Director of Graduate Studies: Dr. Stephen A. Cernkovich
The M.A. degree is offered in five programmatic areas: Applied Demography, Criminology and Deviance, Demography, Family Studies
and Social Psychology. All Master's degree students are required to complete graduate courses in Classical Sociological Theory
(SOC 601), Statistical Techniques and Applications in Sociology (SOC 610), Intermediate Methodology (SOC 611), Intermediate
Statistics (SOC 612), and Teaching Introductory Sociology (SOC 660). Research Design (SOC 713) is required for Plan II students
(see below). Classical Sociological Theory is not required, however, for students in the Applied Demography program. These
students substitute courses in demographic theory for the general theory requirement. Students in the Applied Demography program
also are not required to take the Teaching Introductory Sociology course (although it is recommended), as their programs are
very structured and generally lead to non-teaching positions.
Each of the five programmatic areas of study at the M.A. level specifies course requirements in addition to those noted above.
Further information about these requirements is presented in the specialty area program statements available in the departmental
offices or on the Sociology web page.
Only grades of A or B are acceptable in required courses. Students who do not achieve a grade of A or B in these courses may be permitted to (a) repeat the course or (b) take a comparable course in another department. Option
(b) is available only if the student has first taken the departmental course and achieved a grade lower than B. Any course taken under Option (b) must first be approved by the Graduate Committee and the area faculty. Under no circumstances
will an independent studies course be permitted as a substitute for a required course in which the student has earned a grade
of C or lower.
A minimum grade point average of 3.0 in graduate work is required to maintain academic good standing at the M.A. level. A
student whose grade point average falls below this level will be placed on academic probation. Two consecutive semesters of
academic probation status will result in dismissal from the program.
Students are encouraged to take relevant graduate courses in other departments as part of their program. A minor sequence
of courses in another discipline is permitted as part of an interdisciplinary Master's degree (See the Graduate Handbook for further details). Credits earned through internships or cooperative education assignments may count for no more than
three semester hours (six for the Applied Demography program) toward the minimum degree requirements. Such internship and
apprenticeship experiences are encouraged by the Department, and efforts are made to assist interested students in securing
these experiences. A minimum of 37.5 clock hours of internship experience are required for every one hour of academic credit.
Occasionally, students also develop independent readings courses (SOC 685) with professors who possess an expertise in an
area where courses are not regularly offered. A maximum of 6 hours of Readings in Sociology, also referred to as Independent
Study, may be used by a student to satisfy the requirements of the M.A. degree. Additional independent study credit hours
may be taken, but these will not count toward the degree requirements.
Students may pursue the Master's degree under Plan I or Plan II, as they choose, with the exception of the Applied Demography
area—individuals selecting this area must choose Plan 1 and write a formal thesis.
Plan I requires the writing of a formal thesis and a minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate course work. At least 3, but not more
than 6, of these required 30 hours may be thesis credit (SOC 699). However, more than 6 hours of SOC 699 may be accumulated
by students who earn more than 30 credit hours. The Master's thesis need not be empirical, although it should be an original
contribution to the research literature. Prior to beginning formal work on the thesis, the student must form a thesis committee.
The thesis committee consists minimally of the student's thesis advisor and two other full-time graduate faculty from the
Department of Sociology. However, it is possible for a student to request that a faculty member from another department substitute
for one of the sociology department members.
A public oral presentation of the thesis proposal is required. The proposal is a detailed description of the research problem
and theoretical and methodological approaches taken to examine it (See Appendix C). At least one week prior to the suggested date of the proposal defense, the student and advisor will notify the entire department
of the upcoming defense and make available to all interested parties, in the main departmental office, a copy of the proposal.
Failure to either notify the department or to make available a copy of the proposal at least one week prior to the defense
will result in the postponement of the proposal defense. This notification period is required so that all interested parties
are given an appropriate opportunity to review the proposal and to make the necessary arrangements to attend the defense.
After successfully defending the proposal, the student must apply to the Graduate College for approval of the topic; a minimum
GPA of 3.0 in all graduate work is required to apply for thesis topic approval. Once a student has a thesis proposal approved
by the Graduate College, s/he must be in continuous registration for at least one hour of SOC 699 per semester, excluding
summers, until the thesis is completed. Students who plan to graduate during the summer session must be enrolled in SOC 699
that term.
Upon completion of the thesis, the student must pass a public oral defense conducted by his/her committee. As in the case
of the thesis proposal defense, all departmental members must be notified at least one week prior to the thesis defense, and
a copy of the thesis must simultaneously be made available in the departmental offices. Failure to provide at least one week’s
notice will result in postponement of the defense. In addition to an examination over the thesis content area, the defense
also evaluates the student's general knowledge of sociology. The final copy of the completed thesis must be received in the
Graduate College by the published deadline set by the College. This date is approximately four weeks prior to commencement.
Students failing to meet this deadline will not be eligible for graduation that semester.
Plan II requires at least 33 semester hours of graduate course work, including Research Design (SOC 713). This option is not available
to Applied Demography students. Plan II students are required to pass a four-hour comprehensive examination in their area
of specialization, a two-hour examination in sociological theory, and a two-hour examination in quantitative methods. The
M.A. comprehensive examinations in the core areas of theory and quantitative methods, and in the student's major area, are
constructed and graded by examination committees made up of all sociology graduate faculty teaching in that area. Thus, each
M.A. student generally will have three different exam committees: one each for the major area, theory, and quantitative methods.
Students are not permitted to choose the faculty constituting their exam committees. Such a practice would undermine the standardization
of these examinations that the department seeks to maintain. While Plan I students and their major advisor do choose thesis
committee members, the composition of examination committees for Plan II students is determined by the department faculty
in the respective examination areas. Examination committees and thesis committees are separate entities having different functions.
Comprehensive examinations for Plan II students are offered during the same examination periods that Ph.D. preliminary exams
are given.
There are three comprehensive examination periods during the academic year: the week prior to the beginning of fall semester
(mid-August), the week prior to the beginning of spring semester (early January), and the week following the end of spring
semester (early May). During any one semester it is possible, of course, for a M.A. student to take multiple examinations.
Examination results are communicated to students within two weeks by the chair of the examination committee.
Students are encouraged to meet with area faculty before taking their examinations. To assist in exam preparation, area faculty
will advise students on reading materials and discuss approaches to answering questions. Plan II students should review the
section in this Handbook on preliminary examination procedures for Ph.D. students insofar as the M.A. level exams will follow
the general guidelines specified therein.
M.A. students choosing the non-thesis option are expected to complete their examinations no later than the end of their fourth
semester in the program. Most M.A. students choosing the non-thesis option will find the following timetable for taking exams
the most suitable:
