oral defense of a dissertation must be announced with the Graduate School, as it is technically a public event. When you and you Major Professor agree that the dissertation is complete, it must be circulated to the other members of the Advisory Committee at least three weeks before the date of the defense. The defense itself must be scheduled for at least one week prior to the deadline for submission of the completed thesis to the Graduate School prior to graduation.You will defend your dissertation in an oral examination of approximately 90-120 minutes. Updated: 8/8/2023  Questions? Graduate Coordinators [email protected] Ms. Amy Smoler Graduate Coordinator Assistant [email protected] Support Linguistics at UGA Your donations to the Department of Linguistics will support research and travel opportunities for students and faculty and other initiatives to enhance students' education in linguistics. Please consider joining other friends and alumni who have shown their support by making a gift to our fund . We greatly appreciate your contributions to the success of our programs!    EVERY DOLLAR CONTRIBUTED TO THE DEPARTMENT HAS A DIRECT IMPACT ON OUR STUDENTS AND FACULTY. The Comprehensive Examination Candidates for the Ph.D. take the Comprehensive Examination at the end of their third year of study and no later than October 15 of the fourth year of graduate study. Students who enter the Program with a related M.A. degree are expected to take the Comprehensive Examination no later than the end of the third year. Purpose of the Comprehensive Examination The Comprehensive Examination, based on three topics (see the definition of a topic below), serves to determine the candidate's competence in a primary concentration and one or more secondary concentrations, as well as in critical, theoretical, or philosophical methods relevant to and bibliographic skills in Comparative Literature and the candidate's areas of specialization. Comprehensive Examination Topics The student develops topics in close consultation with the chair and members of the Comprehensive Examination Committee. A topic is a conceptual issue of considerable breadth that touches on or has implications for study in more than one linguistic and cultural tradition. The purpose of the individual topic is to permit the exploration of a critical problem within a broad spectrum of literary, disciplinary and historical expressions. More than one critical approach to individual literary texts should be reflected among the three topics; the three topics can also be interdisciplinary and should include among them at least three literary, cultural, or linguistic traditions as well as at least two distinct historical periods. Students intending to teach in national literature departments should ensure that among them the topics cover that national literature. The purpose of each individual topic is to permit the exploration of a critical problem with a literary-historical, interdisciplinary, and/or theoretical focus, using appropriate primary and secondary sources from more than one linguistic or cultural tradition. Critical problems might include translation and interpreting, gender, film and media, word and image, music or other arts, postcolonialism, migration, folklore, and transnational and world literature. Candidates are encouraged to relate theoretical issues to close textual analysis, but the overall examination should not be devoted to developing a single critical approach. Candidates should formulate topics that will inform future publications, teaching, and potentially the dissertation with a concern for their potential as conference papers, a dissertation area, and course syllabi. The three topics as a whole should reflect a broad historical range and engage materials in three language areas. Texts read as primary material for a topic must also be read in the original languages. For each topic, the student submits for the committee’s approval a bibliography of  approximately 20-25 primary texts and an additional list with an appropriate range of secondary texts. Selection of the Comprehensive Examination Committee By the end of the second year of study, the student selects (from among the faculty of the Program in Comparative Literature) the chairperson of his or her Comprehensive Examination Committee, who then becomes the student's primary advisor. With the approval of the Graduate Program Director, a co-chair may be appointed from among the Associated Faculty of the Program. By the beginning of the spring semester of the G3 year, the committee chair and student select the rest of the committee, which consists of at least four members of the graduate faculty: at least two from the Program of Comparative Literature and at least one from another program. The fourth member may come from either inside or outside the Program.  