Just in case you haven’t noticed, there are lots of questions, not only in the BOK, but in the study stuff, the online study stuff, the pre-test, the post test, the chapter tests, and even into your nightmares and daydreams. Why are there so many questions, and where do they all come from?

The questions in each chapter of the BOK are from the author and the committee subject matter experts that contributed to that chapter. They are written to focus your attention on points the committee and the author feel are important or easily misunderstood. They are not written to test your memory, but to test whether or not you understand the theories and concepts presented in the material. If you understand the theories and concepts, you can probably figure out the answer to questions on the test. If you don’t, you need to spend more time on the material.

The questions in the various study aids come from a different group of people. They are as knowledgeable about the material as the committee and the author, but they have different experiences and backgrounds. The questions they write are intended to be similar to the test questions, but different. The purpose behind them is to give you some exposure to the kinds of questions, and the structure, that you will experience when you take the test. These questions again are on the same material, brought from a different background and experience.

If you purchased the Learning System Treasury from AFP, with on-line testing and review capabilities, the questions included in it are more of the same , but from another group of volunteer subject matter experts, again with different experience and backgrounds. AFP makes an intentional effort to incorporate as broad a spectrum of experience and difference in application as they possibly can. This is for your benefit, to show you in the most practical way possible, that the theories and principles presented in the BOK apply and can be used in any business, in any market.

- Fred Butterfield, CTP