Sociology
Loeb Building B742
613-520-2582
613-520-4062
http://carleton.ca/socanth
- M.A. Sociology
-
M.A. Sociology with Specialization in African Studies (Specialization requirements listed under African Studies )
- Ph.D. Sociology
- Ph.D. Sociology with Specialization in Political Economy (Specialization requirements listed under Political Economy )
M.A. Sociology
About the Program
The principal focus of the graduate programs in sociology is the organization and development of contemporary societies in comparative context and with particular reference to Canadian society. The programs specialize in four fields: theory and methodology, stratification and power, cultural studies, and applied social research. See the department website for detailed descriptions of the fields and the variety of sub-fields sub-subsumed under these four areas. In addition, the Master of Arts in Sociology offers a concentration in quantitative methodology. The department strives to achieve a blend of research and formal graduate instruction in its graduate programs.
Academic Regulations
See the General Regulations section of this Calendar.
Academic Standing
A grade of B- or better must normally be obtained in each credit counted toward the master's degree. With the recommendation of the department, and permission of the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, a candidate may be allowed a grade of C+ in 1.0 credit.
Admission Requirements
The requirement for admission into the master's program is a B.A.(Honours) (or the equivalent) with at least high honours standing in sociology or a closely-related field. Where relevant, previous professional experience will be taken into account in determining an applicant's standing on admission.
Applicants with general (three-year) bachelor's degrees may be admitted into a qualifying-year program designed to raise their standing to honours status. Students earning at least high honours standing in their qualifying-year courses will be considered for admission into the master's program. Refer to the General Regulations section of this Calendar for details of the regulations governing the qualifying year.
Program Requirements
Master's students in sociology are required to select and follow one of the optional program patterns below, chosen in consultation with a graduate adviser:
Thesis Program
5.0 credits including:
| 1. 3.0 credits. Under certain circumstances one of the courses may be selected from those offered at the senior undergraduate level. | 3.0 | |
| The following courses are highly recommended, especially for students who at the time of registration have not decided on a thesis topic: | ||
SOCI 5005 [0.5] | Recurring Debates in Social Thought | |
SOCI 5809 [0.5] | The Logic of the Research Process | |
| 2. 2.0 credits in a Thesis | 2.0 | |
| 3. An oral examination on the candidate's thesis and program | ||
| Total Credits | 5.0 | |
Research Essay Program
5.0 credits including:
| 1. 4.0 credits. Under certain circumstances one of the courses may be selected from those offered at the senior undergraduate level | 4.0 | |
| The following course is highly recommended, especially for students who at the time of initial registration have not decided on a research topic: | ||
SOCI 5809 [0.5] | The Logic of the Research Process | |
| 1. 1.0 credit in a research essay. | 1.0 | |
| An oral examination on the candidate's research essay and program | ||
| Total Credits | 5.0 | |
Course Work Program
- 5.0 credits excluding SOCI 5905. Under certain circumstances one of the courses may be selected from those offered at the senior undergraduate level; and
- Written and oral comprehensive examination in the candidate's area of specialization and program.
Concentration in Quantitative Methodology
Students in either the research essay or thesis program options may pursue a concentration in quantitative methodology. For a concentration in quantitative methodology, courses selected must include the following:
| SOCI 5005 [0.5] | Recurring Debates in Social Thought | |
| SOCI 5809 [0.5] | The Logic of the Research Process | |
| At least 1.0 credit selected from: | ||
SOCI 5101 [1.0] | Research Design and Data Analysis | |
SOCI 5102 [0.5] | Statistical Methods I | |
SOCI 5103 [0.5] | Statistical Methods II | |
SOCI 5104 [0.5] | Multivariate Analysis | |
SOCI 5105 [0.5] | Selected Topics in Social Research | |
SOCI 5201 [0.5] | Comparative Methods in Social Research | |
SOCI 5605 [0.5] | Demographic Analysis | |
| At least 1.0 credit in sociology at the graduate level (not including those listed above). | ||
Students in the Concentration in Quantitative Methodology may apply for admission into a Cooperative Education option. This option provides an opportunity for students to enhance their educational experience through a work placement directly related to their area of interest and expertise. Once admitted into this option, students shall enrol in SOCI 5907. The conditions of the placement are arranged with the student's supervisor and the graduate coordinator. Grades for the cooperative education placement are assigned in consultation between the placement supervisor and the graduate coordinator. Placements can be held for up to two academic terms and count for 1.0 credit.