It is the responsibility of the student to stay in close and regular contact with committee members while preparing to take the Comprehensive Examination. You are expected to meet periodically with your four examiners; ideally, you should plan to have at least one meeting every two or three weeks with one or another committee member. Some faculty members prefer to meet regularly with students (e.g., every other week), while others may prefer to meet with you only two or three times before the exam. If you find that you need to meet more frequently than a particular faculty member has proposed, you should be certain to request more meetings. Be bold; different students have different backgrounds and thus different needs, and faculty members might not always be aware of your circumstances. Should you experience any difficulties meeting with your examiners, please be in touch with the GPD as soon as possible.  Topic Rationales The student submits a rationale for each of their three topics. Each rationale should be no more than 800-1200 words and should explain the scope and aims of the topic, as well as how it fits into the student’s wider program of study and career goals. Topic rationales and bibliographies must be approved by the committee. It may be helpful for students to think of these rationales as having the scope and breadth of a course syllabus on the topic. Sample rationales can be consulted; please contact the GPD and your advisor. Approval of the Topics by the Comprehensive Examination Committee When the student has selected the three topics, drafted the rationales and bibliographies, and secured the approval of individual committee members, the student arranges an informal meeting of the Comprehensive Examination Committee. This meeting is best understood as an opportunity for dialogue between the student and their committee members where additional comments or recommendations for primary or secondary texts may be offered before the examination. The final versions of the bibliographies and secondary source lists and any topic proposals approved by the committee are to be submitted to the Graduate Program Director no fewer than 30 days before the Examination. These become part of the student’s permanent file. Examination All three topics are evaluated by both written and oral examination. Successful completion of this examination allows the candidate to proceed to the dissertation. The Written Examination is a take-home exam. Students write three essays, one on each topic (2500-3300 words each), within a seven-day period agreed upon by the committee. Questions are released to the student at 9 AM on day 1 by the Committee Chair and the essays are returned by the student to the whole committee via email by 5 PM on day 7. Note that late exam submissions will not be accepted and will result in a failing grade. Should an emergency arise, the student should contact the Chair and GPD immediately. The Oral Examination is a two-hour examination that takes place not more than one week after the written exam. The Comprehensive Exams Committee examines the student for approximately two hours on the candidate’s three topics. The oral examination also includes a review of the candidate’s achievement in critical, theoretical, or philosophical methods as well as bibliographic skills in Comparative Literature and related disciplines in the candidate’s area of specialization. At the conclusion of the oral examination, the Committee meets behind closed doors and takes a vote to determine whether the candidate has passed or failed. The Committee Chair makes known to the candidate the decision immediately after the examiners have conferred at the conclusion of the oral exam. The Committee Chair, at that time, provides the candidate with an explanation of the Committee’s decision. In the event of a negative decision by the examiners, the student’s committee consults with the Graduate Program Director during the week following the examination. The Graduate Program Director thereupon informs the student either that permission to take the examination a second and final time has been granted, or that termination of graduate studies is advised. The M.A. en Passant Upon passing the Comprehensive examination, Ph.D. candidates who did not enter the Ph.D. program with an M.A. degree are granted an M.A. on request. The student must initiate the request for this degree. Students entering with a related M.A. may request the M.A. en passant  only  if they have transferred fewer than  six credits  (two courses) toward their M.A. requirements. Book Navigation Links Printer-friendly version 430 Herter Hall  161 Presidents Drive Amherst, MA  01003-9312 (413) 545-5808 FSU | College of Criminology & Criminal Justice College of Criminology & Criminal Justice Florida State University Graduate Programs Doctoral Program Comprehensive Exam Requirements To be admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree and begin work on a dissertation, students must first pass comprehensive exams in (1) Theory in Criminology and Criminal Justice and (2) Research Methods and Statistics. To take a comprehensive exam, students must first obtain the written or e-mailed approval of their major professor, certifying that they are prepared. The professor’s approval must be submitted to the graduate coordinator at least two weeks before the exam. Both comprehensive exams must be passed within four years of admission to the Ph.D program. A doctoral student must be registered for the preliminary exam during the semester in which they complete the attempt (up to two attempts possible for each exam).  