2010 University of Arizona MIS Ph.D. Core Exam

Day One

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Day 1 covers three areas:
  • Q1 and Q2 cover enterprise database management (MIS 531);
  • Q3 and Q4 cover web computing and mining (MIS 510); and
  • Q5 and Q6 cover analysis and design of service-oriented systems (MIS 541).
  • You have 4 hours (9:00 AM to 1:00 PM – 240 minutes) to complete the entire exam.
  • Manage your time properly – on the average each question takes about 35-40 minutes.
  • Answer those questions you can respond to quickly and come back to the others later. Do not spend a lot of time on one question or one sub-set of a question.
  • Enter your response to each question where indicated, and be sure that your header and footer information is preserved and displayed if your responses extend to two or more pages.
  • Be sure to save your work FREQUENTLY during the exam, and update your backup version as often as possible. Keep in mind that only the document with the original file name will be collected and graded, so be certain to include all your responses into that file.
  • When you are finished with your exam, verify the contents of the files on your desktop. Delete all other temporary files and backups from your system. Submit all hand-written papers, drawings, and notes to the proctor before you leave.

INSTRUCTIONS

2010 University of Arizona MIS Ph.D. Core Exam

Day One

MIS 531: Enterprise Database Management

Question 1 (100 points)

The DeGrazia Art Gallery wants to develop a database application to keep track of its customers, artists and paintings.

At any point in time they may have several paintings by each artist in the gallery. Some of these paintings may be loaned by the DeGrazia gallery to other galleries for a specific duration of time, while others may come to De Grazia as loans from other galleries.

Paintings that are owned by DeGrazia may be bought by customers of the gallery. Every time a painting is bought or sold, a record of the purchase or sale needs to be maintained. Sometime the DeGrazia gallery may sell a painting, then buy it back at a later date and then sell it to another customer.

Develop an ER diagram to represent the conceptual design of this database based on the information provided above. Create at least three attributes for each entity class. Clearly label identifiers and indicate cardinalities in your ER diagram. State all of your assumptions clearly.

Type your response here.

MIS 531 – Q1 – CODENAME Page 1 of 15

2010 University of Arizona MIS Ph.D. Core Exam

Day One

MIS 531: Enterprise Database Management

Question 2 (100 points)

Some people claim that the ER model is a graphical representation of the Relational Model.

Take a position with respect to this statement – i.e., do you agree or disagree with this statement? Give reasons to explain your position.

Compare and contrast the two models and provide examples to explain each of similarities and differences between two models.

Typeyour response here.

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2010 University of Arizona MIS Ph.D. Core Exam

Day One

MIS 510: Web Computing and Mining

Question 3: Search engines and web computing (100 points)

A.Please describe the main functionalities and applications of Google 2.0. that make them different from Google 1.0. (30 points)

Type your response here.

B.Please explain the “Network Effect” and “Long Tail”, and how they can help Facebook compete with Google. Please provide evidence and justifications. (30 points)

Type your response here.

C.Please describe a future of Web 3.0. What are its core characteristics, technologies, and businesses? Please provide your justifications. (40 points)

Type your response here.

MIS 510 – Q3 – CODENAME Page 1 of 15

2010 University of Arizona MIS Ph.D. Core Exam

Day One

MIS 510: Web Computing and Mining

Question 4: Business and market intelligence 2.0 (100 points)

A.Please define Market Intelligence 2.0 and describe key techniques for conducting MI 2.0. research. (30 points)

Type your response here.

B.What are Business Intelligence 1.0 and 2.0, respectively? Please explain how sentiment analysis and social network analysis can be used for BI 2.0 research? (40 points)

Type your response here.

C.What is online word-of-mouth (WOM) and what online WOM measures can help determine the opening week sales and final sales of movies? Please provide your justifications. (30 points)

Type your response here.

MIS 510 – Q4 – CODENAME Page 1 of 15

2010 University of Arizona MIS Ph.D. Core Exam

Day One

MIS 541: Analysis and Design of Service-Oriented Systems

Question 5: Service-Oriented Architectures (100 points)

A.Define services in the broadest sense. Then define services in the narrow Web services sense. (20 points)

Type your response here.