Transfer from Thesis to Course Work M.A.
Students who choose to change from the thesis to the course work program must normally do so before registering for a third term after initial, full-time registration, or before registering for a fifth term after initial part-time registration.
Ph.D. Sociology
About the Program
The principal focus of the graduate programs in sociology is the organization and development of contemporary societies in comparative context and with particular reference to Canadian society. The programs specialize in four fields: theory and methodology, stratification and power, cultural studies, and applied social research. See the department website for detailed descriptions of the fields and the variety of sub-fields sub-subsumed under these four areas.
The substantive focus of the Ph.D. program is the organization and development of contemporary societies, both in a comparative context and with particular reference to Canadian society.
The Ph.D. program in sociology normally will be undertaken on a full-time basis; however in exceptional cases the department will consider admission on a part-time basis.
Academic Regulations
See the General Regulations section of this Calendar.
Candidates must obtain a grade of B- or better in each credit, and Satisfactory on the comprehensive examinations, the Ph.D. thesis and its oral defence.
Admission Requirements
The minimum requirement for admission into the Ph.D. program is a master's degree (or the equivalent) in sociology, normally with a minimum average of B+ in courses (including the thesis where applicable), and with no grade below B
Applicants who have deficiencies in certain areas may be admitted to the Ph.D. program, but will normally be required to complete additional course work.
Program Requirements
Ten credits, including:
- SOCI 6000 [1.0], and a thesis equivalent to a maximum of 7.0 credits or a minimum of 5.0 credits;
- Written and oral comprehensive examinations in two areas of specialization;
- Presentation of a thesis proposal;
- Language requirements as stated below; and
- An oral defence of the thesis.
Comprehensive Examinations
Each Ph.D. candidate is required to write comprehensive examinations in two of the following areas:
- Theory and Methodology
- Stratification and Power
- Cultural Studies
- Applied Social Research
Subjects of instruction and research subsumed under these four areas are:
Theory and Methodology
- Logic of Social Scientific Inquiry
- Classical Social Theories
- Contemporary Social Theories
- Feminist Theories
- Research Methods (Historical, Qualitative, and Quantitative)
Stratification and Power
- Occupations, Organizations, and the Labour Process
- Class Analysis and Social Stratification
- Political Sociology
- Race and Ethnic Relations
- Gender Relations
- Political Economy
- Canadian Society
- Social and Economic Development
- Citizenship Studies
- Governance, Regulation, and Law
Cultural Studies
- Communication and Popular Cultures
- Ethnographic Analysis
- Discourse Analysis
- Social Anthropology
- Social and Virtual Spaces
Applied Social Research
- Criminal Justice
- Health and Illness Policy
- Population Studies
- Sociology of Language
- Built Environments
- Education Policy
Upon petition to the sociology graduate program's coordinator, an approved field in sociology or a related discipline may be substituted for one of the options above. The subjects of instruction and research subsumed under each of the areas are indicative, and may be subsumed under more than one area, depending on the analytic approach adopted.
The comprehensive examinations are to be completed after course requirements for the Ph.D. have been completed. Comprehensive examinations must be completed no later than two years or six terms after initial full-time registration, and four years or twelve terms after initial part-time registration.
The thesis proposal is to be presented after comprehensive requirements have been completed. Normally the thesis proposal must be presented no later than two and one-half years or seven terms after initial full-time registration and five years or fifteen terms after initial part-time registration.
Language Requirement
The Department of Sociology and Anthropology requires each Ph.D. candidate to demonstrate an understanding of a language other than English. Although French is the preferred second language, students may be permitted to substitute another language if it is demonstrably relevant to their professional interests. It is strongly advised, however, that all English-speaking candidates be proficient in French. The language requirements may be satisfied by a demonstration of reasonable understanding, on sight, of material contained in selected samples of sociological literature in that language. Students may find it necessary or advisable to take a course in the required language before undertaking the departmental language examination.
Sociology (SOCI) Courses
Classical Sociological Theory
Crucial sociological concepts and ideas by the founders of sociology. Attention will be given to Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Pareto, Comte, and Husserl.
Selected Topics in Classical Theory
Topic varies from year to year.
Students should check with the Department regarding the topic offered.
Contemporary Sociological Theory
Major theoretical perspectives in sociology, including social behaviourism; social action theories such as symbolic interactionism, phenomenological sociology, ethnomethodology; and structuralist theories such as structural functionalism, neo-Marxism and critical theory.
