MA in Sociology
Although we do not admit people directly into an MA track, all students entering without a masters already in hand will earn their Masters as they matriculate through the PhD program.
Master's Thesis
Students pursuing the doctoral degree must complete their MA first by producing a research-based thesis, but two types of documents will be acceptable. The first alternative is a longer, traditional thesis organized in the form of a short book monograph. This option is especially appropriate for qualitatively based research.
After successful oral defense of thesis, and before application for the master's degree, the student must submit a manuscript for review to a respectable journal after the thesis committee judges the work worthy of publication. This article must be an independent endeavor, although thesis committee members may be listed as secondary authors in sofar as each member contributes to the substance of the work. For a student writing a traditional thesis, the thesis committee may judge the entire document worthy of publication. In such cases, the work may be submitted to a book publisher for review.
The master's thesis process involves (1) formation of the thesis committee; (2) oral defense of a written thesis research proposal; (3) oral defense of the completed thesis; (4) submission of the completed manuscript to the Graduate School; and (5) submission of the journal article for publication. The thesis committee consists of a minimum of three fulltime faculty members, including one from outside the Department of Sociology. This committee will be responsible for guiding the research process, evaluating the final draft of the thesis, presiding over the oral defenses of the thesis proposal and the completed manuscript, and approving the journal article for submission for publication.
In addition to meeting general MA degree requirements, before being admitted to candidacy for the MA degree, a student in the PhD program in medical sociology must have completed the following: 3 continuous semesters of (SOC 702) The Proseminar on the Profession, two of the graduate level core courses in theory (SOC 707 and either 720 or 722), three of the four core methods courses (SOC 701 and SOC 703, and SOC 705 or SOC 711), two of the five courses in the medical sociology core, and a successful oral defense of the thesis proposal.
For those students entering with the Master's degree, the Graduate Director will review the student's transcript, evaluate course transfers, and devise a course plan. Students entering the program with a master's degree can have transferred up to 12 hours of credit so long as these credits were not used for any other degree program (see graduate school guidelines). The department of sociology may also waive up to 16 credits of coursework from electives for those who come in with a masters degree. The student's doctoral advisory committee will handle the student's admission to candidacy and the requirement of submitting a journal article for review. The student with the Master's degree will not be required to make oral defenses of his/her thesis work from another institution.
All students are expected to develop teaching as well as research skills. Teaching skills are developed in the required professional seminar, SOC 702. The summer semester of SOC 702 is devoted specifically to developing teaching skills. Students will have the opportunity to observe, review, and critique their own teaching performance, learn various pedagogic techniques, develop syllabi, etc..
