State Final Exam (Social Science Program)   

Part 1    Bachelor thesis defence

Bachelor’s thesis must have the length of at least 25 standard pages (45,000 characters with spaces) without the abstract, the list of literature and appendices. Thesis template  For more information about the thesis see Study Regulation
    
Defense organisation:
* 15 minutes presentation
* reading of the supervisor's and reviewer's reports
* the student's response to the reports
* discussion
Duration: 30 minutes

Part 2    Written exam in data analysis

The exam consists of analysing real data. The student is given the data and the task to analyse it in a specified way (e.g. correlation analysis, analysis of variance, open coding, narrative analysis, etc.) depending on the type of data and the research question.
The analysis is done in the appropriate software, e.g. SPSS, spreadsheet editor, R, Taquette, Atlas.ti. The exam is based on knowledge and competencies acquired in the following courses: Research Methods in Social Sciences, Statistics For Social Sciences, Seminar in Quantitative Research Methods, Seminar in Qualitative Research Methods, Seminar in Policy Analysis Methods.
Duration: 3 hours

Part 3    Combined exam (written & oral)

Designing a project to analyze a social problem.
    
In the written part of the exam, the student proposes a project for the analysis of a given social problem (he/she has a choice from 10 topics known in advance). The project must include an initial discussion of the problem, its broader context, a proposal for research questions, data generation techniques, methods of analysis, and the expected results or benefits of the research.
Duration: 3 hours

In the oral portion of the exam, the student discusses the proposal with a committee that assesses not only the quality of the project, but also the student's ability to present and defend the project.
Duration: 20 minutes
    

General information   

The state exam is spread over two days. On the first day, students do the written parts, on the second day they do the oral parts.    
Students can use the internet during the exam, but only to search for public information. Any communication with others or use of pre-prepared materials is prohibited and will be considered cheating. Internet browsing will be monitored.    
All three parts are assessed independently on an A-F scale. To pass the exam, a student must not receive an "F" in any part.