Sociology PhD < Temple University

Learn more about the Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology.

About the Program

The graduate program in Sociology is devoted to the training of research scholars and educators in the discipline. Students have a variety of career goals, ranging from academic research and teaching to research and administration in private or public agencies. The doctoral program provides advanced training in sociological theory, statistics and research methods. The program's main areas of graduate teaching and research are Gender and Sexuality, Immigration and Globalization, Medical Sociology, Race and Ethnicity, and Urban Sociology.

Time Limit for Degree Completion: 7 years

Campus Location: Main

Full-Time/Part-Time Status: Full-time study is preferred, but part-time enrollment can be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Interdisciplinary Study: The program encourages students to participate in seminars in other social sciences, including Anthropology, Criminal Justice, Geography and Urban Studies, History, Political Science, Psychology, Urban Education, and Women’s Studies. A dual degree program is also currently offered:

PhD in Sociology/MA in Urban Bioethics with the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University

Affiliation(s): The program is affiliated with the American Sociological Association (ASA).

Areas of Specialization: The main areas of graduate teaching and research are:

Gender and Sexuality
Immigration and Globalization
Medical Sociology
Race and Ethnicity
Urban Sociology

Job Prospects: Graduates of the PhD program are typically employed as either teaching-research scholars in an academic setting or as applied researchers and administrators in private and public agencies.

Non-Matriculated Student Policy: Students with a bachelor's degree may take graduate courses in Sociology without enrolling in a Temple University graduate program. A limit of 9 credits of graduate coursework taken prior to admission will be accepted toward a Sociology degree. Non-matriculated students should consult with the Graduate Chair before selecting their coursework if they plan to apply for the degree program.

Financing Opportunities: The Sociology Department and Temple University support full-time students during the academic year through Teaching Assistantships, part-time teaching and University Fellowships. Initial funding is contingent on the recommendation of the Admissions Committee. Continued funding is based on faculty assessment at the annual graduate student review. Funded students are typically offered a five-year funding package. Additional support for dissertation research is available through fellowships competitively awarded by the university and from outside sources.

Admission Requirements and Deadlines

Application Deadline:

Fall: December 15

Applications are evaluated together after the deadline has passed.

APPLY ONLINE to this graduate program.

Letters of Reference:
Number Required: 3

From Whom: Letters of recommendation should be obtained from college/university faculty members familiar with academic competence, wherever possible.

Master's Degree in Discipline/Related Discipline: A master's degree is not required.

Bachelor's Degree in Discipline/Related Discipline: A baccalaureate degree in Sociology, Criminal Justice, Economics, History, Political Science, Psychology, or Urban Studies is required, although a degree in other disciplines can be considered.

Statement of Goals: In approximately 500 to 1,000 words, share your interest in Temple's program, research goals, future career goals, and academic and research achievements.

Standardized Test Scores:
GRE: Required.

Applicants who earned their baccalaureate degree from an institution where the language of instruction was other than English, with the exception of those who subsequently earned a master’s degree at a U.S. institution, must report scores for a standardized test of English that meet these minimums:

TOEFL iBT: 100
IELTS Academic: 7.0
PTE Academic: 68

Resume: Current personal resume or curriculum vitae required.

Writing Sample: The writing sample should demonstrate your ability to conduct research and write a scholarly paper. The paper should be on a sociological topic. It must be fully referenced according to a professional and scholarly style.

Transfer Credit: Graduate coursework in Sociology may be transferred from outside the university, provided that the credits were obtained no more than five years prior to the student's matriculation at Temple and the grades are "B" or better. The maximum number of credits a student may transfer is 12, if the credits earned did not result in the completion of an MA degree.

Advanced Standing: For students entering the PhD program who have received an MA degree elsewhere, up to 19 credits may be applied to the doctoral program, provided the courses are relevant to the department's required courses. These credits must have been obtained no more than five years prior to the student's matriculation at Temple and the grades must be "B" or better. The Graduate Chair decides which courses students may transfer. As a general rule, students with transferred credits should expect that they will have to complete much of the required coursework in residence and are, further, expected to take two courses from Temple faculty in their area of focus before taking the PhD Preliminary Exam in their field.

Program Requirements

General Program Requirements:
Number of Credits Required to Earn the Degree: 52

Required Courses:

Course List
Code	Title	Credit Hours
Social Theory Courses
SOC 8111	Classical Social Theory	3
SOC 9111	Contemporary Sociological Theory	3
Methods of Inquiry Courses
SOC 8011	Logic of Inquiry	3
SOC 8211	Inferential and Multivariate Statistics	4
SOC 8221	Qualitative Methods	3
SOC 9211	Graduate Data Analysis	3
SOC 9241	Qualitative Data Analysis	3
Electives ¹		21
Second-Year Milestone Courses ²
SOC 8873	Writing for the Social Sciences	3
SOC 8883	Second-Year Research	0
Research Courses
SOC 9994	Preliminary Examination Preparation	1
SOC 9998	Pre-Dissertation Research ³	3
SOC 9999	Dissertation Research	2
Total Credit Hours		52

