Comprehensive Exam Information
Procedure Documents
Exams
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Spring 2012
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Fall 2011
Prior Exams
The Department of Criminology is in transition from the "traditional comprehensive exam"
processes to new qualifying procedures. The new procedures will apply to all students who
start in the Fall of 2013 or later; this change is associated with the adoption of an updated curriculum.
Current Ph.D. students can either take the traditional comprehensive exam or opt for the new qualifying procedures.
The traditional comprehensive exam:
The traditional comprehensive exam is a take-home exam for which the students have 10 days to complete.
The exam assesses a student's knowledge of (a) theory, (b) research methods and statistics, and (c) current
issues and assess a student's skills of (a) analytical thinking, (b) research design and (c) writing.
Students demonstrate their readiness to engage in independent research by successfully completing both
a written and oral examination.
The new qualifying procedures:
Under the qualifying procedures associated with the new graduate curriculum, students (1) complete two in-class
qualifying exams and (2) complete an independent research project that results in a publishable manuscript.
The purpose of the two exams is to determine a student's knowledge of (a) theory, (b) research methods and
data analysis, and (c) empirical literature, and to assess a student's (a) innovative, critical, and analytical
thinking and (b) writing skills.
Courtney Lewellen
