Degree Requirements

First Year:

Soc 500 - Introduction to Graduate Studies (Fall term)
Soc 505/506 - Theories and Practices of Sociology I/II (Fall & Winter)
Soc 510/610 - Statistics I/II (Fall & Winter)

Second Year:

Soc 507 - Logics and Strategies of Sociological Research Inquiry (Fall term)

First, Second & Third Years:

• Research Practicum (one of the following):
  • Soc 522 - Qualitative Research Methods (523 optional)
  • Soc 532 - Comparative and Historical Methods - (533 optional)
  • Soc 542 - Quantitative Practicum - (543 optional)
  • SURVMETH 600 - Survey Methodology - (672, 673 optional)

• Four Electives:
  • Culture and Knowledge - Soc 555
  • Economic Sociology - Soc 515
  • Gender and Sexuality - Soc 547
  • Health, Aging, and the Life Course - Soc 575
  • Power, History, and Social Change - Soc 560
  • Race and Ethnicity - Soc 503
  • Social Demography - Soc 530
  • Sociology of Law - Soc 653
    
  • and more!

*If students wish to take an additional sociology research methods course (above and beyond the methods requirements listed above), they may count one methods course as one of their general sociology electives.

• Cognate Requirement: One course at the graduate level (3 credits or more) offered through a department other than Sociology.

• Responsible Conduct of Research Requirement (Soc 899): A .65 credit course which reviews the federal guidelines related to responsible research.

• Students who are appointed as GSI’s must also enroll in a one-credit training course (Sociology 993) during or prior to the first semester teaching.

Preliminary Examination: All students are required to successfully complete two preliminary examinations in their first three years in the program. Usually in the summer after their first year, students will take a prelim exam in one of seven established program areas. To fulfill their second prelim requirement, students will produce a paper that engages centrally with a standing problem, condition, or question in sociology, typically during their second year in the program.

Publishable Paper: Students must produce an original, scholarly paper of near-publishable quality. In order to enhance their competitiveness for the academic job market, students are encouraged to complete this publishable paper by the end of their third year in the program. At the latest, the proposal for the paper must be approved by the beginning of the fourth year and the paper must be completed and orally defended before a three person faculty committee (at least two of whom are tenured or tenure-track faculty in Sociology; joint program students must include at least one tenured or tenure-track faculty in Sociology) no later than May 31 of the fourth year.

The department also has joint degree programs with Social Work and Public Policy. The requirements of these programs may vary from the Sociology doctoral program – please contact the office for further information.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are expected to have achieved candidacy by the end of their third year. To be advanced to candidacy, the Rackham Graduate School requires:

• all of the departmental coursework be completed,
• preliminary examinations passed,
• 3 cognate credits taken, and
• a minimum of 18 credit hours of coursework completed.