Sociology, MS

Admission requirements

Before being admitted to a master’s program in the Department of Sociology, the applicant must meet the requirements for admission to the Toulouse Graduate School specified in the Admission section of this catalog. Applying is a two-part process. First, prospective applicants for a master’s program must obtain and file an application for admission to the UNT Toulouse Graduate School. Second, applicants for a master’s degree must also obtain and file a separate application for admission to the Department of Sociology. (See the department’s web page for details.)
For unconditional admission to the master’s program, the applicant must have completed a minimum of 18 hours of sociology; have a grade point average of 3.0 on the last 60 hours of courses for the bachelor’s degree and a GPA of 3.0 on all sociology courses.
The applicant who does not meet some of these requirements may be considered for conditional admission provided substantial alternative evidence of ability to do graduate work is submitted to the program’s graduate admissions committee. For conditional admission, the applicant must have a grade point average of 2.8 on the last 60 hours of courses for the bachelor’s degree (or a GPA of 2.8 on all undergraduate work); and a GPA of 2.8 on all sociology courses. Additional course work may be required when the applicant has fewer than the 18 hours of sociology (or their equivalent) required for unconditional admission. The committee may also request additional evidence of the applicant’s ability to do graduate work.
The graduate admissions committee of the program is responsible for recommending acceptance or denial of applicants to graduate programs in sociology. Applicants are expected to submit all pertinent materials well in advance of the anticipated date of entering the Graduate School.

Requirements

Master’s candidates in sociology are required to take the following courses or their equivalents.

Advisory committee

Students must establish an advisory committee and prepare a degree plan approved by the committee. The candidate’s committee is composed of three faculty members with at least two from sociology, one of whom serves as the major professor, and one faculty member from the minor department, which can be sociology. The major and minor professors are appointed before the student prepares the degree plan and the third member is added before the thesis prospectus defense or comprehensive examination. The degree plan and major and minor professors must be approved by the dean of the Toulouse Graduate School upon recommendation of the student, department chair and graduate advisor.

Thesis option

Of the required minimum of 30 graduate hours for the master’s degree, 24 hours must be graduate sociology courses, including a 6-hour thesis.
A minor of 6 graduate hours in a related field must be approved by the chair of the sociology department and the student’s major professor.
Candidates for the Master of Arts degree must present evidence of a reading knowledge of at least one foreign language. (This is not a requirement for candidates for the Master of Science degree.)
Successful completion of a thesis and satisfactory performance on the comprehensive examination complete the requirements for the master’s degree. The comprehensive exam is principally the candidate’s oral defense of his or her thesis but may include related questions on theories, research methods and social statistics used in the discipline. Candidates are eligible to complete the exam after they have established an advisory/thesis committee, had their degree plan approved and completed 21 semester hours of graduate credit toward the degree. The examining board consists of the candidate’s three-member advisory/thesis committee.

Non-thesis option

Of the required minimum of 30 hours for the master’s degree, 24 hours must be graduate work in sociology.
A minor of 6 graduate hours may be taken in courses outside of sociology with consent of the department chair and the student’s major professor.
A total of 3 graduate hours may be earned in SOCI 5940 - Sociology Internship .
Satisfactory performance on the comprehensive examination completes the requirements for the non-thesis master’s degree. The comprehensive examination, as determined by the candidate’s advisory committee, may be written or oral. The oral exams normally last one and one-half hours and the written exam length varies by format. If the candidate answers the questions without access to books, journals or other written material, the exam usually lasts four hours. If a take home exam, the student is usually allowed two weeks to complete the exam. Principally, the exams cover, but are not limited to, content from completed course work with an emphasis upon theories, research methods and social statistics used in the discipline. Candidates are eligible to complete the exam(s) after they have established an advisory committee, have an approved degree plan and have completed 21 semester hours of graduate credit toward the degree. The examining board consists of the candidate’s three-member advisory committee.