Department of Sociology

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Graduate Program Requirements

The Master of Arts Degree and The Doctor of Philosophy Degree
Revised February 2008

The Master of Arts Degree

The core of the Master of Arts (M.A.) degree consists of required courses in theory, methodology, statistics, and three core courses in different program areas. The three core courses are selected from those listed under "Graduate Program Areas." Each of these core courses integrates theory and methods. The courses prepare students to write a thesis modeled on an academic journal article.

One measure of methodological skill is what it takes to produce or evaluate a journal article. Skill is necessary to read both quantitative and qualitative work. Sociologists need rigorous training in each, even if they don't plan on doing both. Increasingly, researchers use several methods in a single study. What is learned in theory and methodology courses needs to be reinforced in other courses. We firmly believe that part of being a sociologist is knowing how to read literature that uses a variety of methods.

The faculty share the belief that there is no single way to do good sociological research and scholarship, but rigor is required of all approaches. Competent sociologists need to be able to judge the quality and contributions of sociological writing. This ability includes a concern for the ethics of research as inseparable from questions about methods.

Two Master's degree options are offered, one with thesis and one without. The M.A. with thesis ordinarily prepares one for further graduate work. The M.A. without thesis is considered a final degree. Students who take the non-thesis option cannot apply to the Ph.D. program.

Admission Requirements

Students seeking admission to the M.A. program must have a minimum of fifteen hours of undergraduate sociology courses, including a course in sociological theory, a basic statistics course, and a course in research methods. Students who apply without this background may be admitted under the condition that they make up the undergraduate deficiency as part of their M.A. degree program. These will not count towards the M.A. degree.

Applicants must present evidence that they are capable of successfully completing a rigorous graduate program. Such evidence includes completion of a department application, an essay presenting a history of the candidate's intellectual development, and no fewer than three letters of recommendation from persons in a position to evaluate the student's academic potential. The Department considers general GRE scores including verbal, quantitative and analytical components.

The decision to admit individual applicants to the M.A. program is made by the Department's Graduate Admissions Committee.

The decision to admit individual applicants to the M.A. program is made by the Department's Graduate Admissions Committee.

Course Requirements

Students in the M.A. program in sociology must complete at least 30 credit hours beyond the Bachelor's degree.

The following courses are required:

Thesis Option

The M.A. thesis should demonstrate the candidate's ability to raise questions or advance arguments that are sociologically informed and to answer or support them in a manner that makes a theoretical contribution. An acceptable thesis is not a technical report of research findings independent of sociological scholarship, but rather a contribution to that scholarship and to the ongoing theoretical, methodological, and substantive debates in the discipline. The scope and length of the thesis should be comparable to that of a journal article.

A thesis is required if the student wishes to be considered for admission to the MU Ph.D. program. Six hours of credit (Sociology 9090) are awarded for the thesis.

Students are encouraged to begin work on the thesis early in the Master's program. The thesis is approved by the student's advisory committee prior to its oral defense, which will be held at a publicly announced meeting open to all faculty and graduate students. The format of that meeting is that of a professional paper presentation followed by questions and answers. The student's advisory committee will decide whether the thesis and defense meet the requirements for the M.A. degree in Sociology. The advisory committee makes a recommendation to the Admissions Committee about the student's qualification for the Ph.D. program.

Non-Thesis Option
Our graduate program is primarily oriented toward students who want to pursue the M.A. degree on the way to earning a Ph.D. However, students who enter our program but later discover that they no longer want to pursue the Ph.D have the option of a terminal non-thesis M.A. degree. Students who elect the non-thesis M.A. are expected to develop their ability to think sociologically by taking the same required courses as those seeking the M.A. with thesis. The non-thesis option places less emphasis on the candidate's own contributions to sociological scholarship. In place of the thesis, students seeking the M.A. without thesis are required to complete a two-semester research practicum/internship (6 hours of Soc 8110, Research in Sociology) resulting in a paper and presentation to members of their degree committee.

A minimum of forty hours is required for the M.A. non-thesis option.

Completion of a thesis is required for entrance into the MU sociology Ph.D. program and for most sociology doctoral programs at other universities. The Master's degree without thesis is considered a terminal degree and should not be selected by those wishing to continue their studies toward a Ph.D. in sociology. Those considering that they might work toward the doctoral degree in the future are strongly encouraged to select the M.A. thesis option.

The Doctor of Philosophy Degree

The Ph.D. is a research degree and aims to develop advanced critical and analytic skills. Building on the competencies fostered in the Master's program, the goal is to educate scholars with the theoretical and methodological backgrounds to research, present, and publish work that significantly expands upon or challenges knowledge of social life.

Admission Requirements

Admission to the Ph.D. program requires a Master's degree from this department or one similar in content to that offered here. Minimally, the Master's degree must include theory, methods, and advanced statistics. If an applicant has a Master's degree in a discipline other than sociology, (s)he may be required to take up to 18 hours of course work before entering the MU Ph.D. program. If a student has not taken appropriate courses in theory, methods, statistics, and substantive areas, (s)he will be required to do so. These courses cannot be counted toward the Ph.D. degree. Applicants with a sociology M.A. from another sociology department might also be required to take some preliminary course work. Those who have not written a M.A. thesis may be required to complete a research paper in place of the thesis.