¹: Of the seven elective courses, two must relate to the preliminary examination. Other electives may include: (1) SOC 9382 Independent Study Program: With the consent of the Graduate Chair and the instructor(s), students may take two Independent Study courses, which are intensive programs of study within a specific area of Sociology. Students who wish to take these courses must submit to the Graduate Chair at the beginning of the term a "Department Independent Study Request" form describing the readings and/or research they propose to undertake. The form must be signed by both the participating faculty member and the Graduate Chair. A final statement on the work completed must be filed with the Graduate Chair at the end of the term. Letter grades are given for these courses. (2) Outside courses: With the approval of the Graduate Chair, students may take two courses outside of the Sociology Department. (3) SOC 9385 Internship in Social Research: With the consent of the Graduate Chair, students may undertake an internship for course credit, provided the internship unites the core concepts of sociology with professional organizational settings and the community as a whole. Students who wish to complete an internship must submit to the Graduate Chair at the beginning of the term an "Internship Request Form” describing the duties, frequency of service and major outcomes. The form must be signed by both the supervisor of the internship and the Graduate Chair. Students are permitted to take up to two internship courses.
²: SOC 8873 and SOC 8883 are taken concurrently.
³: In lieu of SOC 9998, an additional credit may be taken in either SOC 9994 or SOC 9999.

Culminating Events:
Pre-Candidacy Evaluation:
The Sociology Department evaluates doctoral students at the end of their second year based on two criteria:

First, full-time doctoral students are expected to complete a Second Year Paper, which is due at the end of the Spring term of their second year. Part-time students are allowed to complete the paper within a year after finishing their required Social Theory and Methods of Inquiry courses. All students are responsible for recruiting two committee members to review and grade the paper, which is due the last day of classes in the Spring term. Students may work with their committee throughout the semester to ensure the paper aligns with expectations. Papers can be a journal-quality literature review, a journal-quality theory piece, a journal-quality empirical investigation, a grant proposal or a research report akin to those put out by research organizations. Students then present their paper to the department. Their committee evaluates the paper based on the student's demonstrated ability to synthesize the relevant literature, conceptualize a research problem, and/or carry out a feasible research design. Both committee members must pass the paper. Any student who does not write a passing paper that term must do so the following semester. Those who are unsuccessful on the second attempt are dismissed from the program.
Second, students must earn a GPA of 3.4 or higher to continue in the doctoral program. However, a student may petition the Graduate Committee for re-consideration. After a petition is submitted, the Graduate Chair requires a written evaluation from each faculty member in the department with whom the student has taken a course. The student is permitted to continue in the PhD program if at least five faculty members write in support of the petition. Those not allowed to continue can graduate with an MA upon completion of its degree requirements.

Preliminary Examination:
After completing the required coursework, doctoral students are expected to take a preliminary examination in the form of a written area exam in the Spring term of their third year. Prior to taking the preliminary examination, students must complete two or more graduate-level courses related to that examination area offered by the faculty within the department. When doctoral students complete the required coursework, they must then take the preliminary examination in one of the broad examination areas identified by the Sociology Department as consistent with its mission and self-defined areas of strength: Gender and Sexuality, Immigration and Globalization, Medical Sociology, Race and Ethnicity, and Urban Sociology. However, students may request to take the exam in another area under the following conditions:

the student has taken at least two graduate-level courses in the Sociology Department in the requested area, one of which may be an independent study course;
three faculty members are willing to sponsor the exam; and
the Graduate Chair approves.

No later than the second Monday in August prior to the Spring term when the preliminary examination will be taken, students must fill out the "Department Preliminary Examination Application" form and indicate the selected area for the exam. The Department Chair appoints three faculty members to form area-specific prelim committees charged with grading the exams.

The written area examination consists of four questions, and students must select and answer two of those questions. Students are given one week to complete the preliminary exam. Students receive the questions on an announced Monday in March or April, and the answers are due a week later. The Prelim Committee members assign a grade of “Pass” or “Fail” to each question along with their comments. A student needs at least two passes on both questions to pass the exam.

Based on the written area exam grade, the Graduate Chair assigns an overall “Pass” or “Fail” to each student for the preliminary examination. Any student who fails the written area exam may retake the exam. At the beginning of the following Fall term, three faculty members in the prelim area are appointed by the Department Chair to form a Prelim Committee. The committee submits four questions to the Graduate Chair by an announced date in October. The student receives the questions the Monday of the week before Thanksgiving week, and the exam is due on the Monday of Thanksgiving week.

Doctoral Advisory Committee:
Following the preliminary examination, the student selects the Chair of their Doctoral Advisory Committee. The remaining two or more members of the committee are selected by the student in consultation with the Chair. The majority of the committee members must be from the Sociology Department. Other members may include faculty from other departments within Temple University or from other universities. Doctoral-level expert advisors from outside university settings may also be considered as members.

