Ohio University
Graduate Catalog
Sociology
The M.A. program in sociology offers preparation for advanced graduate training, teaching, and employment in various government and private agencies.
The department has a policy document, available upon request, that describes the organization of the M.A. program. Briefly, you consult with a faculty committee to design your program, which involves selecting courses and choosing between thesis and nonthesis options. A minimum of 50 hours of graduate coursework is required for the degree plus examinations, a major paper, or a thesis. While the bulk of the coursework must be done in sociology, you also may take a limited number of courses in related fields such as public administration, computer science, philosophy, and history. The program is flexible and is designed to provide students with a fundamental grounding in theory and methods while allowing them to pursue specialized interests. The department has particular strengths in criminology, the study of deviance, gender studies, and social psychology. Upon request, a list of faculty members and their interests will be provided by the department. You should allow for four to six quarters of study.
Although the department does not adhere rigidly to undergraduate prerequisites, you should have completed a minimum of 20 hours in sociology including a course in statistics. To apply to the program, you should have an overall grade-point average (g.p.a.) of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) and at least a 3.0 g.p.a. in undergraduate courses in sociology. You must submit to the Office of Graduate Student Services an application for admission and transcripts of all academic work; you must submit to the Department of Sociology a written statement of the area or areas of the discipline in which you are interested and why you want to study sociology, and letters of reference from three persons qualified to evaluate your capacity for graduate study in sociology. In addition, international students whose native language is not English must submit the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores.
Applications for admission will be accepted until one month prior to the beginning of a quarter (three months in the case of applications from abroad). Applications for financial awards ordinarily must be completed by March 15.
A limited number of graduate associateships and tuition scholarships are available. For information, write to the chair of the Sociology Graduate Committee.
Faculty
Sociology (SOC) Courses
503 Development of Sociological Thought (5) Major sociological concerns and concepts in their social-historical setting. Emphasis on 18th and 19th centuries.
504 Modern Sociological Theory (5) Major sociological conceptual frameworks in 20th century.
505 Readings in Sociology (1-5, max 15) Independent directed readings designed to expand understanding in selected areas of interest not covered in regular course offerings. Not for preparation for comprehensive exams, final paper(s), or thesis.
508 Latin American Society (5) Intensive study of Latin American society from a sociological perspective. Emphasis on contemporary Latin American values, population problems, human-land relations, levels and standards of living, social institutions, urbanization, and social change.
512 Public Opinion Processes (5) Attitudes and opinions in relation to formation of public opinion; political socialization and participation; social status, reference groups, decision making; role of mass media.
513 Mass Communication (5) Personal and social functions of content in newspapers, radio, television, and films. Types of audiences and communication effects. Organization and control of mass media and problems in evaluation.
514 Contemporary Social Movements (5) Organized movements resulting in major social changes; revolutionary, nationalistic, reform, religious. Agitation, leadership, ideology. Case studies of typical movements.
516 Society and the Individual (5) Exploration of compatibilities and contradictions in psychological systems, culture, and social structure.
518 Third-World Development (5) Prereq: 2 courses in social sciences. Focusing on various, often contrasting, approaches to national development, discusses ways in which basic needs such as agriculture/rural development, education, housing, health, and urbanization are met, and discusses these approaches within context of ethical values. Countries discussed may include China, Brazil, Cuba, Nicaragua, Tanzania, South Korea, Taiwan, and Bangladesh.
519 Small Groups (5) Small group as unit of social systems; communication patterns, role definition, leadership, cohesion, etc.; review of current literature.
522 The American Family System (5) Evolution of American family from colonial to present time. Analysis of structural and functional trends in light of theory and research.
524 Urban Sociology (5) Historical development and recent emergence of city as dominant feature of modern social life. Demographic and ecological patterns and social organization of urban region.
525 Sociology of Food Production (5) Examination of structural characteristics of agricultural sector of American society. Historical developments and current trends in demography as they relate to industrialization of agriculture, and examination of responses to these trends.
526 Industrial Sociology (5) Various techniques used by management in U.S. to control employees, employee resistance and alienation, and proposals for changing present work arrangements. Examination of work relations and organization in Scandinavia, W. Germany, Yugoslavia, and Japan.
528 Sociology of Religion (5) Interrelationship between religious institutions and social structure from comparative perspective but with particular reference to American society.
529 Sociology of Race, Ethnicity, and Class (5) This course is designed with a concern for understanding racism and classism at the macro level of analysis. An interpretation of social forces affecting race and ethnicity as determinants of social class will be covered. The course will foster an understanding of racial and ethnic diversity.