Selected Topics in Contemporary Theory
Topic varies from year to year. Students should check with the Department regarding the topic offered.
Recurring Debates in Social Thought
Recurring issues and debates in the discipline. Topics such as the nature of social science; the objective world versus social construction; questions of evidence, meaning and measurement; agency versus structure; the relation between research and praxis; knowledge and power, may be considered.
Social Change and Economic Development
Critical examination of studies of change and development in historical and contemporary national and transnational systems.
Philosophy of Social Science I
Philosophy of language and the basic elements of scientific method, such as the classification of the sciences, the concepts of value, cause and probability, induction and deduction, confirmation of hypotheses, and the concept of truth.
Research Design and Data Analysis
An integrated approach to the problems involved in the analysis of quantitative data, research design and procedures.
Statistical Methods I
A course on multiple regression analysis, with a review of basic statistical assumptions and techniques, followed by a detailed discussion of multiple regression analysis as a statistical technique.
Statistical Methods II
The focus will be advanced research methods. Topics will include distributions, sampling distributions, hypothesis testing, and non-parametric methods. There will be an introduction to multivariate techniques, including regression and loglinear models.
Multivariate Analysis
This course provides advanced instruction in methods and statistics. Consideration will be given to multiple regression, factor analysis, canonical analysis.
Selected Topics in Social Research
Topic varies from year to year. Students should check with the Department regarding the topic offered.
Comparative Social Systems
Perspectives and research procedures employed by sociologists in the systematic and explicit comparison of data from two or more societies.
Comparative Methods in Social Research
Current analytical problems and applications of comparative methods in social research. Students are expected to participate in a group research project in which one or more of these methods will be applied.
Consuming Passions: The Regulation of Consumption, Appearance and Sexuality
Examination of the rise of consumption and private pleasures and their regulation and self-regulation.
Canadian Society
A critical examination of sociological models of modern societies and their relevance to Canada.
Sociology of Occupations and Professions
A consideration of the development of occupational recruitment patterns and manpower problems in developed and developing areas.
Sociology of Formal Organizations
A consideration of the forms and processes of bureaucracy in modern society, government and industry.
Sociology of Science and Technology
Study of the interaction among science, technology and change in modern societies.
Social Institutions I
Topic varies from year to year.
Students should check with the Department regarding the topic offered.
Social Institutions II
Topic varies from year to year.
Students should check with the Department regarding the topic offered.
The Labour Process
A consideration of the organization of work and production from feudal times to the present. The purpose of the course is to analyze the labour process in advanced capitalist societies by means of the historical comparative method.
Sociology of Education
The relations between education and other social institutions, the structure of educational opportunity, educational systems and organizations, and the sociology of learning.
Police and Capital
The idea of `police' as a general historical project aimed at the fabrication of social order and the development of liberal philosophy, political economy and security. Contemporary public and private security provision considered in light of commodification, class conflict, and risk thinking.
Cultural Studies
The relations between cultural practices and other social practices in definite social formations. Discussions are grounded through the choice of specific Canadian research on topics such as media, art, music, education, pedagogy, etc.
Psychoanalysis and Cultural Studies
This course will examine the relationship between psychoanalytic and sociological theory, focussing on the work of feminist theorists.
Feminist Analyses
Current theory and research in recent feminist analysis.
Cultural Theory
A survey of developments in European and North American Marxist and Post-Marxist cultural theories of the past quarter century.
Political Sociology
An examination of theoretical and empirical work on selected aspects of the state, politics and political behaviour, primarily in North America and Europe.
The Sociology of Solidarity
The possibilities and practices of solidarity raise core questions about how we understand the social, the other and how we can live together. The course explores these questions in inter-personal, community and global contexts.
Race, Ethnicity and Class in Contemporary Societies
Various theoretical approaches concerning the persistence and re-emergence of ethnic and/or racial groups are examined. Particular emphasis is given to the intersection and overlap of ethnicity and race with social class.
Power and Stratification
An examination of theories of elite behaviour, social class, and ideology.
Citizenship and Globalization
Examination of debates about the changing nature of citizenship in the context of globalization of capital, culture and peoples. Employing post-Marshallian, political economic, post-structuralist, post-colonial and feminist perspectives, the seminar explores the emergence of market-driven, hierarchical and cosmopolitan notions of citizenship and transnational identities.
