Comprehensive Exam Proposal and Annotated Bibliography Requirements

Comprehensive Exam Proposal Requirements

The Comprehensive Exam Proposal serves as a structured plan that guides the student in conducting a thorough and focused critical analysis of a selected topic within social work. This proposal outlines the key elements and scope of the exam, helping the student to articulate a clear and coherent approach to the examination process. 

Following the selection of a topic area and a preliminary review of the pertinent literature, the student develops a proposal for the Comprehensive Exam with an accompanying annotated reading list.

The suggested format of the Comprehensive Exam Proposal is as follows: 

Comprehensive Exam Proposal – Outline

1. Introduction: Provide a clear statement of the issue, policy, or problem area that you plan to examine. Provide a brief overview of the selected topic. State your rationale for pursuing this topic of interest and its relevance to social work practice, policy, and research, and provide an overview of your comprehensive exam. Include the specific scope, parameters, or factors that will be included in your critical analysis of the literature.
2. Analyses of Theoretical Perspectives: Provide a summary of the main concepts and/or theoretical perspectives that you plan to review and analyze. Provide a rationale for choosing these perspectives. Indicate what will be excluded from your critical analysis of theoretical perspectives and why.
3. Analyses of Research Literature and Methodology: Provide a summary of the main research studies related to your chosen topic of interest. Provide a rationale for the research studies that will be included in your analyses. Also indicate the areas and scope of research literature that will be included and excluded and why.
4. Discussion and Conclusions: Briefly indicate the theoretical model that will emerge from the critical analyses of the theoretical and research literatures. Outline and explain your planned approach to the discussion and conclusions that will validate your theoretical model. Indicate implications for social work practice, policy, and research. 

Format and Length of the Comprehensive Exam Proposal

The Comprehensive Exam Proposal should be no longer than 10-12 pages, excluding references. The text should be formatted according to Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition (APA 7th Edition) guidelines: 12-point font, double-spaced, left-justified, 1” margins on all sides.

Annotated Reading List Requirements

The student will submit an annotated reading list with a minimum of 30 empirical and theoretical articles or books that are relevant to the topic of their Comprehensive Exam. Students are expected to begin to work on this list in the Fall session of their second year while working on the draft of the Comprehensive Exam Proposal during the Comprehensive Exam Seminar (SWK7000H).

The annotated reading list should consist of three sections:  

1. Works related directly to the topic of the Comprehensive Exam, its significance, and other relevant background information.   
2. Works related to the main theoretical perspectives in the Comprehensive Exam. 
3. Works related to the empirical studies in the Comprehensive Exam. 

Using annotations, the student will explain in one paragraph how each item on the reading list is related to one of the three sections above and how the reading will be used in preparation of the Comprehensive Exam. 

Approval of the Comprehensive Exam Proposal and Annotated Reading List

Students are expected to work closely with their supervisor to develop and revise the comprehensive exam proposal and annotated reading list until the supervisor grants approval that the proposal and reading list are complete.

Students may wish to consult with the second reader for their comprehensive exam prior to submitting the final approved proposal, however, the second reader is not formally involved in the approval process at this stage.

After the student has submitted the approved version of the comprehensive exam proposal and reading list, the second reader is provided up to two weeks to provide any further feedback that may assist the student in completing the comprehensive exam.

After this two-week period, however, neither the supervisor nor the second reader are permitted to provide further feedback to the student as they develop and write the Comprehensive Exam (i.e. what theories to include, structure of the paper, selection of empirical research).