Keywords and Written Section

CFA Level III
#1

Hi All-

New lvl 3 candidate here. I noticed in the questions at the end of the readings they put the following words in bold: IDENTIFY, DESCRIBE, STATE, DISCUSS, EXPLAIN

There are some clear differences in the level of verboseness, I suppose, between STATE and EXPLAIN but DISCUSS and EXPLAIN are pretty similar.

My question - 1) is there an exact definition to what CFAI wants when they use those bolded words and can I find a discussion (or explaination, or description) somewhere? and 2) has anyone found a good general discussion of “tips” for the written portion.

Thanks.

#2

http://www.cfainstitute.org/programs/Documents/cfa_and_cipm_los_command_words.pdf

#3

Thanks Magic. I remember this document from previous levels but found it somewhat unnecessary for levels 1 and 2. Ignoring the command words, I was able to read and understand the material to sufficiently answer the multiple choice questions.

What I’m trying to figure out is whether there are any good “tricks” for answering the short answer questions in level 3.

For example, “Describe” is “To portray in words” whereas “Discuss” is “To examine critically and in detail”. For the purposes of short-answer, if asked to “Describe the various forms of event risk” versus being asked to “Discuss the various forms of event risk” would the former be a simple one-sentence definition whereas the latter would be more of a paragraph?

I’ve heard from a colleague that the essay/short-answer questions are all supposed to be pretty short, i.e. a few sentences or less. Can anyone weigh in on that?

#4

You’re welcome. I should thank you as well; your question prompted me to put that link on my website.

As for answers: shorter is always better, as long as you include all of the pertinent information. CFA Institute even suggests using bullet points (as long as your meaning is clear): http://www.cfainstitute.org/programs/cfaprogram/exams/Pages/level_III_exam_prep.aspx