Governmentality and Politics
Examination of Foucault's concept of governmentality and work which has developed this idea, especially the relevance of governmentality for global political studies. Topics may include: sovereignty, biopolitics, technopolitics, neoliberalism and citizenship.
Also offered at the undergraduate level, with different requirements, as PSCI 4303, for which additional credit is precluded.
Feminism and Materialism
Recent developments of feminist materialist theory and analyses. Topics may include: the gender division of labour; family and economy; gender and class; gender, race and ethnicity; sexuality; reproduction; theory and politics.
The Politics of Social Movements and the State
Origins, ideologies, strategies and political implications of social and popular movements in North America and Western Europe. Attention is given to the peace, feminist, gay, ecology, and anti-racist movements, and the emergence of the New Right.
Gender Formation and State Formation
The role of states in the formation of gender relations, in the context of class and race, and the production of gender as an aspect of state formation. The various levels of the state are conceived as both a site and object of gender politics.
Selected Problems in Political Economy I
A selected topic from current research in political economy. As the topic varies from year to year, students should check with the Department regarding the current offering.
Selected Problems in Political Economy II
A selected topic from current research in political economy. As the topic varies from year to year, students should check with the Department regarding the current offering.
Critical Discourse Analysis
Examination of the relations between discourse, social semiotics, extradiscursive semiotics and social organization.
Demographic Analysis
Intensive study of analytical strategies and techniques employed in demographic research. Attention is also given to mathematical and statistical models used in demography, which are relevant to research in other areas of sociology.
Selected Topics in Sociology
Topic varies from year to year.
Students should check with the Department regarding the topic offered.
Contemporary Theories of Crime and Social Regulation
Recent developments in theories of criminality and social regulation. Particular reference will be made to the regulatory mechanisms of both public and private spheres within legal institutions, corrections, economic institutions, and the family.
Women and Work
Issues concerning women and work, such as housework, occupational segregation, part-time work, the changing economic structure of work, wage inequality, and state policies with respect to childcare, equal pay and work of equal value, and affirmative action.
Crime, Social Control and Social Change
An examination of the role of the discourses and ideologies surrounding crime, criminal processes, and social change. Topics may include such issues as juvenile justice, victimization, corporate crime, criminalization of indigenous peoples, substance use and abuse.
Departmental Seminar
Topic varies from year to year. Students should check with the Department regarding the topic offered.
Critical Theory
Recent developments in critical theory based upon its initial formulation by the Frankfurt School, with emphasis upon particular contemporary theories in a given year, e.g., J. Habermas, H. Willems, etc.
Modern Marxist Theory
An examination of topics of theory and research in modern Marxist literature; the central focus is on problems of class analysis, the state, and politics in advanced capitalist societies.
Selected Topics in Sociology
Topic varies from year to year. Students should check with the Department regarding the topic offered.
Selected Topics in Sociology
Topic varies from year to year. Students should check with the Department regarding the topic offered.
The Logic of the Research Process
An examination of the research process, including the phases of conceptualization, choice of indicators, sampling, data collection, and analysis. Published articles will be studied as exemplars of the range of possible research strategies.
Tutorial
Course Work Comprehensive in Sociology
Available for students in a course work M.A. who by the third term in their M.A. program have not yet completed their written and oral examinations. Completion of this course does not reduce the formal requirement of 5.0 credits.
Placement in Sociology
This course is required for students in the Concentration in Quantitative Methodology who have been admitted into the Cooperative Education option. This option provides an opportunity to enhance educational experience through work placement.
M.A. Research Essay
Students may enrol in this course for a maximum of three consecutive terms of study, including one summer term. Students must enrol in this course not later than the beginning of the second full year of study.
M.A. Thesis
Doctoral Seminar
An in-depth study of current research in sociology, including an inquiry into research techniques, conceptualization and attendant theoretical issues. This course is required of all first-year doctoral students in sociology.
Selected Topics in Sociology
Topic varies from year to year.
Students should check with the Department regarding the topic offered.
Tutorial
Ph.D. Thesis
Summer session: some of the courses listed in this Calendar are offered during the summer. Hours and scheduling for summer session courses will differ significantly from those reported in the fall/winter Calendar. To determine the scheduling and hours for summer session classes, consult the class schedule at central.carleton.ca
Not all courses listed are offered in a given year. For an up-to-date statement of course offerings for the current session and to determine the term of offering, consult the class schedule at central.carleton.ca