530 Sociology of Organization (5) Concentrates on structure and process of formal organizations. Modern society dominated by giant bureaucracies studied in detail. Various sociological perspectives for viewing organizations considered and evaluated. Impact of organizations on individuals discussed and problems of living in society dominated by organizations treated in depth.
531 Social Stratification (5) Social and economic classes, castes, and other social strata; their origin, changes, and correlates in other spheres of society.
532 Political Sociology (5) Analysis of social, economic, and political sources of corporate domination of state, opposition to such domination, and strategies for reducing it.
533 Sociology of Occupations and Professions (5) Professionalism as characteristic of modern economic and industrial complexes; popular conception and modern theory; social and technological preconditions; occupation-profession continuum; components, barriers, and strategy; mock-professionalism; motivation and satisfaction; controls; professionalism in particular professions.
534 Sociology of Aging (5) General introduction to social gerontology with emphasis upon normal aspects of aging. Major emphasis upon sociological dimensions of aging in context of such areas as socio-demographics of aging populations, values, roles, norms, self-concept, age stratification, aging patterns of minority groups, and application of current sociological theories of aging. Includes brief examination of social policy from sociological point of view.
535 Sociology of the Welfare State (5) How proponents of sociological perspectives deal with the emergence, organization, growth, and contemporary issues of the U.S. social welfare systems. Some attention will also be paid to the social welfare systems of Sweden and other European countries.
550 Social Statistics (5) Principles and procedures in treatment and presentation of quantitative social data.
553 Research Problems in Sociology (1-5, max 15) Individual research in specific problem areas in which student has demonstrated ability and interest. Not for preparation for comprehensive exams, final paper(s), or thesis.
564 Social Control (5) Prereq: 530 or 531. Nature of institutional control and sociocultural constraint as they affect human behavior. Theories and research.
565 Social Change (5) Prereq: 12 hrs. Dynamics and processes by which social change takes place, major theories of change, industrialization and modernization, planned change, social impact of change.
566 Penology (5) History, practices, and purposes of punishment using organizational, criminological, and sociological perspectives. Effectiveness of rehabilitation programs explored. Alternatives to incarceration examined.
567 Violence Against Women (5) Examines related forms of violence where women are the predominant victims: forcible rape, marital rape, incest, spousal assault, date rape and assault, and sexual harassment. Role of pornography examined. Emphasis on current theoretical and empirical findings and developments.
568 Community Based Corrections (5) Examination of the historical development and use of sentencing options other than incarceration. The focus is on community-based programs such as home confinement, halfway houses, and restitution.
570 Sex Roles and Inequality (5) Prereq: 8 hrs sociology. Examination of social influences that affect lives and opportunities of females and males in society, how these social influences interact to foster gender inequalities, and changes that are occurring.
590 Special Studies (1-5, max 10) Studies of special topics in basic sociological perspectives, theory, and methods.
600 Graduate Seminar (4-6) Critical examination of selected topic.
601 Graduate Seminar (4-6) Critical examination of selected topic.
602 Graduate Seminar (4-6) Critical examination of selected topic.
603 Seminar in Social Disorganization (4-6) Critical examination of topics in area of social disorganization.
604 Graduate Seminar (4-6) Critical examination of selected topic.
605 Graduate Seminar (4-6) Critical examination of selected topic.
606 Graduate Seminar (4-6) Critical examination of selected topic.
607 Graduate Seminar (4-6) Critical examination of selected topic.
608 Graduate Seminar (4-6) Critical examination of selected topic.
609 Graduate Seminar (4-6) Critical examination of selected topic.
610 Graduate Seminar (4-6) Critical examination of selected topic.
611 Graduate Seminar (4-6) Critical examination of selected topic.
612 Graduate Seminar (4-6) Critical examination of selected topic.
613 Graduate Seminar (4-6) Critical examination of selected topic.
614 Graduate Seminar (4-6) Critical examination of selected topic.
654 Social Research Methods (5) Analysis of process of sociological research in terms of problem definition, research, design, data sources, and methods of data analysis.
690 Independent Study (1-5, max 10) For graduate students in good standing who wish to undertake independent study toward M.A. degree under guidance of faculty member.
695 Thesis (1-10, max 10)
Return to 1995-1997 Graduate Catalog Table of Contents
University Publications and the Computer Services Center revised this file ( https://www.ohio.edu/~gcat/95-97/areas/sociology.html
) April 13, 1998.
Please e-mail comments or suggestions to " gcat@www.cats.ohiou.edu ."