Degree Requirements
- Program Note: Students will be directly admitted to the Ph.D. program. We do not admit students for the M.A. degree. On completion of the Ph.D. program of study, students will have earned only the Ph.D. degree. Students who fail to maintain satisfactory progress after two successive semesters working on any of the program's research-based benchmarks will be transitioned to the M.A. track. Students on this track will be required to complete one additional elective course, if they have not already completed a second-year research paper, in order to graduate with a terminal Masters degree in Sociology.
- Credit Hours: Students must complete 32-35 hours of coursework. This includes 17 hours of required coursework in SOC, 6 hours of thesis, and 9 hours of electives in SOC. Further, all students on funded graduate teaching assistantships must complete SOC 710, Teaching Sociology.
- Grade Point Average: Students must earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 and a minimum GPA of 3.0 in courses applied to the degree.
- Graduation Requirement: In addition to completing required coursework, students must complete a thesis following the journal article model. This is a research report intended for publication in a peer-reviewed academic journal and presentation at a professional sociology conference.
- Benchmarks: For details, go to the Sociology Degree Progress tab.
Curriculum Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Required Core Coursework | ||
| SOC 600 | Professional Development Seminar | 1 |
| SOC 615 | Sociological Data Analysis and Interpretation 1 | 3 |
| SOC 616 | Sociological Data Analysis and Interpretation 2 | 3 |
| SOC 620 | Sociological Research Methods | 3 |
| SOC 697 | Research | 6 |
| SOC 710 | Teaching Sociology * | 3 |
| SOC 730 | Sociological Explanation | 3 |
| Electives ** | 13 | |
| Total Hours | 35 | |
- *
See graduate advisor for details.
- **
Includes SOC courses at the 600 or 700 level. Excludes the following: 690, 695, 697, 790, 795, 797.
Major Learning Outcomes
Sociology
- Proficiently communicate concepts within the field of sociology orally and in writing
- Apply research skills to analyze and/or explore the student’s subject area
- Explain the role of research in addressing questions, issues, and problems pertaining to social issues
- Produce original research to evaluate social issues using sociological theories and methodological skills
- Explain professional practice and ethics as they relate to sociology
- Critically analyze and evaluate the literature in the student’s subject area