To establish the Doctoral Advisory Committee, the student must submit a "Sociology Department Doctoral Advisory Committee" form to the department's Graduate Coordinator. To include committee members who are not members of the Temple Graduate Faculty on a Doctoral Advisory Committee, the Chair must request approval by submitting the "Nomination for Service on Doctoral Committee" form, found in TUportal under the Tools tab within "University Forms," and the proposed committee member’s current curriculum vitae to the Graduate School. If a change is made in the composition of the Doctoral Advisory Committee, the change must be approved by the Chair of the committee. If the change involves the Chair of the committee, the Graduate Chair should be informed beforehand and the original Chair of the committee must be notified. The change must also be noted on the original "Sociology Department Doctoral Advisory Committee" form and signed by both the Chair of the committee and the Graduate Chair.

The Doctoral Advisory Committee meets at least once a year to review the candidate's progress and offer advice to the candidate.

Dissertation Proposal:
The dissertation proposal is a brief statement of the dissertation research. It should contain a review of the literature, a statement of the research problem, and a comprehensive description of the research strategy to be employed.

A digital copy of the proposal is made available to faculty at least two weeks prior to the oral defense of the proposal. All department faculty and graduate students are invited to attend the presentation of the dissertation proposal. Normally, proposal defenses are held during the academic year. All members of the committee must be present at the proposal defense.

The dissertation proposal is accepted only when members of the dissertation committee vote unanimously to accept it. An approved dissertation proposal along with the "Dissertation Proposal Transmittal for Elevation to Candidacy" form, found in TUportal under the Tools tab within "University Forms," must be filed with the Graduate School. After defending the dissertation proposal, a student is formally advanced to PhD candidacy.

If a change is made in the composition of the Doctoral Advisory Committee after the approval of the proposal, the change must be approved by the Chair of the committee and the Dean of the College. The change must be noted on the "Request for Change in Dissertation Committee" form, found in TUportal under the Tools tab within "University Forms," and filed with the Graduate School prior to posting the final dissertation defense.

Dissertation Defense/PhD Final Examination:
The dissertation is defended orally. Any discrepancy between the final version of the dissertation and the dissertation proposal should be explained and defended. A digital copy of the dissertation is made available to faculty at least two weeks before the dissertation defense. An abstract of the dissertation, not exceeding ten pages, must be given to all faculty members ten days before the defense.

The Dissertation Examining Committee is formed to evaluate the quality of the dissertation and conduct the oral defense. The committee includes the Doctoral Advisory Committee and at least one outside examiner. If the outside examiner is not a member of the Temple Graduate Faculty, the Chair of the Doctoral Advisory Committee must request approval by submitting the "Nomination for Service on Doctoral Committee" form, found in TUportal under the Tools tab within "University Forms," and the outside examiner’s current curriculum vitae to the Graduate School at least four weeks in advance of the scheduled defense. Approval must be received prior to posting the oral defense. The Chair of the Dissertation Examining Committee must be a member of the Graduate Faculty, but may not be the Chair of the candidate’s Doctoral Advisory Committee. This person, responsible for coordinating and conducting the defense, must be identified when the defense is posted with the Graduate School on the "Announcement of Dissertation Defense" form, found in TUportal under the Tools tab within "University Forms."

All dissertation oral defense examinations are publicly announced by the Sociology Department in writing at least ten days in advance of the examination. The written announcement must be sent to all members of the Dissertation Examining Committee, all graduate faculty in the candidate's department, and the Graduate School. It must also be posted in the College. All dissertation examinations are open to the entire academic community.

Normally, the dissertation defense is held during the regular academic year. A dissertation defense passed after the Graduate School deadline in the Spring does not qualify the student for a May degree. A summer defense may be scheduled only if all members of the committee agree. The entire dissertation committee must attend the defense. If one or more committee members fail to attend the defense, the Departmental Chair cannot sign the form certifying the defense. All faculty members and students are invited to participate in the dissertation defense.

The dissertation committee must vote unanimously that the student has passed the PhD Final Examination. Each member of the dissertation committee indicates their assessment of the examination and signs their name to the "Final Examination Report for Doctoral Candidates" form, found in TUportal under the Tools tab within "University Forms." If the Chair of the Sociology Department agrees that the dissertation meets departmental standards, the Chair signifies approval by signing for the department as well on the "Final Examination Report for Doctoral Candidates" form. The completed form is submitted to the Dean's Office of the College of Liberal Arts.

Information regarding the required format of the dissertation is available in the Graduate School's Dissertation and Thesis Handbook, found at https://grad.temple.edu/resources/dissertation-thesis-handbook. Fees may be required when filing the dissertation electronically, within 30 days of the dissertation defense, at https://www.etdadmin.com/cgi-bin/school?siteId=171. The student should heed the instructions found on the "Final Checklist of Dissertation Materials," identified as an appendix in the Graduate School's Dissertation and Thesis Handbook. Note that the signature page bearing original ink signatures constitutes the only item required to be submitted in hard copy to the Graduate School.

Students must apply to graduate, through the Sociology Department, by the deadline date announced in the graduate catalog each year. The deadline is usually three or four months before graduation. Applications may be obtained from the department's Graduate Coordinator or online. Upon completion of the doctoral program, the student is required to submit a bound copy of their dissertation to the Sociology Department, as well as a regular hard copy to the Chair of the Dissertation Examining Committee.