The Doctoral Program

Advanced Doctoral training during the third and fourth years of residence are structured by the student's selection of an area in which to concentrate his or her studies. During the Fall Semester of the third year, students select a Major Professor and, in consultation with the Major Professor, the remaining members of the Ph.D. Advisory Committee. A Committee may have as few as three and as many as five members. The fourth and fifth members may be appointed from other departments in the University of Georgia, provided they are members of the Graduate Faculty. Either the fourth or fifth member may be appointed from outside the University of Georgia, provided that he or she holds a Ph.D. At least three members of the Advisory Committee must be listed as members of the Specialty Area in which the student plans to take Doctoral Comprehensive Examination. All Committee members must be members of the Graduate Faculty.

The Ph.D. Advisory Committee is responsible for the following:

Plan the Doctoral Program of Study with the student
Prepare and evaluate the Doctoral Written Comprehensive Examination
Conduct and evaluate the Doctoral Oral Comprehensive Examination
Conduct and evaluate a hearing on the dissertation prospectus
Serve on the student's dissertation committee.

Designation of the Major Professor and the Doctoral Advisory Committee requires the completion of two forms: Request for Appointment of Major Professor and Designation of Specialty Area and Advisory Committee for Doctoral Candidates. Once the Advisory Committee has been appointed and approved, requests for changes require completion of two forms: Request for Change in Advisory Committee - Doctoral Degrees and a revised Advisory Committee for Doctoral Candidates. Committee changes must be approved in writing by the Graduate Coordinator in consultation with the Major Professor of record and, if necessary, by the Academic Program Committee. All current and past committee members shall be notified of such changes.

Doctoral Program of Study

The Ph.D. training program focuses primarily on defining and mastering an area of theoretical and research literature that can serve as a foundation for advanced study. The courses included on the Doctoral Program of Study should therefore form a coherent whole. Development of the Program of Study rests not just with the student, but also with his or her Major Professor, in consultation with the Ph.D. Advisory Committee.

For students admitted to the Doctoral program before Fall 1996, the Program of Study requires a minimum of 45 consecutive hours of (quarter) course work and must include:

SOC 863: Advanced Research Methods
A graduate-level Sociology methods course
One course outside the Department
No more than 5 credit hours each of the following:
a. SOC 800: Special Topics in Sociology
b. SOC 900: Doctoral Research
c. SOC 930: Doctoral Dissertation
No more than 10 credit hours outside the Department.

For students admitted to the Doctoral program Fall 1996 or later, the Program of Study requires a minimum of 30 consecutive hours of (semester) course work (note that the Graduate School requires a doctoral program of study to consist primarily of 8000- and 9000- level courses) and must include:

A graduate-level Sociology methods course
[This requirement will be waived for students who have taken a methods course as an elective while pursuing their M. A. degrees]
One course outside the Department
[As was the case for the Masters Program of Study, courses taken outside the Department and included on the Program of Study must be part of a coherent program toward the Doctoral Degree in Sociology. Courses taught by faculty members in Sociology, regardless of course prefix, are not considered courses outside the Department.]
No more than 3 credit hours each of the following:
a. SOCI 8000: Special Topics in Sociology
b. SOCI 9000: Doctoral Research
c. SOCI 9300: Doctoral Dissertation
No more than 6 credit hours outside the Department.

Third-Year Review

In compliance with Graduate School regulations, the Graduate Faculty evaluates each Doctoral student's progress at the end of the Spring Semester of their first year of study in the Doctoral program. The basis of the evaluation will be a report by the Major Professor on work completed during the first year of Doctoral work. In addition to this report, the student's dossier must include the following:

Request for Appointment of Major Professor and Designation of Specialty Area form; no student shall complete the review successfully without this form, signed by the Graduate Coordinator and Major Professor
Transcript of graduate course work
Written work completed such as papers, the Research Practicum, and Master of Arts thesis

As a result of this review, the Graduate Faculty will recommend one of the following:

Continue in the Ph.D. Program
Do not continue in the Ph.D. Program

Written and Oral Comprehensive Examinations

The Graduate School requires that all Doctoral students pass a Written and Oral Comprehensive Examination before they are admitted to candidacy for the Doctoral degree. Students planning to take the Written Comprehensive Examination must meet with their Advisory Committee, as a whole, to discuss the reading list and the examination. No student will be allowed to take the examination without having attended such a meeting. Written Comprehensive Examinations take place in the third week of the Fall and Spring semesters. Students must take the Written Comprehensive Examination no later than the Spring of their second year in residence in the doctoral program. The examination has an open book format, lasts one week, consists of 5 questions, with a 10-page maximum per question, exclusive of bibliography.

