Sociology, MA
Master of Arts in Sociology Degree Program Requirements
A total of 30 semester hours of graduate coursework must be completed in graduate status. For those opting to do a thesis, the requirements include 24 hours of course work and 6 hours devoted to the M.A. thesis. Upon the decision to undertake a thesis, the student will form a committee consisting of two sociology faculty, one of whom will serve as the principal advisor, and one additional faculty member from the Division of Social Sciences. The topic of the thesis will be determined by the student and the advisor. The format will follow American Sociological Association thesis guidelines in conjunction with established criteria by the Sociology Program. The thesis must be orally defended and approved by all members of the faculty thesis committee before the degree is conferred. The student must register for the thesis each semester until satisfactorily completed. No graduate credit will be given for undergraduate courses.
For students selecting the thesis option, 24 hours of course work must be completed and 6 hours of supervised thesis hours. Of the 24 hours of course work, 9 hours are core requirements and the remaining 15 are sociology support/elective requirements.
For students selecting the non-thesis option, 30 hours of course work must be completed: 9 hours of core courses, 15 hours of support area requirements, and 6 hours of related field electives, which may be any combination of sociology graduate courses or graduate-level courses outside of sociology.
Admission to candidacy will be granted upon completion of 12 semester hours of graduate work in sociology with an average grade of B or better. These hours must be completed in residence. The student must complete the Application for Admission to Candidacy form, through the Division of Social Sciences to the Dean of the Graduate School for approval.
Degree Program Requirements
| Non-Thesis Concentration | ||
| Major Requirements | 9 | |
| Classical Sociological Theory 1 | ||
| Research Methods | ||
| Graduate Capstone | ||
| Related Field Electives | 6 | |
| Students may take two additional SOCG courses (6 hours) or up to two courses (6 hours) from the following: | ||
| Fundamentals of School Administration | ||
| Educational Administration: Theory, Practice and Research | ||
| School-Community Relations | ||
| Introduction to Community Development | ||
| Organization and Administration of School Counseling Programs | ||
| Theory and Practice of Counseling | ||
| Counseling Process | ||
| School Consultation | ||
| Orientation to Counseling and Development | ||
| Psychology of Abnormal Behavior | ||
| Career Development Counseling | ||
| Human Growth and Development | ||
| School Counseling in a Multicultural Society | ||
| Psychology of Learning and Development | ||
| Socio-Cultural Issues in Education | ||
| Human Behavior and Health Education | ||
| Epidemiology and Diseases | ||
| Medical Foundations for Health Professions | ||
| Nutrition and the Environment | ||
| Contemporary Health | ||
| Community Health | ||
| Research Problems | ||
| Human Development | ||
| Family Ethics and Issues | ||
| Foundations of Criminal Justice | ||
| Foundations of Juvenile Justice | ||
| Community Building and Organizing | ||
| Domestic and Family Violence | ||
| Correctional Programming | ||
| Management of Juvenile Justice Organizations | ||
| Theories of Delinquency | ||
| Ethics | ||
| Special Topics in Juvenile Justice | ||
| Policy Analysis and Progam Evaluation | ||
| Sociology Electives | 15 | |
| Contemporary Sociological Theory | ||
| Urban Sociology | ||
| Crime and Society | ||
| Seminar in Race Relations | ||
| Social Inequality | ||
| Social Movements | ||
| Complex Organizations | ||
| Special Topics | ||
| Black Family | ||
| Sociology of Gender and Sex Roles | ||
| Black Sociology | ||
| Media Studies | ||
| Urban Field Research | ||
| Total Hours | 30 | |
| Thesis Concentration | ||
| Major Requirement | 6 | |
| Classical Sociological Theory 1 | ||
| Research Methods | ||
| Tools Course Requirements | 3 | |
| Select one course (3 hours) selected from the following | ||
| Educational Statistics | ||
| Demography and GIS | ||
| Business Statistics | ||
| Social Statistics | ||
| Thesis | 6 | |
| Thesis | ||
| Thesis | ||
| Sociology Electives: | 15 | |
| Contemporary Sociological Theory | ||
| Urban Sociology | ||
| Sociology of Education | ||
| Crime and Society | ||
| Seminar in Race Relations | ||
| Social Inequality | ||
| Social Movements | ||
| Complex Organizations | ||
| Special Topics | ||
| Black Family | ||
| Sociology of Gender and Sex Roles | ||
| Black Sociology | ||
| Graduate Capstone | ||
| Media Studies | ||
| Urban Field Research | ||
| Total Hours | 30 | |
Master of Arts in Sociology- Non Thesis Concentration Degree Sequence
| First Year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall - Semester 1 | Hours | Spring - Semester 2 | Hours | Summer | Hours |
| SOCG 5322 | 3 | SOCG 5321 | 3 | Sociology Elective | 3 |
| Sociology Elective | 3 | or SOCG 5341 | |||
| Sociology Elective | 3 | Sociology Elective | 3 | ||
| Related Field Elective | 3 | ||||
| Total | 9 | Total | 9 | Total | 3 |
| Total Hours: 21 | |||||
| Second Year | |
|---|---|
| Fall - Semester 1 | Hours |
| Sociology Elective | 3 |
| SOCG 5382 | 3 |
| Related Field Elective | 3 |
| Total | 9 |
| Total Hours: 9 | |
| Name | Unit |
|---|---|
| Total Semester Credit Hours: 30 |
MA Sociology-Thesis Concentration
| First Year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall - Semester 1 | Hours | Spring - Semester 2 | Hours | Summer | Hours |
| SOCG 5322 | 3 | SOCG 5321 | 3 | Sociology Elective | 3 |
| Sociology Elective | 3 | or SOCG 5341 | |||
| Sociology Elective | 3 | Research Tools Course | 3 | ||
| SOCG 5361 | 3 | ||||
| Total | 9 | Total | 9 | Total | 3 |
| Total Hours: 21 | |||||
| Second Year | |
|---|---|
| Fall - Semester 1 | Hours |
| Sociology Elective | 3 |
| Sociology Elective | 3 |
| SOCG 5362 | 3 |
| Total | 9 |
| Total Hours: 9 | |
| Name | Unit |
|---|---|
| Total Semester Credit hours: 30 |
Marketable Skills
Marketable skills, as defined by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's 60x30TX Plan, include interpersonal, cognitive, and applied skill areas, are valued by employers, and can be either primary or complementary to a major. Marketable skills are acquired by students through education, including curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities.
MA Sociology
Degree Skills
- Research project management, creating and managing work teams, gathering and evaluating data, creating and analyzing surveys, interviewing and creating oral histories, research ethics, working with research subjects, public research, public speaking, preparing presentations, analyzing and summarizing data to present reports, effective writing, examining alternate explanations from various points of view
- Reading and analyzing information from a critical perspective, evaluating theoretical frameworks, evaluating data, analyzing complex problems, applying and extending theoretical frameworks to applied problems
- Cultural sensitivity, awareness and promotion of social justice, recognizing and challenging inequities based on race/class/gender/ableism/ethnicity/religion/ageism/sexual orientation, assessing social needs, building community, and work ethic
Co-curricular and Extracurricular Skills
- Project development and management, civic engagement, public speaking, community inclusion in research, public sociology
- Adaptability, problem solving, accountability, working in teams
- Develop and implement project schedules/calendars, develop civic goals, communication with the public, visualize social justice at the community/national/international level