The qualifying exam should be completed by
the end of the fall semester of the 3rd year or at the very latest
by the end of the spring semester of the 3rd year. Before embarking
on the qualifying exam, the student will complete the first and second year
project and clear all previous incomplete grades. In consultation with the
student’s Exam Committee (heretofore defined as 3 social faculty PLUS up
to 2 external members from other programs), a student will choose one of the following
options for the Qualifying Exam- 1) Four question-based essays, covering core
areas within a program of study; or, 2) Review paper suitable for submission to
a peer-reviewed journal.
Four question-based essays- The four question-based essays will be based on 60 readings that cover classic and important readings within social psychology. These readings are selected by the social faculty. 10 additional readings can be lab specific and are chosen by the student's advisor. The exam itself consists of 20 key terms and 6 essay questions. All questions are generated by the social faculty prior to the exam. Students select 4 of the 6 essay questions at the time of the exam. Importantly, the key terms are to be completed within a 2 hour time period on campus (closed notes in front of adviser) while students will have 48 hours to answer essay questions at a place of their choosing (open notes, no advisor present). Questions are typically submitted and returned via email, which provides documentation of start and end times for each question. Failure to submit the exam by the deadline decreases the likelihood of a passing grade. Once completed, the student's Exam Committee will review all answers and determine the appropriate grade. The student is given written feedback on the answers to the questions within two weeks to allow for preparation for the oral exam. If one (or more) of the written answers gets a “fail" grade a student will be given one opportunity to rewrite it. This extends the time of progression to the oral examination.
In the oral exam, the same questions are revisited and the student provides arguments and responses in an interactive setting. During the first part, the student will orally deliver an overview of the answer to each question. In the second part, the student is expected to defend answers and visit questions provided in the written feedback. The Oral Qualifying Exam should be completed by the end of February or July.
The three potential outcomes of the qualifying exam are:
- Pass
- Conditional pass: Will be given if any kind of remediation is required by the Exam Committee. These most commonly (but not limited to) include: full or partial re-write of one (or more) questions; or, additional time will be given if one (or more) oral answers fail to meet the standards of the Committee.
- Fail: If the student's performance during the oral examination or following specific remediation is viewed as unacceptable by the Exam Committee, the student will either be recommended for dismissal from the program or given the opportunity of a second oral exam that must be completed within a specified timeline decided by the Exam Committee.
Review Paper- The student will prepare a Psychological
Bulletin (or Psychological Review or Personality and Social
Psychology Review) type review paper summarizing a focal area of the
student’s interest, which may very well lead to the formulation of a
dissertation proposal. This paper should be of suitable quality to be submitted
to a major journal and thus, this paper is expected to offer a valuable, unique
perspective or theoretical analysis of the issues reviewed, rather than just a
summary of research conducted in the field.
In consultation with the student’s Advisory
Committee (with permission of the committee, it is permissible for a student to
include an additional faculty advisor from some other program within or beyond
the University of Delaware) the student and advisor will work together to
generate a reading list of articles and books important to the focal topics and
a general outline of the central questions, goals and value of the proposed
project. The Committee must approve the topic and final paper.
Students should begin discussing their
qualifying paper topic with their advisor by the beginning of the second year
in the program. The student’s topic should be one that will likely lead into
their doctoral dissertation proposal. The student will provide a draft of their
qualifying exam paper to their advisor for feedback before submitting it for
final approval to other members of the Committee. Once approved by the
committee, the student will distribute the qualifying exam to their Exam
Committee (three social faculty PLUS 2 other external members of the
committee-if they so choose) who will have an opportunity to comment and offer
suggestions within two weeks of receiving the document.
February 7th (Third Year): Due date for submitting the
qualifying paper to each member of the Exam Committee (3 social faculty PLUS
up to 2 external members from other programs) and for the student to schedule
an Oral Defense with members of the Exam Committee as close as possible to
March 1.
March 1st (Third year): Approximate deadline for the
student to have scheduled the oral defense of the qualifying exam paper.
At the conclusion of the defense, the members of the Exam Committee will
determine (pass/not pass) whether the document and oral defense, separately,
warrant a “pass.”
If the majority of the student’s Exam
Committee believes the student’s written qualifying exam is not of sufficient
quality to warrant a “pass,” the committee together with the student will
discuss changes that would be needed to be included in a revision to gain
approval of the majority of the Committee. Within one week, the student will
send a written summary of the issues that he or she will address in the revised
qualifying exam paper to their Exam Committee. At the discretion of a
majority of the student’s Exam Committee, the student also can be asked to
re-schedule an oral defense of the revised document.
April 1st (Third Year): Deadline for student to
resubmit a revised qualifying exam document (using track changes to clearly
distinguish between the revised version and the originally submitted version).
Also, if the student’s Exam Committee asked for the student to orally defend
the revised qualifying exam document, the student will have scheduled this oral
defense for some date as close to April 15 as possible.
April 15th (Third Year): The student’s Exam Committee
members have until April 15th to approve or disapprove (by majority vote) the
revised qualifying exam.
In
the event of an unsatisfactory revised qualifying exam, the Exam Committee will
convene to critically evaluate the student’s record to date. In most
cases, if all other requirements have been met, the student can opt to prepare
their second year project final paper as a Master’s Thesis, so that when they
leave the program they will do so having earned a Master’s Degree.