Master of Social Work entrance exam syllabus of Tata Institute of Social Sciences

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TISS Written Examination
Following will help you with the following topics of TISS Written Examination:
• Paper Pattern
• Previous Year Paper Analysis

TISS 2012: Paper Pattern
Part 1
Section Topic Number of Questions
Section A Analytical and Numerical Ability 15
Section B Language Ability 20
Section C Awareness of General and Social Issues 15

This paper accounts for 25% of the weightage in the final written score of an applicant and the distribution of questions within the sections of this paper changes marginally from year to year. Last year, it had 50 questions, all worth the same marks, meant to be solved in 45 minutes.

Analytical and Numerical Ability
One can expect a small number of very basic visual reasoning and inferential questions in this section. Also there may be a set or two consisting of basic DI questions which you need to answer on the basis of a graph or a pie chart. The remaining questions are quantitative ability questions not very different to those in the CAT. The subjects covered in the last year’s exam include time and work, quadrilaterals, numbers, averages, profit and loss, mathematical series, etc. You should be able to solve this section fairly quickly as all you need is a grasp on the fundamentals. This section had 15 questions last year.

Language Ability
This section requires you to solve RC passages with most questions being direct. Besides RC, logical arrangement of paragraphs, vocabulary based fill-in-the-blanks, analogies, sentence correction, essence/summary of a paragraph are the kind of questions that have traditionally appeared in this section and one can expect them this year too. The general level of questions is easy. This section had 20 questions last year.

Awareness of General and Social Issues
In the past two years, this section has had general knowledge questions about:
1. United Nations Organization
2. Indian rivers
3. Basic historical facts about India
4. Important Indian monuments
5. Basic facts and latest numbers about the Indian economy
6. Recent government initiatives like MNREGA, Mid-day meal scheme etc.
7. Indians who have won prominent international awards
8. Olympic Games facts

As is apparent, there is a strong emphasis on India in this section. Everyone should keep this in mind and not waste their time on learning random facts about the world for this exam. Prepare for this section just as you would for the IRMA entrance test. If you have a regular newspaper and magazine reading habit, it will be a huge advantage. Do go through the GK books like year books with detailed Indian facts. This section had 15 questions last year.

Part 2
Section Topic Number of Questions
Section I Data Interpretation 20
Section II Data Sufficiency 20
Section III Reading Comprehension 20
Section IV Business Knowledge and Foundation of Management 15

This paper is the real clincher because it is worth 75% in the written score. Last year, it had 75 questions, all carrying equal marks, to be done in 60 minutes. The difficulty level is higher in this paper than the first test but it is still manageable.

Data Interpretation
This section had 10 questions last year, equally divided into two sets both of which were based on tabular data. You can expect similar questions this year too. Build skills to do quick and accurate calculations for this section. The level of questions is medium to low.

Data Sufficiency
With 20 questions, this section mattered a lot in the last year's test. Good speed and practice with data sufficiency problems can really help score high in this section. So, attempting second paper with this section could be a strategy that you can try out at home first and then implement in the exam.

Reading Comprehension
This section generally features two long passages on management subjects with direct questions at the end. So, speed reading would come handy. Last year, this section had 16 questions.

Business Knowledge
The areas focused upon in the previous year’s papers are:
1. Recent Mergers & Acquisitions
2. Brand taglines
3. Famous books and authors
4. Indian banking
5. Indian economy
6. CSR initiatives by corporate houses

Those who have already prepared for this section for exams like IIFT should just revise the same material. Last year, this section had 15 questions.

Foundations of Management
This section troubles people the most because they do not have concrete sources to prepare from and also because they do not relate to the subjects asked in this section.

Experts say that reading and understanding any BMS or BBA level HRM textbook could be of great help. Also, you can skim through the personalities, theorists and management thinkers in the book such as Adam Smith, Charles Babbage, Robert Owen, Frederick Taylor (scientific management), Henry Ford, Max Weber, Henri Fayol (14 principles of management), Mary Follet , Chester Bernard, Maslow, McGregor (Theory X and Theory Y), Hawthorne experiments by Elton Mayo, Dale Carnegie, McClelland, Fiedler, Herzberg and Hackman & Oldham.

Few experts observed a pattern in the last two years papers of 50-60% of questions fall under the ambit of 'social psychology'. So, one should read online materials related to this topic carefully.

Aspirants should remember that this section is intended to just check the basics of management and not in-depth psychology or something of that sort. So, if there is no negative marking in this section, just go with any option by gut feeling. Last year, 14 questions were asked in this section.