Graduate
Degree Programs
Sociology
Offered by the Department of Sociology at IU Indianapolis and granted by the Indiana University Graduate School, the Master of Arts degree is designed to prepare students for conducting applied, policy-oriented, and basic research; to provide thorough training in the discipline’s basics for those who wish to pursue a doctoral degree elsewhere; and to equip those already in the workforce with the critical skills necessary for assessing and applying sociological knowledge in their everyday responsibilities.
Currently, the program features a general sociology degree with the option to focus one’s studies in Medical Sociology.
Student Learning Outcomes
The Master of Arts program is specifically designed to prepare its students for conducting applied and policy-oriented research, and to equip those already in the workforce with the critical skills necessary for assessing and applying sociological knowledge in their everyday responsibilities. The program of study culminates in either an internship or thesis experience. We also offer a course only option to finishing the degree. The program is designed to accommodate the needs of both full- and part-time students. Currently, the program features one formal area of concentration: medical sociology and a general sociology degree. Students completing the Sociology M.A. curriculum will:
- Collect and analyze data on social phenomena.
- Apply sociological knowledge and methods in community projects.
- Organize and conduct independent projects.
- Present and defend their analyses of social phenomena.
- Gain mastery of medical sociology or a general understanding of sociology as well as increase diversity of disciplinary specialties and backgrounds of those involved in programs be prepared for doctoral studies.
Admission Requirements
DEGREE REQUIREMENTS Students complete 36 credit hours of coursework. Core courses include Theory, Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods and Sociological Statistics. The program of study culminates in either an internship or thesis experience.
Transfer Credits
The Graduate School limits transfers from other institutions to 8 credits with a grade of B or higher. Graduate work with a grade of B or higher obtained from other IU locations may be applied toward an M.A. in sociology. Requests for transfer credit from other graduate institutions will be evaluated for acceptance by the graduate committee after a student has been admitted into and completed 6 credits in the IU Indianapolis sociology M.A. program. The department requires the last 18 credits be completed in its program.
Time Limit
Students must complete all requirements for the M.A. degree within five years.Financial Aid
A small number of renewable teaching and research assistantships as well as first-year fellowships are available to graduate students on a competitive basis. Some include stipends or hourly pay plus tuition remission. Information is available from the department and the IU Indianapolis Graduate Office. Students may also apply for loans or work study through the Office of Financial Aid.
Courses
- SOC-R 515 Sociology of Health and Illness (3 cr.)P: Graduate standing or consent of the instructor. Surveys important areas of medical sociology, focusing on social factors influencing the distribution of disease, help-seeking, and health care. Topics covered include social epidemiology, the health care professions, socialization of providers, and issues of cost and cost containment.
- SOC-R 517 Sociology of Work (3 cr.)P: Graduate standing or consent of the instructor. Course explores how work is being restructured in the "new economy". Topics include the changing meaning of work, the quest for dignity in the workplace, the plight of the working poor, and prospects for the labor movement (among other items).
- SOC-R 551 Quantitative Research Methods (3 cr.)P: Graduate standing or consent of instructor. This course surveys the major techniques for investigating current sociological problems. It emphasizes the relationship between theory and practice in understanding and conducting research. Although methods intended for rigorous hypothesis testing through quantitative analysis will be of major concern, the course will also examine issues in field research essential to a full understanding of a research problem.
- SOC-R 556 Advanced Sociological Theory I (3 cr.)P: Graduate standing or consent of instructor. In-depth study of classical sociological theorists, particularly Marx, Durkheim, and Weber. Examines their roles in defining the discipline of sociology.
- SOC-R 557 Advanced Sociological Theory II (3 cr.)P: graduate standing or consent of instructor. In-depth study of contemporary sociological theories (e.g., social conflict, structural functionalist, symbolic interactionist) as a continuation of the issues raised by the classical sociological theorists as well as a response to the epistemological and social changes of the late twentieth century.
- SOC-R 559 Intermediate Sociological Statistics (3 cr.)P: SOC-R 359 or equivalent, graduate standing or consent of instructor. SOC-R 359 or equivalent, graduate standing or consent of instructor. Basic techniques for summarizing distributions, measuring interrelationships, controlling extraneous influences, and testing hypotheses are reviewed, as students become familiar with the computer system. Complex analytical techniques commonly applied in professional literature are examined in detail, including analysis of variance, path diagrams, factor analysis, and log-linear models.
- SOC-R 569 Thesis (3 cr.) P: SOC-R 359 or equivalent, graduate standing or consent of instructor. Thesis
- SOC-R 585 Social Aspects of Mental Health and Mental Illness (3 cr.)P: Graduate standing or consent of instructor. This is a graduate-level course on the sociology of mental illness and mental health. Provides a thorough grounding in the research issues and traditions that have characterized scholarly inquiry into mental illness in the past. Students will become familiar with public policy as it has had an impact on the treatment of mental illness and on the mentally ill themselves.
- SOC-R 594 Graduate Internship in Sociology (3-6 cr.)P: Graduate standing, 18 hours of graduate credit in sociology, and consent of instructor. This course involves master's degree students working in organizations where they apply or gain practical insight into sociological concepts, theories, knowledge, and methodology. Students analyze their experiences through work logs, a lengthy written report and regular meetings with a faculty committee. (Students on the thesis track may also take this course as an elective.)
- SOC-R 697 Individual Readings in Sociology (3 cr.)P: Graduate standing and consent of instructor, 6 hours of graduate credit in sociology with grades of B or better. Investigation of a topic not covered in the regular curriculum that is of special interest to the student and that the student wishes to pursue in greater detail. Available only to sociology graduate students through arrangement with a faculty member.
- SOC-S 526 The Sociology of Human Sexuality (3 cr.)P: Graduate standing and/or consent of instructor. This is a one-semester graduate-level course on the sociology of human sexuality. This course will provide a detailed examination of the development of sex research, a sociological perspective on and critique of this corpus, and an opportunity for students to develop research of their own.
- SOC-S 560 Graduate Topics (3 cr.)P: Graduate standing and/or consent of instructor, variable with topic. Exploration of a topic in sociology not covered by the regular curriculum but of interest to faculty and students in a particular semester. Topics to be announced.
- SOC-S 569 M.A. Thesis (3 cr.)P: Graduate standing and/or consent of instructor.
- SOC-S 612 Political Sociology (3 cr.)P: Graduate standing and/or consent of instructor. Possible topics include experimental studies of power relationships, political socialization, political attitudes, political participation, voting behavior, decision-making processes, theories of social power, organizational power systems and structures, the state as a social institution, and political movements.
- SOC-S 613 Complex Organizations (3 cr.)P: Graduate standing and/or consent of instructor. Theory and research in formal organizations: industry, school, church, hospital, government, military, and university. Problems of bureaucracy and decision making in large-scale organizations. For students in the social sciences and professional schools interested in the comparative approach to problems of organizations and their management.
- SOC-S 659 Qualitative Methods in Sociology (3 cr.)P: Graduate standing and/or consent of instructor. Methods in obtaining, evaluating, and analyzing qualitative data in social research. Methods covered include field research procedures, participant observation, interviewing, and audio-video recording of social behavior in natural settings.
