Program Overview

The graduate program in Sociology is primarily a doctoral program. All students entering the program with a bachelor’s degree complete the requirements for the M.A. degree en route to the Ph.D. degree. Persons entering with an M.A. degree may be required to take additional courses and/or other training if their M.A. training and course work do not correspond to the requirements for the M.A. degree in this department.

Graduate work in the department prepares students for careers in college or university teaching, social research, or public service. To accomplish this goal, the program is centered on two tasks: (1) two Comprehensive Examination which test candidates for mastery of substantive subfields of sociology and competency in scholarship and research, and (2) the Ph.D. dissertation, an original contribution to scholarship and research. Students must also fulfill all the general requirements of the Graduate School.

A total of 50 hours of course credit is required for the Ph.D., of which 30 hours is applied to the M.A. degree. Students are required to take an introductory course in sociological theory, two statistics courses, research design, a writing course, a qualitative methods elective, and an advanced theory elective.

It is expected that the first Comprehensive Examination will be taken by the second semester of the third year, and the second Comprehensive Examination will be taken not later than the second semester of the fourth year. Students entering the program with an M.A. from another institution should plan to take the first examination in the second year of residence. Students select as their fields of concentration two accepted, broadly defined, areas in sociology. In all instances, the student's Comprehensive Examination committee must approve the fields proposed by the student. Students may choose among the following four options: (1) An empirical research paper suitable for publication in a professional journal; (2) A literature review that surveys the scholarly work in a a given field; (3) A two-week take-home examination; or (4) An eight-hour in-school examination.  At least one of the two Comprehensive Examinations must be an empirical research paper.  Options 1 and 2 must be presented in a public colloquium followed by a Q&A with the student's Comprehensive Examination committee.

Upon successfully passing the Comprehensive Examinations and completing all course requirements, the student is admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree and may proceed with the dissertation. A public oral final examination, not necessarily limited to the dissertation, is also required at its completion.

Applicants for admission to graduate study in Sociology are expected to be familiar with fundamental sociological concepts and literatures. Candidates may be asked to remedy gaps in their knowledge, without receiving graduate credit, prior to or after admission.

Applications for admission are not evaluated until all credentials have been received. These include Graduate Record Examination scores, three letters of recommendation, and a personal statement explaining reasons for application, plans, and any special circumstances the committee should consider, and transcripts of all previous academic study. Applicants are required to submit a writing sample (e.g., research papers, honors theses, M.A. theses, etc.), with their applications. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that all application materials are on file in the Graduate School by January 15 (for Fall entrance). Students are admitted to start their studies in the Fall semester. Only in exceptional circumstances are admissions made for study in Spring semester.

Applicants from countries whose native language is not English must, in addition to submitting all the above credentials, take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The Graduate School also requires all foreign students to take a spoken-English examination at the beginning of their initial semester after admission. Remedial work may be prescribed on the basis of this examination.

Financial support for graduate study is available in the form of scholarships, teaching assistantships, and research assistantships, all of which carry a tuition waiver plus nine-month stipends of approximately $16,712. Health insurance and a curriculum fee waiver is also included.

Persons interested in applying for graduate study are urged to visit the website: www.umass.edu/sociol/.