B.Briefly define service systems in the general sense. How can Web services help with designing and implementing a general service system? (20 points)

Type your response here.

C.What is the relationship between XML and Web services? (20 points)

Type your response here.

D.Briefly define orchestration. How does BPEL help with orchestration? (20 points)

Type your response here.

E.What role does SOAP play in SOA? What is the relationship between WSDL and SOAP? (20 points)

Type your response here.

MIS 510 – Q4 – CODENAME Page 1 of 15

2010 University of Arizona MIS Ph.D. Core Exam

Day One

MIS 541: Analysis and Design of Service-Oriented Systems

Question 6: SOA System Analysis and Design (100 points)

You are hired as an IT manager working for an e-commerce company that is trying to integrate Web services with Web 2.0 technology. Your boss asks you to lead a team to complete an SOA system analysis and design project to accomplish the following business goal:

Your company will be providing a set of digital camera-related information services including: (a) listing all brands of the digital cameras in stock; (b) given a user-provided keyword, retrieving all digital cameras whose description contains that keyword; and (c) given a user-provided brand, retrieving all user-generated feedback on that brand.

A.In the SOA analysis phase, what will be the main tasks that your team should accomplish? What should be the main deliverables? Without getting into any programming detail, briefly show the results of your own analysis. (30 points)

Type your response here.

B.Design a solution based on RESTful principles. (35 points)

Type your response here.

C.Design a Web service-based solution. Show the detailed design process your team will follow along with the main deliverables. (35 points)

Type your response here.

MIS 543 – Q6 – CODENAME Page 1 of 15

2010 University of Arizona MIS Ph.D. Core Exam

Day Two

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Day 2 covers three areas:
  • Q7 and Q8 cover data communications and networking (MIS 543);
  • Q9 and Q10 cover critical thinking and research background (MIS 696A); and
  • Q11 and Q12 cover behavioral research methodologies (MIS 611B).
  • You have 4 hours (9:00 AM to 1:00 PM – 240 minutes) to complete the entire exam.
  • Manage your time properly – on the average each question takes about 35-40 minutes.
  • Answer those questions you can respond to quickly and come back to the others later. Do not spend a lot of time on one question or one sub-set of a question.
  • Enter your response to each question where indicated, and be sure that your header and footer information is preserved and displayed if your responses extend to two or more pages.
  • Be sure to save your work FREQUENTLY during the exam, and update your backup version as often as possible. Keep in mind that only the document with the original file name will be collected and graded, so be certain to include all your responses into that file.
  • When you are finished with your exam, verify the contents of the files on your desktop. Delete all other temporary files and backups from your system. Submit all hand-written papers, drawings, and notes to the proctor before you leave.

INSTRUCTIONS

2010 University of Arizona MIS Ph.D. Core Exam

Day Two

MIS 543: Business Data Communications & Networking

Last semester, you took part in developing an experimental study that focused on employee secure behavior. Three types of controls were hypothesized to influence secure behavior (directly and indirectly via satisfaction): technical controls, educational controls, and managerial controls. Another important control that received some attention in the context of IS behavior is social influence. Previous research in IS that builds on research in psychology (Ajzen 1991) integrates social influence via a construct called subjective norm (see Venkatesh and Morris 2000 for review). Subjective Norm (SN) is defined as the degree to which an individual believes that people who are important to her/him think she/he should perform the behavior in question. These people can be both peers and superiors. Given that the model already includes managerial control, focus should be now on peer influence. Building on theories used in the model, do the following:

Question 7 (100 points)

A.Using Yield Shift Theory (YST) develop a hypothesis that describes the relationship between peer influence and satisfaction with security policy. Be very specific with your description of mechanisms in YST that explain this relationship. (50 points)

Type your response here.

B.Using Expectancy Value Theory (EVT) develop a hypothesis that describes the relationship (argue for either positive or negative) between peer influence and secure behavior. Be very specific with your description of mechanisms in EVT that explain this relationship. (50 points)

Type your response here.

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2010 University of Arizona MIS Ph.D. Core Exam

Day Two

MIS 543: Business Data Communications & Networking

Question 8 (100 points)

F.Provide some details about how you would experimentally test the two new hypotheses you developed for Question 5. What materials/steps would be used? (50 points)

Type your response here.

G.How would you test whether your experimental treatment was successful? Is it necessary to test for this? (20 points)

Type your response here.

H.What could be the potential outcomes of this experiment? How would these outcomes inform practice? Feel free to invent some numbers to use as examples. (20 points)

Type your response here.

I.Finally, identify two limitations of this study and explain why these limitations are important to mention. What are some ways how these limitations can be overcome in future research? (10 points)

Type your response here.

MIS 541 – Q8 – CODENAME Page 1 of 15

2010 University of Arizona MIS Ph.D. Core Exam

Day Two

MIS 696A: Readings in MIS

Question 9 (100 points)

Consider the book “Blink” by Malcolm Gladwell when answering both of the following:

A.Suppose that you were asked to verify a piece of artwork that the Getty Museum (in Los Angeles) was thinking of purchasing. From a systems perspective, how would you approach the problem? What science would you bring to bear? How could you be certain that the art was not a forgery? (50 points)

Type your response here.

B.Explain the basic premise of Gladwell’s book. What do you think accounts for the correct decisions that were made in split seconds (in all the examples that Gladwell presents in the book)? (50 points)

Type your response here.

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2010 University of Arizona MIS Ph.D. Core Exam

Day Two

MIS 696A: Readings in MIS

Question 10 (100 points)

Based upon Scott Plous' book, “The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making,” answer the following:

A.Listed below are some of the biases and effects that often arise in research projects. Define them and explain with an example:

1.Hindsight Bias (10 points)

Type your response here.

2.Recency Effect (10 points)

Type your response here.

3.Truth Bias (10 points)

Type your response here.

4.Lie Bias (10 points)

Type your response here.

5.Name another bias, define it, and explain why it could be detrimental to research. (10 points)

Type your response here.

6.Name one more bias, define it, and explain why it could be detrimental to research. (10 points)

Type your response here.

B.What steps can be taken to reduce bias in decision making. Explain with an example. (20 points)

Type your response here.

C.What is meant by the phrase 'Correlation ≠ Causation?' Explain with an example. (20 points)

Type your response here.

MIS 696A – Q10 – CODENAME Page 1 of 15

2010 University of Arizona MIS Ph.D. Core Exam

Day Two

MIS 611B: Behavioral Research Methodologies

Question 11 (100 points)

Explain what each of the following validities is and describe how you can demonstrate each one – either through your methodological design or through statistical analysis:

A.Face validity (20 points)

Type your response here.

B.Content validity (20 points)

Type your response here.

C.Convergent validity (20 points)

Type your response here.

D.Discriminant validity (20 points)

Type your response here.

E.Reliability (20 points)

Type your response here.

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2010 University of Arizona MIS Ph.D. Core Exam

Day Two

MIS 611B: Behavioral Research Methodologies

Question 12 (100 points)

Assume you are interested in understanding the relationships among technology characteristics (such as complexity, reliability, and relative advantage), task characteristics (such as knowledge sharing and knowledge seeking), individual characteristics (such as experience, cognitive style, and learning orientation), and important outcomes (such as use behavior, performance, or satisfaction). Based on your literature review, you realize that there have been studies that look at these various characteristics, but not exactly in the nomological network that you have planned. Some theory exists to support the development of your research model, but you will need to fill in some gaps to fully develop the model. Please design a study to examine these relationships. Specifically:

A.Pose a research question for your study. (5 points)

Type your response here.

B.Select a method (experiment, survey, or case study) and explain why this is the right method to address your research question. (20 points)

Type your response here.

C.Discuss the various elements that you will need to build into your design to address issues associated with generalizability, validity, reliability, etc. (30 points)

Type your response here.

D.In designing your method, be specific with regard to the subjects, setting, and process you need to follow in order to do it properly. (20 points)

Type your response here.

E.Discuss the data analysis you will need to complete for this study and make certain that your findings are valid. (25 points)

Type your response here.

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