Each exam attempt will be graded and noted on the student’s transcript as a Pass (P) or Fail (F). If a student fails the preliminary examination before being admitted to candidacy, a re-examination may be offered by the student’s supervisory committee or other relevant decision making body within each department or unit, per that department or unit’s doctoral student handbook. The Academic Dean’s office should be notified of the outcome of any preliminary exam attempt. Students can take the preliminary examination for admission to candidacy only two times. A second failure on the preliminary exam makes the student ineligible to continue in the degree program. The second attempt at the preliminary exam shall occur no sooner than six full class weeks after the results of the first attempt are shared with the student. For the purpose of this policy, a “full class week” is defined as a week with five days during which classes are held at FSU. Students must be registered separately for their first and second attempt, if necessary within the same semester, and must receive either a “pass” or a “fail” grade for each attempt. An exception request regarding the timing of the re-examination can be submitted for consideration to the Academic Dean’s Office by either the student or the supervisory committee. Students who allege that academic regulations and/or procedures were improperly applied for the re-examination of their preliminary exam may have their grievances addressed through the general academic appeals process. Students must also take and pass a dissertation Prospectus Development course under the supervision of their major professor. This is a Directed Individual Study course (CCJ 5981r) titled Prospectus Development , graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Students are admitted to candidacy upon passing both the Theory and Methods comprehensive exams, and they may take dissertation hours at the same time as the Prospectus Development course. Exam Administration and Grading The exams will each be created and graded by a faculty committee. The Theory and Methods Exams will each be graded by a standing College exam committee, the Comprehensive Exam in Theory Committee and the Comprehensive Exam in Methods and Statistics Committee, respectively. These committees will typically be composed of five College faculty members, appointed annually by the dean. The Theory and Methods Exam will be offered in the Fall and Spring semesters. They are generally scheduled in early November and in late March to early April. The exam dates vary depending on dates for national professional conferences. There is generally about a two-week turn-around time between exam completion and the results announcement. The results will ordinarily be communicated orally to the student by the major professor and later in writing from the dean. The chair of each exam committee will certify the exam results in a letter or e-mail to the dean, with a copy to the graduate coordinator. Exam results are reported to the Office of the Registrar for the student’s permanent record. Theory and Methods Exam Conditions Each student will take exams at the FSU testing center. Students may not bring books, notes, computers, computer files, or any other study aids into the exam room. Exams last eight hours. Although it is expected that most students will type their answers on a computer using word processing software, accommodations can be made for those who find this difficult. Accommodations for physical or learning disabilities that have been certified by the FSU Student Disability Resource Center will also be made if the accommodations are approved in advance by the relevant exam committee. When a student takes possession of the exam at the start of the exam period, the student is considered to have made an attempt at taking the exam, regardless of whether he or she completes the exam, hands in any answers, or remains for the full exam period. At that point, the exam can have one of only two outcomes for the student: Pass or Fail. However, should extraordinary circumstances beyond the student’s control arise during the exam period, the relevant exam committee may take these circumstances into account, and decide that the student’s efforts did not constitute an attempt that would count against the student.   