Department of Sociology

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Doctoral Degree Requirements

The department offers the PhD degree in sociology, with specialization in the following program areas—culture and identity; political and economic institutions and social movements; social control; and social inequality. The goal of the doctoral program is to educate scholars with the theoretical, methodological, and substantive background to conduct research, present findings, and publish work that significantly expands upon and/or challenges knowledge of social life. There is no separate MA program, although doctoral students may apply for an MA degree in the context of completing requirements for the PhD.

Admission

Admission decisions are made by the admissions committee. Students are admitted to the PhD program with either a bachelor’s or a master’s degree. The doctoral program requirements of those admitted with an MA degree are determined by the admissions committee, taking account of the content and skill level of their master’s programs.  

Applicants must have a minimum of fifteen hours of undergraduate sociology courses, including a course in sociological theory, in basic statistics, and in research methods. Those without this background may be admitted with the requirement that they make up the deficiencies.  Such background courses do not count for the PhD degree.

Applicants must present evidence that they are capable of successfully completing a rigorous doctoral program. Evidence includes completion of a department application, an essay presenting a history of the candidate's intellectual development, a 20-30 page sample of research writing, and three letters of recommendation. The department requires general GRE scores, including verbal, quantitative, and analytical components.

Course Requirements

Unless waived or taken elsewhere and approved as equivalent by the admissions committee, the following course requirements apply:

At least 30 credit hours of regular courses, not including reading courses such as Soc 7960 or research courses such as Soc 7085, Soc 8110, or Soc 9090. At the discretion of the student's advisory committee, 9 credit hours may be taken outside the department in a related field of study. At least 12 credit hours should be seminars. Required courses are counted as part of the 30 hours.

The following courses or their equivalents are required and should be taken as early in the program as possible:

Soc 8085—Professional Perspectives

Soc 8100—Theories of Society

Soc 9187—Seminar in Sociological Theory I

One additional theory seminar selected from Soc 9487—Seminar in Contemporary Sociological Theory II, Soc 9587—Topical Seminar in Sociological Theory, or Soc 9787—Seminar in Sociological Theory Construction

Soc 8130—Advanced Social Statistics

Soc 8120—Research Methodology

Two additional methodology seminars selected from Soc 7110—Feminist Research and Criticism, Soc 8187—Seminar on Interview Theory and Technique, Soc 9287—Qualitative Methods, Soc 9288—Ethnographic Fieldwork, Soc 9687—Topical Seminar in Historical Sociology, and Soc 9837—Multivariate Analysis Techniques.

By the end of the second year of study, students must have taken two core courses in different program areas.

Advisory Committee and Plan of Work

The advisor and three additional faculty members constitute the doctoral advisory committee and must be selected no later than the end of the first year of study. The advisor must be a member of the sociology faculty; one member of the doctoral committee may be from outside the department.

The advisory committee should be selected in consultation with the advisor and should represent the student's area of research interest and the program areas in which the student will take his or her comprehensive exam.

Students must submit an approved plan of work (D-3, Program of Study) before the beginning of the second year of study.

Qualifying Process

Students are required to complete an article-length research paper no later than May 1 of their second year of study. The evaluation of this paper constitutes the doctoral qualifying process.

The research paper should demonstrate the student’s ability to raise questions and advance arguments that are sociologically and theoretically informed. The paper must demonstrate competence in the applicable research methodology.  

The paper is evaluated by the advisor and two other faculty members. A grade of “pass” qualifies the student to continue in the doctoral program. Upon successfully completing the qualifying process, students may apply for the MA degree. Failure to pass the qualifying process will result in dismissal from the doctoral program.

Reasonable exceptions to these rules will be considered by the director of graduate studies on a case-by-case basis in consultation with appropriate faculty members.

Comprehensive Exam

The 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 four graduate program areas. Reading lists identifying a core body of literature for each exam are 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 take 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 the 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 a take-home examination and is composed of three parts, two written and one oral. The two written parts 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. 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 portions. Page limitations may be specified for responses to the 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 specifies the way 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.
• A 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 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.

Students must complete their doctoral 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

The dissertation is required and is the capstone of the doctoral student's career in the program. The Graduate School requires a 7-month period between the completion of the comprehensive exam and the completion of the dissertation.

The dissertation may take either of two forms, at the discretion of the doctoral advisory committee. One is the traditional “book-length” monograph. The other consists of three, sole-authored publishable articles combined with introductory and concluding chapters. The research reported in either case is based on an approved dissertation project conducted during the student’s tenure in the doctoral program.

Progress in the Doctoral Program

The doctoral program is designed to be completed in 6 years. The following rate of progress is strongly encouraged.

FIRST YEAR
Fall: Soc 8100; Soc 7120; core course
Spring: Soc 8130; Soc 8120; theory, core course or elective
 
SECOND YEAR
Course requirements, including theory and methods
3 research hours for second-year qualifying paper
 
THIRD YEAR
Fall: Complete course requirements
Spring: Work on publishing paper, which counts as a pass for one comprehensive exam area
 
FOURTH YEAR
Fall: Complete c omprehensive exam
Spring: Complete d issertation proposal and hold proposal hearing

FIFTH YEAR
Complete d issertation research

SIXTH YEAR
Dissertation defense; PhD conferred

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