Skira Exam
Hi. I am writing this email so that you should not need to ask me individually about preparations for the skira exam. I will always write "may" instead of "will" when I refer to what is on the exam in order to avoid nasty misunderstandings. "may" means "with reasonable probability, (ie >0.4 and <1). By exam, I mean either both moadim or one moed. 1. Anyone who has not completed successfully and understood some of the TARGILIM may find him(her)self in great difficulty on the exam. 2. Anyone who has not completed the TARCHISHIM about which a question is asked on the exam WILL (probability=1) find him(her)self in great difficulty on the exam. The number of such questions may be two or may be three. 3. There may be a comparative question (TARCHISH as against PAPER) on the exam. 4. Results from Stata may appear on the exam in a context that is certain to be familiar to all students who have completed and understood the five TARGILIM and the two relevant TARCHISHIM. 5. There WILL (probability=1) be English phrases copied from some table(s) or other from one or more of the papers as part of the question(s) being asked on the exam. 6. There are questions that involve analysing the results of tables from one or more papers. 7. There are one or more questions asking about the aims of the author(s) in writing their papers. 8. There are one or more questions that test whether you know how to choose either the right kind of regression or the right specification to solve a particular empirical problem or both. Such question(s) may relate to papers or TARCHISHIM or both. 9. Given the above, it is clear that anyone who has not "played with data" will probably (this lies between "may" and "will" I guess) find her(him)self at a considerable disadvantage. Since over 90 students have already shown at least some attempt at "play", I have decided to remove the 6th question from the exam and leave those who have yet to do so to fend for themselves. Furthermore, I hereby remove all compulsion regarding TARGILIM. Noone HAS to submit any more in order to sit the exam(s). Those who see this as a great escape from doing them anyway may pay a high price on the exam(s). Given the enormous time involved in checking Stata results by email, I will only be able to check such results in person during my office hours. I will, however, be happy to continue to answer specific questions by email until the day of the last lecture. Thereafter, until the moed bet exam, I will be available only during office hours and will answer emails from students only to arrange a meeting or deal with other administrative matters. 10. At the exam, NO questions will be answered relating to the meanings of questions. Since this is an open exam, it is up to YOU to interpret the questions as you see fit. NO English expressions will be translated into Hebrew. Should there be a misprint on the exam and should a word which is neither Hebrew nor English appear, I will happily provide a substitute word! Faulty grammar will not be discussed. If a sentence has many meanings, you may interpret it as you choose, but you must make your interpretation clear. 11. All material necessary (selections from papers or complete TARCHISHIM) will be provided on the exam. No dictionaries or computers are permitted. Please ask me no questions about the above either during class or otherwise. My answer will be "no comment". I wish you all the best of luck (though you shouldn't need it), a high grade and a fun experience. Adi