MPA Comprehensive Examination – Spring 2020Student Name Eric .docx

MPA Comprehensive Examination – Spring 2020
Student Name: Eric Neal
Important Message - Plagiarism
The strength of Sam Houston State University depends on
academic and personal integrity. In this comprehensive
examination, you must be honest and truthful. To this end, your
written work is expected to be devoid of plagiarism. Plagiarism
is the use of someone else’s work, words, or ideas as if they
were your own. Here are three reasons why you must not
plagiarize:
1. By far the deepest consequence to plagiarizing is the
detriment to your intellectual and moral development: you will
not learn anything and your ethics will be corrupted.
2. You must give credit where it is due, but adding your own
evaluation and reflection will get you higher grades. Using and
citing standard dictionaries and encyclopedia’s, such as
Wikipedia, for graduate level concepts is highly discouraged.
3. Sam Houston State University punishes academic dishonesty.
The most common penalty is suspension from the university, but
students caught plagiarizing are also subject to lowered or
failing grades as well as the possibility of expulsion.
Please be sure to review the Sam Houston State University Code
of Student Conduct and Discipline, which is available in the
Student Guidelines. A more in-depth discussion about using
sources and avoiding plagiarism is available on the Purdue
Online Writing Law website. If you have any questions about
plagiarism, be sure to ask your professors.
Instructions:
· Provide your answer to each exam question in separate Word
documents, one file per question, with the file title: lastname
firstinitial Subject (e.g. Houston S Ethics in Government).
· In the word document, type your name and subject title in the
Header (e.g. Sam Houston Area I – Public Service Perspective:
PADM 5388 Ethics in Government).

· Format: typed, double-spaced, 1” margins, Times Roman or
similar font, 12 pt.; parenthetical method of documentation with
a Works Cited section per APA Style Manual or similar style
manual.
· Length: minimum 7 pages for each question (except POLS
5377 Scope and Methods of Political Science). You do not need
to re-state the exam questions in your answer.
· Due Date: responses must be submitted to Dr. Wen-Jiun Wang
([email protected]) and Administrative Associate Belinda Myers
([email protected]) by email no later than Monday, April 6th,
2020 by 9 AM CST.
See next page
Area III. Public Policy and Analysis: POLS 5383 Program
Evaluation
Instructions:
This question is comprised of several sub-questions. A passing
answer will fully address each sub-question, provide sufficient
explanation, relevant examples, and properly reference all
sources. Equally important, students should consider their
response to be representative of their professional capacity to
communicate with a general audience using the written word.
As such, submissions are to be well organized, written in clear
prose, make effective use of headers, and be devoid of spelling
and grammar errors.
Question:
You have been asked to write an essay to a group of public and
nonprofit managers who are interested in learning about
program evaluation. These managers have little, if any,
experience with program evaluation. The managers have asked
you to prepare a professionally written essay that addresses the

following questions:
1. What is program evaluation and why should public and
nonprofit organizations undertake program evaluations?
2. How does stakeholder analysis and stakeholder engagement
contribute to a successful program evaluation?
3. What is a logic model, and how does the use of a logic model
contribute to the successful evaluation of a program? Note: your
answer must identify and describe all of the components of a
logic model and the relationships between these components.
4. In your own opinion, identify and describe three research
challenges that can threaten (or call into question) the findings
that are generated by a study that evaluates the effectiveness of
public and non-profit programs?
The managers ask that you use real-world examples from a
single organization to support and illustrate your answers to
these questions. Preferably, your examples would come from a
nonprofit or public organization of your choice, for example,
your current or former place of employment.
Induction Module
Assignment 4
Brief and Guidelines

Detailed Assessment Information
Submission Details
The aim of this final assignment is to aid students in the
development of their critical analysis and
academic writing skills. It asks you to combine all you have
learned in the course of this module
and apply your skills to write an Argumentative Essay on a
topic of your own choice.
Worth: 35% of your overall grade
Requirements
d to the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)
ID Number, Title of your
Essay, Tutor’s Name, Date)
- 10%)
-text citation and a Reference List on a Separate
Page using the correct
Reference Style

Please Note
University’s regulations on
plagiarism. For further information on UNICAF’s stance on
plagiarism, please read the
University's Student Regulations.
ticked √ in order to proceed
to uploading the next assignment.
Instructions
You will be writing an Argumentative Essay as your final
assignment on a topic of your
own choice. You can use the outline you created for assignment
3b, or choose a different
topic.
1. Develop your topic into an essay of 1000 words (+/- 10%).
Keep in mind that you are required
to conduct a critical analysis on your topic by providing
relevant evidence to support your
arguments together with your own views.
2. Use a minimum of 8 credible sources to support your
argument. Your sources can be

referred to in your work using direct quotations, paraphrasing or
summarising. Please include at
least 1 direct quotation and 3 indirect quotations (paraphrasing
or summarizing). These must be
properly formatted in the correct Reference Style.
3. Include an introduction where you will briefly present your
topic together with a Thesis
Statement, a main body where you will analyse the main points,
conduct the literature review
and present your point of view, and finally end with a
conclusion, where you will evaluate your
findings.
4. Do not include subheadings (introduction, main body etc.) in
your essay.
Marking criteria
Element Weight %
designated with a clear Thesis
Statement.
(10%)

critical analysis together
with personal views.
(50%)
in the Main Body.
(10%)
ntation, font size, font type,
line spacing.
(5%)
grammar.
(10%)
(5%)
presentation, font size etc.
(10%)
Academic Writing

