Resources For:

The First Two Years

Coursework

Course requirements include 14 courses in sociology, as follows. This is the minimum acceptable amount of coursework, not the norm; most students take additional courses in sociology, as well as courses in other departments that relate to their research interests.

• Five required methods and theory courses, the first four of which are normally taken during the first year in residence:

Soc. 204 Sociological Theory: Seminar
Soc. 208 Contemporary Theory and Research: Seminar
Soc. 209 Qualitative Social Analysis
Soc. 202 Intermediate Quantitative Methods (Students who arrive with suffi­cient training may waive this course if they can satisfy placement pro­cedures designed by the Soc 202 instructor.)
Soc. 203a Methods of Quantitative Sociological Research I 

• Soc. 305, the teaching practicum, which is ordinarily taken prior to one’s first as­signment as a Teaching Fellow.

• Eight additional half-courses in sociology: 200-level courses, or 100-level confer­ence courses, will count toward this requirement. (For all students except those in the Social Policy program, one of these courses should be Soc. 201, Sociology Research Design, to be taken during the second year of residence. Students in the Social Policy program may instead count the required Proseminars of that program toward their eight elective course requirement.) Courses from other departments may be counted only if they are cross-listed in the catalog under sociology. Up to two workshops (including one workshop taken twice) may be counted.

• The department expects that students will maintain an average of B+ or better, es­pecially in sociology courses. 

Language

• There is no language requirement.

Incompletes

• The department strongly recommends that students do not take Incompletes unless absolutely necessary and certainly in no more than one course per term. Incompletes are equivalent to Cs; and thus, for each Incomplete there must be an A in order to maintain a B average.

Research Apprenticeship

• Each student is required to work as a research assistant with a faculty member in the department for at least one term, whether or not salary is forthcoming. This project may serve as the basis for the required research paper.

Research Paper

• A special research paper is required by the end of the fifth term in residence. It should offer some new contribution to knowledge, either in the form of an original interpretation of existing facts, new facts in support or disconfirmation of existing interpretations, or both. The work should be of the same length, quality and finish of a paper acceptable to the major sociological journals. Once the topic and research design have been agreed upon with the advisor, the student should petition the Com­mittee on Higher Degrees (CHD) for appointment of three readers.

Master of Arts (AM)

• The department does not admit students to study for an AM degree. Students in the PhD program who have successfully completed eight sociology courses (including 202, 203a, 204, 208, and 209), the written examination, and the research paper may apply to receive the AM degree in sociology. A student who passes the written gen­eral examination at the AM level but not the PhD level, or who passes the general examination at the PhD level but subsequently decides not to complete the require­ments for the PhD in sociology may apply for a terminal AM degree. The require­ments for the terminal AM degree are successful completion of eight sociology courses (including Sociology, 202, 203a, 204, 208, and 209, and not to include So­ciology 305 or workshops), passing the written general examination at the AM level or higher, and completing the research paper acceptable at the AM level or higher. A student who passes the general exam at the AM but not the PhD level who wishes to apply for the terminal AM degree must do so by the end of their second year of study in the department. A student who has passed the general exam at the PhD level but will not be completing the PhD program must apply for the terminal AM before the start of a fourth year of study in the department.

Teaching

• All students are expected to accept one-fifth TIME teaching fellowship (with sala­ry) for one term before completion of the program. Sociology 305, the Teaching Practicum, should be taken prior to the first teaching assignment. Normally, stu­dents do not teach in the first year; many students teach several sections per year in the third, fourth, and fifth years.

Advising

• For the first year, prior to the written examination, students will be assigned an advisor.
• During their second year, students choose an advisor, who may be any senior or jun­ior faculty member whose research interests are compatible with those of the stu­dent. The selection process is informal and at the students’ initiative. When they have mutually agreed to work together, the student obtains the faculty member’s signature on an Appointment/Change of Advisor form and files it with the graduate coordinator. Students may appoint a new advisor at any time if their field of research changes or they find the advising relationship is otherwise unsatisfactory.

General Examinations

Written Examination

• Students take the written examination in September of the second year in resi­dence. Its purpose is to ensure a working knowledge of the range of subfields that comprise the discipline of sociology. Students need to be prepared for a broad range of questions; they are given a reading list and sample questions from previ­ous years. The results of the examination will be: honors, pass, conditional pass, or fail. The grade of conditional pass is used when just one of the four answers is found not acceptable; the student is allowed to rewrite that particular answer under faculty guidance. A student who fails the examination will be permitted to take it a second time at a later date.

Special Area Examination

• The final qualifying requirement is an oral examination on a subfield within soci­ology that represents the student’s special interest, preferably the area in which their dissertation is likely to fall. The field should be broad enough that it would be possible to regularly teach an upper-level undergraduate class in the area. The stu­dent should demonstrate a general knowledge of the subfield as a whole, as well as a detailed understanding of those components that are most relevant to their future research. The student prepares a field statement, not longer than ten double-spaced pages of ten-point type, to define the area in which the examination will be given; it should not be a literature review. When the field statement and bibliography have been prepared, the student submits them to the CHD along with the Petition to Ap­point a Special Area Examination Committee. Ordinarily, the special area exami­nation should be taken no later than the end of the term following the completion of the research paper. The grades are: Distinction; Above PhD Level; PhD Level; and Unacceptable (re-examination required).

Dissertation

Prospectus

• The prospectus should state clearly the objectives of the study and the specific set of problems to be explored; review the relevant literature; and indicate the ways in which the student hopes to make a contribution to existing ideas on the subject. The data to be employed, the research methods and design, and a plan of study should be given in as much detail as is necessary. Normally the prospectus is twenty to thir­ty pages in length, in addition to an extensive bibliography. When the final draft of the prospectus has been prepared, the student petitions the CHD for approval of the topic and the appointment of three examiners, one being the dissertation advisor. Following CHD approval, the student and prospectus committee schedule a pro­spectus defense, at which time the student is examined on the proposed research project. The intent of this meeting is to ensure that the dissertation project is viable and that the student is prepared to begin his or her research. The prospectus must be approved before the end of the fall term of the student’s fifth year in residence.

Dissertation Completion/Oral Defense

• Ordinarily, the dissertation should be completed by the end of the seventh year in residence. The style should follow The Form of the PhD Dissertation, available from the registrar or online. When student and advisor agree that the final draft is ready, members of the dissertation committee, other faculty, students, staff, and guests are invited to attend the oral defense. At its conclusion, the committee may approve, reject, or require revisions in the dissertation.