The final step before Admission to Candidacy is the Oral Comprehensive Examination, administered by the Advisory Committee. According to the Graduate School, the Oral Comprehensive Examination may include, but must not be limited to, the presentation, discussion and defense of the dissertation prospectus (Bulletin, p. 64). It is an inclusive examination within the student's field of study and it must be held within one month of the grading of the written examination. The Graduate School requires notification of the Oral Comprehensive Examination two weeks before it is to be held. All members of the Advisory Committee must be physically present for the entire period of this Examination. Once the Oral Comprehensive Examination has been passed, the student will be admitted to candidacy for the Doctoral degree. Admission to candidacy expires in 5 years. If the dissertation is not completed within 5 years, the student must pass another set of Written and Oral Comprehensive Examinations and be readmitted to candidacy. The student may also request an extension of the 5-year time limit from the Dean of the Graduate School. Such a request requires the endorsement of the student's major professor and the Graduate Coordinator.

Policies for Doctoral Comprehensive Examination

All faculty members in each of the four areas shall develop an Area Reading List, which shall consist of the essential readings in the area and shall be revised annually.
Current copies of Area Reading List shall be on file in the Graduate Coordinator's Office, and available to all students entering the program.
The written exam shall consist of five graded questions based on the Area Reading List, prepared by the student's Advisory Committee. Questions are selected by the student from eight questions submitted by the student's Advisory Committee. The writing and assignment of grading of questions is to be distributed approximately equally across committee members.
Written comprehensive examinations shall be given twice annually: on the third Wednesday of Fall and Spring Semesters.
For the written exam, all answers, including footnotes, must be double spaced, typed in 12 point font, have one inch margins, and not exceed 10 pages.
Students must take the Written Comprehensive Examination no later than the Spring of their second year in residence in the doctoral program
Exams shall be graded within one week after administration, with readers grading each question Pass/Fail. To pass the written portion of the exam, a student must receive a Pass on four out of the five questions. A student who receives a Pass on three or fewer questions must retake the exam at a later date.
If two readers disagree on the grading of a question, a third reader will grade the question. The third reader's grade will be the final grade for that question.
Readers will write brief comments for each question that they grade. They will forward their comments to the major professor who will collate the comments and prepare a brief report for the student. The report lists the grades obtained and the comments on each question. The major professor will give a copy of the report to the student, the other committee members, and the Graduate Coordinator.
Normally only one retake of the Comprehensive Examination is allowed. An appeal for a second retake must be made to the Graduate Faculty as a whole. A third retake is not permitted.
The Oral Comprehensive Examination shall be held within one month of the grading of the Written Comprehensive Examination. In conformity with graduate school policy, a defense of the student's dissertation proposal may precede or follow this examination, but may not take the place of the Oral Comprehensive Examination.
This policy shall apply to students admitted to the Doctoral Program after April 30, 2003. All students admitted to the Doctoral Program on or before April 30, 2003 may operate under the old policy or may select the new policy.
Updated Area Reading Lists are due in the Graduate Coordinator's Office each Spring Semester.

Dissertation Prospectus

After completing the Doctoral Comprehensive Examinations, the student prepares a preliminary prospectus for a dissertation. This prospectus will be reviewed by the major professor and revised by the student until it provides a clear picture of the proposed dissertation, including reviews of relevant theoretical, substantive, and methodological issues raised by the proposed research project and an outline of how the proposed research would proceed. The dissertation prospectus is then distributed to members of the Advisory Committee. While there can be no guarantee that a dissertation research effort will develop exactly along the lines proposed, the dissertation prospectus offers the student and faculty advisors an opportunity to work together to identify important issues and to agree on an approach to address those issues.

The Graduate School requires that the dissertation prospectus be approved in a formal meeting of the Advisory Committee and the student (Bulletin, p. 65). The members of the Advisory Committee must sign the Dissertation Prospectus Approval form, available from the Degree Program Assistant. That form, along with a copy of the approved prospectus, must be submitted to the Graduate Coordinator and retained in the student's file.

The Dissertation Defense

The dissertation project is the culmination of the student's graduate program. The dissertation constitutes an original and independent research project undertaken by the student with the advice of the Major Professor and Advisory Committee. The topic for the dissertation will usually fall within one of the Department's specialty areas. It is expected that the dissertation will advance knowledge in the field by addressing a new issue or by clarifying or successfully reinterpreting an existing sociological problem. All methods of research employed in sociology, including experimental, historical, survey, qualitative, and theoretical methods are considered potentially viable for purposes of the dissertation project.

The final step in the graduate training program in Sociology is the Oral Defense of the dissertation before the Advisory Committee. To ensure that the student benefits from the knowledge and experience of all members of the Advisory Committee, the candidate should submit a draft of the dissertation to each member and allow a reasonable time (2 or 3 weeks) for him or her to evaluate the dissertation and suggest changes. Although the Graduate School
requires written approval by the committee with no more than one dissenting vote, all members of the Advisory Committee be physically present for the entire defense (Bulletin, p. 64).

Students with Previous Graduate Study

Students who are admitted to the Ph.D. Program with a Master's degree from any other institution must meet the course requirements listed for Master's students listed earlier.