Related Downloads Methods Spring 2022 Theory Spring 2022 Archived Related Downloads A1 - Steffensmeier 1995 Redacted Svensson 2010 Redacted Theory Spring 2015 Methods Spring 2015 Methods Fall 2015 Theory Fall 2015 Restivo Lanier 2015 Methods Spring 2016 Theory Spring 2016 Theory Fall 2016 Methods and Statistics Exam - Fall 2016 - 11-01-2016 - Day 1 - Sections 1 and 2 Methods and Statistics Exam - Fall 2016 - Day 2 Theory Exam - Fall 2016 - Day 1 Theory Exam - Fall 2016 - Day 2 Cecen_Celik Keith 2016 Ballard Teasdale 2016 Redacted Theory Fall 2017 Methods Spring 2017 Theory Spring 2017 Methods Fall 2017 Meldrumetal 2017 Redacted Methods Spring 2018 Theory Spring 2018 Methods Fall 2018 Theory Fall 2018 A2 - Gauthier & Graziano 2018 Redacted Patchin Hinduja 2018 Redacted Baker Cañarte Day 2018 - Redacted Methods Spring 2019 Theory Spring 2019 Methods Fall 2019 Theory Fall 2019 Labrecque Smith 2019 Redacted Methods Exam Fall 2020  Theory Exam Fall 2020 Methods Exam Spring 2021 Theory Exam Spring 2021 Methods Exam Fall 2021 Cunningham 2021 Redacted Partin and Lehmann 2021 Methods Exam Fall 2022 Nivette and Etal 2017 Methods Exam Spring 2022 Kurtz and Zavala 2017 Redacted Theory Exam Fall 2022 Theory Exam Spring 2022 294 IMAGES Dissertation Comprehensive Exam Questions In Education Phd Dissertation Phd Thesis Structure Graduate Education Comprehensive Examination Fillable Online Comprehensive Exam Dissertation Acknowledgement Form Comprehensive-EXAM Dissertation Exam Guide VIDEO MBA HR Dissertation Writing Support/Training/Guidance How to Write an MBA Dissertation ? when that one student finishes the exam in 10 minutes and you're still writing your student number when everyone has passed the test except you...my reaction😱🤯 FINAL EXAM NR224 NR 224 FUNDAMENTALS SKILLS FINAL EXAM COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW GUIDE WITH VERIFIED ANSW 一只博士🐶 的自白| 在美国读博是什么样的？ COMMENTS PDF Comprehensive Exam (Thesis Proposal) The comprehensive exam consists of the preparation and presentation of a dissertation research proposal. When should I take my comprehensive exam? You must schedule your exam within six months of successful completion of the preliminary exam and at least three semesters prior to the dissertation defense. Preparing for the Comprehensive Examination and the Dissertation The comprehensive examination and the dissertation are the final projects in your doctoral journey. These projects allow learners to demonstrate their skills as independent scholars and researchers. In a real sense, the entire range of academic preparation up to this point has been preparation for this. Between the conclusion of Track 3 of the ... Student Guide: Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination Student Guide: Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination. The comprehensive examination is a critical part of the GPIS PhD program. You should not view it simply as a bureaucratic hurdle to pass over on your way to the dissertation. Instead, before embarking on narrowly focused dissertation work, the comprehensive examination establishes that you have ... Ph.D. Comprehensive Exams Unlike Comprehensive Exams 1 and 2, Comprehensive Exam 3's written portion is not in response to provided questions. Comprehensive Exam 3 explicitly prepares The Student to write a dissertation. It consists of a 20-25-page dissertation proposal, including detailed prospectus, primary texts, and critical sources, followed by an oral defense of ... A Note About Masters and Doctoral Comprehensive Exams The exact content varies by graduate program and by degree: master's and doctoral comprehensive exams have similarities but differ in detail, depth, and expectations. Depending on the graduate program and degree, comps could test course knowledge, knowledge of your proposed research area, and general knowledge in the field. Comprehensive Exam Writing As you work on revising your Comprehensive Exam, the reviewers recommend the following in addition to the feedback provided on the rubric: Reference Pan (2017) Exemplar #5 and look at examples of literature reviews (chapter 2) in dissertations from your field.; Pay attention to writing at the paragraph level and ensure that topic sentences are clear. . Ensure that all sentences are on top Best Practices for the Comprehensive Examination The comprehensive examination is administered by the Philosophy Department. The purpose of the comprehensive exam is to help students develop breadth and depth in areas relevant to their chosen areas of research. The historical and systematic reading lists contain resources that can aid students in developing a dissertation prospectus. PDF Written Comprehensive Examination Guidelines and Grading Rubric for PhD dissertation. Students comprehensive exam committee members in the Sue & ill Gross School of Nursing will review and evaluate the quality and acceptability of the exam. The comprehensive exam consists of two questions that will be developed by each students PhD supervisor(s) in collaboration with the students comprehensive exam committee members. A Comprehensive Guide To Comprehensive Exams Here are 14 steps to prepare: 1. Start Early. The best way to prepare for just about anything in life is to start early. When it comes to comprehensive exams, this is especially important since graduate programs require you to have a committee and a set date, as well as no shortage of paperwork to be dealt with. 2. Comprehensive Examination, Prospectus, & Dissertation Comprehensive PhD Examination. 