Brigham Young University – College of Family, Home and Social Sciences

1. Brigham Young University – College of Family, Home and Social Sciences Library JFSB - Sociology Dept.

2. BYU Sociology Graduate Program: Master of Science Degree Graduate Coordinator: Carol Ward

3. Sociology Program Purpose • Our objective is to ensure that graduates: • Know the research methods, computing skills, and advanced statistical and qualitative analytic techniques for social science research. • Have an in-depth understanding of the principal theories of sociology and how these theories may be used to elucidate key issues and frame research. • Have an in-depth understanding of the current state of sociological research/theories on at least one substantive topic (e.g., crime and delinquency, family, gender, community, race and ethnicity, education, migration, organizations, religion, etc.).

4. Prerequisites • Bachelor’s Degree in sociology (or related field) • Soc 111: Introduction to Sociology • Soc 300: Methods of Research in Sociology • Soc 306/Stat 221: Basic Statistics • SOC 307 will be required for the graduate program starting Fall 2011 • Soc 310: Classical Social Theory • Soc 311: Contemporary Social Theory

5. Admission • Deadline: February 1st • Application includes: • Official transcript(s) • 3 Letters of Recommendation • Statement of Intent • Honor Code commitment • Earned 3.0 GPA in last 60 semester hours • Submit GRE scores • Submit an Academic Writing Sample About 10 students are admitted each year.

6. How Many Credits? • Credit Hours: 35 • 29 course hours • 14 required hours • 15 elective hours • 6 thesis hours • Soc 699R • 2 hours must be taken during the semester that you defend your thesis • Required Courses • 598R: Pro-Seminar (1+1) • 600: Advanced Research Methods (3) • 604: Ethnographic Techniques (3) • 605: Regression & Computer Analysis (3) • 610: Seminar in Classical Social Theory (3) Time-frame: 2 years (3 maximum)

7. Departmental Funding: Assistantships • Research Assistant • Interviewing, coding, data analysis, organization, scanning, transcribing, etc. • Work on projects, e.g., Transracial Adoption Study, Neighborhood revitalization study, Provo After- school program evaluation, etc. • Teaching Assistant • Grade papers, help students, hold review sessions, etc. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Marie Cornwall

8. Additional Examples of Faculty Research Projects • Real Victory • Evaluating a program to help offenders succeed at probation and parole • Utah County Immigration Project • Examining various processes of integration experienced by immigrants and their children in Utah County (including policies and responses to them) See sociology.byu.edu/research.dhtml for more information on these and other projects.

9. Master of Science Thesis • Select faculty advisor & graduate committee • Thesis Prospectus • Present to your committee; if approved, proceed with your thesis • Thesis Defense • After you finish writing your thesis, your committee will decide if it’s ready for an Oral Defense. At the defense, your committee questions you and then votes on the acceptance of your thesis.

10. Thesis Examples • Jaylyn Hawks • An Examination of Eating Styles and Body Dissatisfaction among Urban Filipino Women • Paul Harris • State Wide Social Institutions and Their Effect on the Disparity in the Incarceration Rates of Blacks and Whites

11. Thesis Examples • Raechel Lizon • The Influence of Involvement in Extracurricular Activities on Perceived Popularity • Kristine Carter Manwaring • Parental Beliefs and Practices related to Children, Chores, and Money

12. sociology.byu.edu

13. sociology.byu.edu/graduate.dhtml

14. BYU Sociology Faculty: Interests • Howard Bahr: social theory, family theory, race and ethnicity, sociology of religion, urban change and social problems • Stephen Bahr: family and the law, divorce and remarriage, adolescent drug use, Greek and American society, crime and deviance, family violence • Ralph Brown: subsistence activities and natural resource dependency in industrialized societies, their efforts on persistent rural poverty, the meaning of community to rural residents in mass consumer oriented societies • Bert Burraston: quantitative and longitudinal methods, family, social psychology, adolescent development, crime and deviance, education • Vaughn Call: family in the life course, research methods and statistics, sociology of aging, sociology of education • Marie Cornwall: social change, gender, family, social movements, complex organizations, religion • Mikaela Dufur: inequality in work and labor market processes, effects of linkages between families and other institutions on child outcomes, sociology of education, sociology of sport • Lance Erickson: the life course, transition to adulthood, family, research methods, quantitative methods

15. BYU Sociology Faculty: Interests • Renata Forste: demography (fertility, infant and child health), family formation (fathering, cohabitation), statistics • Todd Goodsell: family and community ethnography • Tim Heaton: family change in less-developed countries, marriage and divorce, demographics of the LDS population • John Hoffmann: adolescent behavior, sociology of religion, criminology • Kimberlee Holland: women and politics (Congress), health and society (obesity), religion and politics • Cardell Jacobson: social psychology (especially attitude change), race and ethnic relations, sociology of religion • Stan Knapp: social theory, family theory, philosophy of social science, sociology of emotions, social organization of claims of knowledge/expertise, family and social change • Charlie Morgan: race and ethnic relations, immigration, mixed methods, multiracial identities, intermarriage, Japanese society • Kristie Phillips: school choice, neighborhood effects on educational outcomes, education policy, teacher quality • Carol Ward: race and ethnic relations, social change and development, gender, education, rural and community studies, poverty