Course Requirements

• Doctoral students must first complete those individual requirements, if any, that were specified by the Admissions Committee before embarking on the Ph.D. program.
  
  
• Ph.D. students must complete required courses in sociological methods and theory and courses in the areas chosen for their comprehensive examination. At least 30 hours of coursework must be completed in the Ph.D. program beyond the Master's degree. The 30 hours must be in regular courses (not including reading courses such as 7960 or research courses such as 7085, 8110, or 9090). At the discretion of the student's Advisory Committee, nine credit hours can be taken outside the Department in a related field of study. At least twelve of the required hours in the program should be seminars. Required courses for the Ph.D. may be counted as part of the 30 hours and as seminars, provided they carry the title "seminar" in the course catalog.
  
  
• All students will take Sociology 9187-Seminar in Sociological Theory I, and if they have not already done so, Sociology 8100, Theories of Society. One additional theory seminar is required and may be selected from Sociology 9487-Seminar in Contemporary Sociological Theory II, Sociology 9587-Topical Seminar in Sociological Theory, or Sociology 9787-Seminar in Sociological Theory Construction.

• Two seminars in sociological research methods other than 8120 are required. In consultation with student's advisor, the two additional seminars may be chosen from 8187-Seminar on Interview Theory and Technique, 9287-Qualitative Methods, 9288-Ethnographic Fieldwork, 9687-Topical Seminar in Historical Sociology, and 9837-Multivariate Analysis Techniques. With the approval of the student's advisor, an advanced methodology course taught outside the department can be substituted if there is no similar course offered by the sociology department. If there is a similar or overlapping course offered by the department, the outside course can be substituted only with the review and approval of the faculty members(s) who teach the sociology course; such approval should be understood as given only in exceptional circumstances.
  

Selection of Doctoral Advisory Committee and Planning of Individual Ph.D. Programs

Ph.D. students should select an advisor as soon as possible after entering the Ph.D. program, or if they wish, continue with the advisor they chose as M.A. students. No later than the end of the first year of work toward the Ph.D., students should select three faculty members, in addition to the advisor, who will constitute the doctoral advisory committee. At least three of these four faculty members must be from the Department of Sociology and one must be from another department. Rural Sociology faculty serve as outside members of these committees. Committee members should be selected who represent the student's area of research interest and the program areas in which the student will take his or her comprehensive exam. (At least two members from each program area are to evaluate the exam and faculty are counted in every program area of which they are members.) Students should submit an approved Ph.D. program (D-3, Program of Study) before the beginning of the second year of work toward the Ph.D.

Qualifying Process

All students admitted to the doctoral program must participate in the doctoral qualifying process.

The qualifying process for those who have completed their master's degree with thesis in the MU Department of Sociology unfolds as follows:

• Students who complete their M.A. in winter or summer semester submit their M.A. thesis to the qualifying committee by september 15 of their first year in the doctoral program. Students who complete their M.A. in the fall semester submit their M.A. thesis by February 1st.

  Please note that this process is separate from the defense of the master’s thesis. The process must be initiated by the student, when the student takes the bound paper copy of her or his thesis that was placed in the departmental collection and gives it to the qualifying committee c/o the office staff, 312 middlebush.  The student should then notify their advisor and the qualifying committee to inform them that they have submitted their thesis to begin the qualifying process.  If no bound paper copy was previously provided, it must be done at this point.

• The qualifying committee convenes a meeting with the student early in the winter semester (no later than February 15 for those who submitted their thesis on September 15, and October 1 for those who submitted their thesis February 1) to discuss the thesis process and project with the student. The meeting addresses issues such as the student's own critique of the thesis, changes that she/he would make if they were to do the thesis over, different theories or methods that could have been used, the possibilities and problems of bringing together theories and methodologies in the thesis, and the implications of the thesis for other social research and theorizing.

  When the qualifying committee agrees that the student has passed the qualifier, the student must file the d-1 form and have the chair of the qualifying committee check and initial the pass box on that form.

The qualifying process for those who have completed their master's degree with thesis in a different department at the University of Missouri or at another university unfolds as follows:

• Students submit their M.A. thesis to the Admissions Committee by September 15 of their first year in the doctoral program.
  
  
• The Qualifying Committee reviews the thesis to determine if it is comparable in quality to a thesis completed in the MU Sociology Department, and notifies the student of the outcome by October 15.
  
  
• If the review indicates the thesis is comparable in quality, the student meets with the Qualifying Committee in the early winter semester to discuss the thesis (see second item above regarding MU M.A. thesis review).
  