In an academic essay you are expected to use academic writing.
This type of writing has a
formal tone and style but does not require pompous vocabulary
or the overuse of long
sentences.
Academic writing is:
both in tone and style; it uses the correct language
and tenses in a clear and
concise tone.
your understanding of the
topic.
d
arguments together and is
overall coherent for the reader.
references the evidence
accurately and demonstrates an understanding of the topic.
FEATURE
EXAMPLES

itional information
e.g. furthermore, moreover, additionally
e.g. similarly, in comparison
e.g. however, in contrast, yet
e.g. therefore, consequently, as a result
e.g. significantly, particularly
e.g. first, second, finally.
e.g. lost the plot, dodgy, skiving

e.g. don’t, isn’t, won’t
Avoiding clichés Avoid clichés
e.g. at the end of the day, in the nick of time
Blending of active and passive
voice
charge of the action.
e.g. The company polluted the lake.
removes it completely.
e.g. The study was conducted by leading researchers
in the field.
Hedges Be careful with using words such as definitely or proves
as these words allow no margin of doubt as to what
certain evidence may be implying. Instead, use hedges,
such as:

Boosters To express a measure of certainty/conviction use:
First Person Do not overuse the first person unless you are
writing a
reflective piece. Instead, use the objective third person.
Tenses Use the present tense to conclude, report on findings or
figures, and to discuss established knowledge.
Your own voice Though you are not using the first person, you
can still
lead the argument with your voice. Here are some ways
you can establish your voice in your writing:
of a paragraph (Topic Sentence) followed by the

evidence.
e.g. To date there is no well-established tool to measure
divided attention in children. Current methods used to
assess divided attention usually involve a variation of
the CPT with an additional task included e.g. counting
or listening to auditory stimuli (Salthouse, 2003).
between sources.
Smith (2009), however takes a different approach...
agreement/disagreement/ tentative agreement with
sources.
Smith's (2009) findings show a clear...A serious
weakness with this argument is...The research
suggests...
paragraphs e.g.

This shows that it is detrimental to strictly categorise
chronological periods with artistic genres, as many art
historians suggest different movements were taking
place in separate geographical locations at the same
time.
Useful verbs
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR ESSAY!
explain connote
convey clarify
expose emphasise

describe display
illustrate highlight
portray depict
show signify
indicate reveal
imply represent
confirm correctly identify
determine argue
substantiate exemplify
fail to consider
underscore
juxtapose
establish

suggest evoke
imply allude to
hint entail
THE ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY
Introduction
(Thesis Statement)
Main Body 1
(Point/Topic Sentence
Evidence
Explain
Link)
Main Body 2

Evidence
Explain
Link)
Main Body 3
Evidence
Explain
Link)
Main Body 4
(Point/Topic
Sentence
Evidence
Explain
Link)
Conclusion
(Evaluation of
argument)
The Argumentative Essay

Key Features
argument.
o What is an argument? The argument is your claim or ‘the
thesis statement’
supported by evidence
o In your essays, you are expected to take a position based on
the evidence and
sources you have gathered and present it in a coherent and
concise manner.
o Some background information is often needed early in the
essay to understand
the argument.
e
o Relevant evidence that support your argument and NOT
random facts about your
topic.
o You can accept include counterarguments in your essay in

order to show their
limitations and strengthen your own argument.
Counterarguments should not be
used to neutralize your own argument.
o The argumentative essay involves multiple points and
evidence to support the
overall thesis. It is vital, therefore, to have a logical order for
your points and
move between one to the other smoothly. This is easily done
with correct
planning and focusing on linking each point to the other.
o Make sure your essay follows the correct structure of an
Argumentative Essay.
That is begin with an Introduction (with a Thesis Statement),
Main Body (PEEL)
and end with a Conclusion.
How to pick a Topic?
Choosing the right topic is vital for the success of your essay. It
is suggested you pick a current

topic that is also relevant to society and has enough evidence
for you to support your argument.
Moral topics are not a good option as they do not always allow
for a logical discussion.
Additionally, you should avoid over debated topics as readers
are sick of reading about the death
penalty, the legalizing marijuana etc. Make sure your topic is
manageable. You have a word limit
so keep to it! Don’t choose a topic that needs pages and pages
to cover the topic. Instead,
narrow down your subject to an appropriate level. Be specific
rather than broad. This will set you
up for a much more enjoyable experience writing your essay.

MPA Comprehensive Examination – Spring 2020Student Name Eric .docx

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