1. General information: Your comprehensive exam will test your knowledge in areas of specialization appropriate for your anticipated dissertation topic. The exam will take place in the second or third year, depending on whether you are entering with a BA or MA and, if the latter, how many coursework credits have been applied from the MA. Ph.D. Comprehensive Examinations The comprehensive oral examination is distinguished from the oral defense of the dissertation proposal. The oral exam must take place within 4 weeks of the completion of the comprehensive examinations. This exam will be scheduled for two hours and will take the form of a rigorous discussion between the student and the student's oral ... PDF Comprehensive Examination Guidelines writing stage of a field-based dissertation (i.e., Program Evaluation or Decision Analysis) or traditional dissertation. II. Prerequisites to the Comprehensive Examination: 1. Candidates may take the Comprehensive Examination only after they have passed the Portfolio Evaluation and completed most of their coursework. 2. The Comprehensive Exam: Make It Relevant The comprehensive exam should therefore bear a concrete relation to the dissertation and the work—that is, the research methods and practices—that will be required to complete it. ADVERTISEMENT PDF PhD Comprehensive Examination and Dissertation Handbook 2024 2025 The PhD Comprehensive Examination and Dissertation Handbook is intended to describe the policies and procedures regarding the Comprehensive Examination and Dissertation that all PhD students at the Jefferson College of Population Health (JCPH) complete. It is accurate at the time of printing but is subject to change from Doctoral Comprehensive Examination, Candidacy, and Dissertation The comprehensive exam has both a written and oral component and is usually taken after two years of coursework is completed. The written and oral exam evaluates students' mastery of their specialization and the counselor education and supervision core curricular areas. The exam can include but is not limited to, content from core doctoral ... Thesis, Dissertation and Comprehensive Exam Comprehensive Exams. Students enrolled in a graduate program may be tested by a comprehensive examination to determine the student's knowledge and skills in a general subject area or a concentration. The comprehensive examination date will be announced by the departmental graduate committee chairperson at the beginning of the semester. PDF Comprehensive Exams & Dissertation Written Comprehensive Exam ve Exam FormatThe Comprehensive Exam format changed in 2017. The following section and link provides a detailed des. ription of the new guidelines and expectations for the exams:The c. sive exam is a take home exam consisting of two parts.Pa. t IMethods analysis of an article (5-7 pages double spaced). The focus of the methods analysis. Comprehensive Exam and Dissertation B. Oral comprehensive exam. The Doctoral Oral Comprehensive Exam must be announced with the Graduate School, as it is technically a public event. You must contact the Graduate Coordinator's Assistant to announce your Oral Comprehensive Exam two weeks prior to the scheduled event. The oral comprehensive exam lasts for 90 minutes. The Comprehensive Examination : Comparative Literature Examination. All three topics are evaluated by both written and oral examination. Successful completion of this examination allows the candidate to proceed to the dissertation. The Written Examination is a take-home exam. Students write three essays, one on each topic (2500-3300 words each), within a seven-day period agreed upon by the committee. English PhD Comprehensive Exam The May Exam is strongly recommended as it allows students to begin developing their dissertation proposals during the summer before they begin teaching. Format The PhD Comprehensive Exam consists of two components: A revised course essay; A two-hour oral exam covering one major field and two minor fields; Exam Committee PDF Ed.D. Comprehensive Examination Guidelines writing stage of a field-based dissertation (i.e., Program Evaluation or Decision Analysis) or traditional dissertation. II. Prerequisites to the Comprehensive Examination: 1. Candidates may take the Comprehensive Examination only after they have passed the Portfolio Evaluation and completed most of their coursework. 2. Comprehensive Exam Requirements Comprehensive Exam Requirements. To be admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree and begin work on a dissertation, students must first pass comprehensive exams in (1) Theory in Criminology and Criminal Justice and (2) Research Methods and Statistics. To take a comprehensive exam, students must first obtain the written or e-mailed approval ... assignment essay homework phd report review speech thesis