Ph.D. General Examination
Each student is expected to engage in an independent research project during the second summer of their program. The general examination is in the form of a manuscript suitable for submission to a premier or high quality marketing journal in the student’s area of concentration, and a presentation of the research. The student is expected to “drive” this project, under the mentorship of their GE Committee. Prior to identifying a GE Chair and forming the GE Committee, the student must have advanced to their third year in the program, having completed:
- all required MKTG courses,
- at least 9 credits of research methods, and
- at least 9 credits of supporting courses.
Objective: The objective of the general examination is for the student to demonstrate the ability to create and communicate a conceptual framework, generate research questions and/or hypotheses of theoretical and managerial interest, and empirically address the research questions and/or hypotheses. The empirical work can include qualitative data, experiments, surveys, secondary data, simulations, or analytical models. The student is solely responsible for the writing of the general examination.
GE Committee: The student must convene a GE Committee by May 15 of their second year in the program; the GE Committee may or may not be the same as the QP Committee. The GE Committee must be chaired by a tenured/tenure-track Marketing faculty member who is a member of the UConn graduate faculty. The student (having consulted with the chair) must obtain the participation of at least two additional graduate faculty (within or outside the department) as members of the committee.
GE Manuscript: The manuscript should conform in length and be written using the style guide for the intended journal outlet (e.g., Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Marketing Science). Two GE manuscript submissions are expected. The GE Initial Submission results in either a “Revise and Resubmit” decision or a “Reject and Resubmit” decision; the GE Final submission results in either an “Accept” decision or a “Reject” decision (see details below).
GE Timeline, Deliverables, and Deadlines: The GE timeline, deliverables, and deadlines are detailed below; failure to meet deadlines will jeopardize the student’s status in the program. Any exception to these deadlines will be by majority vote of the departmental Ph.D. Program committee and must be because of truly exceptional circumstances.
GE Presentation: An “Accept” Decision of the GE Final Submission by the GE Committee is a prerequisite for scheduling a formal presentation of the General Examination research (45-minute presentation; 15 minutes Q&A). The presentation will be scheduled on the Marketing Department Student Presentation Day, no later than the fourth Friday in January of Spring Semester. Consistent with university policy, a minimum of five faculty members, including the members of the Committee and the Marketing Ph.D. Coordinator must be present; at most, one member of the Committee may be present electronically.
GE Final Decision: The GE Decision (Pass or Fail) is based on the GE Final Submission, GE Presentation, and Q&A responses. At the completion of the presentation, the members of the GE Committee vote (Pass or Fail); the decision is based on a majority vote. The Chair files the signed “Report on the General Examination for the Doctoral Degree.”
Please contact the Marketing Department Ph.D. Program Coordinator with any questions.
Effective for students enrolling in the Ph.D. program beginning Fall 2019.
Marketing Ph.D. General Examination and Timelines & Deadlines