  
• If the review indicates that the thesis does not meet the standards of the MU sociology program, the student will be required to do one of the following as directed by the Qualifying Committee: (1) Draft an essay in response to questions posed by the Qualifying Committee; the essay will be due at a date set by the Admissions Committee, but no later than April 15 of the first year in the doctoral program, OR (2) prepare an independent research paper in consultation with a faculty advisor, which must be completed by April 15 of the first year in the doctoral program.
  
  

  When the qualifying committee agrees that the student has passed the qualifier, the student must file the d-1 form and have the chair of the qualifying committee check and initial the pass box on that form.

The qualifying process for students who have earned their master's degree without completing a thesis unfolds as follows:

Comprehensive Examination

The Ph.D. comprehensive exam is coordinated by the student's advisor and is evaluated as a whole by the advisory committee. The exam includes both written and oral portions. Comprehensive exams are offered in the Department's five graduate program areas. Reading lists identifying a core body of literature for each exam are made available to all faculty and students. Students can propose additions to the lists consistent with their individual emphases.

The comprehensive exam process unfolds as follows:

• Soon after the advisor is selected and advisory committee formed, the student in consultation with his or her advisor and advisory committee begins to compile two comprehensive exam reading lists. The lists should be comprised of (a) required core readings from the two program areas in which the student is to be examined and (b) additional reading material from these areas considered by the advisor and advisory committee to be pertinent to the student's particular theoretical, methodological, and substantive needs.
  
  
• There should be annual meetings between the advisor, the advisory committee, and the student to formally monitor the progress that is being made in the compilation of the reading lists. Progress on this front should be part of the student's annual review and duly noted in the annual review letter.
  
  
• The readings lists should be thought of as a kind of "intellectual contract" between the student and his or her advisory committee. It is expected that comprehensive exam items will be generated and, in turn, answers developed in relation to the reading lists.
  
  
• When the advisor feels that the student is ready to sit for the comprehensive exam, a meeting is scheduled with the student to finalize the reading lists, allowing sufficient time for "catching up" on additional material if needed.
  
  
• The advisor co-ordinates the examination process and also serves as examination committee chair. Comprehensive exam items are solicited by the advisor from advisory committee members, who are expected to take account of the two finalized reading lists in formulating and submitting exam items.
  
  
• The comprehensive exam is composed of three parts, two written and one oral. The two written parts (take-home approved 11-10-04) center on the reading lists and are developed in relation to the student's two program areas. The oral part provides the opportunity to elaborate upon and/or clarify the written examination material. If the written portions are taken in-house, the oral part is held two weeks afterward. If the written portions are take-home (required for new students starting Fall 2005 and optional for others), the entire comprehensive exam is to be completed within a four-week period. Four days are allowed for the completion of each of the written take-home portions, with the oral portion scheduled one week after the completion of the written portion. Page limitations are to be specified for responses to take-home written exam items.
  
  
• The completed written and oral parts of the exam are evaluated as a whole by the student's advisory committee. If the overall assessment is a pass, this is duly recorded on the "Doctoral Comprehensive Examination Results Form." If the overall assessment is less than a pass but not a fail, the committee formulates a plan to remedy deficiencies. When deficiencies are remedied to the satisfaction of the committee, the student is considered to have passed the exam and this is duly recorded on the results form. Students who fail the exam may retake it once at the discretion of the committee.
  
  
• The comprehensive exam may be taken at any time during the fall and winter terms of the academic year that is mutually convenient to the student and the examination committee.
  
  
• The student who publishes a sole-authored, refereed article that makes an empirical and/or theoretical contribution to knowledge in a recognized scholarly journal or equivalent outlet, may request that it be substituted for examination in one of the two required programs for the PhD degree.  The student’s advisor, acting as chair of the student’s advisory committee, initiates the request by sending an e-mail to the Director of Graduate Studies recommending that the article substitute for an area exam.  The student then places in her or his file a copy of the paper/article, along with a copy of the acceptance letter, evidence that the journal is refereed, and copies of the referee’s comments. The final decision on substitution rests with a committee composed of the Director of Graduate Studies, the advisor, and a member of the program area in which the option is being taken, the latter of whom is selected by the Director of Graduate Studies.
  Approval of the substitution does not exempt the student from the required coursework in the program areas in which the option is being taken.  When a graduate student and a faculty advisor are working together and are funded by a research grant that requires the listing of the PI as co-author, exceptions to the sole-authored rule will be considered and treated as an exception to the norm.
  

Students must complete their Ph.D. course work before taking the comprehensive exam. The advisor and Director of Graduate Studies certify the eligibility of students to take the comprehensive exam. The Graduate School requires that the entire comprehensive exam process be completed within a 30-day period.

Dissertation

A proposal must be approved by the student's doctoral advisory committee before the student begins work on the dissertation. The dissertation is the capstone of the Ph.D. student's career in the program. It is a work of which the student should be proud and one that (s)he should be eager to discuss and defend before colleagues. The Graduate School requires a 7-month period between the completion of the Ph.D. comprehensive exam and the completion of the dissertation.

For additional information concerning MU graduate school requirements, please refer to the form Applying to the Graduate School at MU and visit the University of Missouri on-line Graduate Catalog.

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