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Location: Social Sciences Building, Room 956
Program number: 403.220.6501
Fax: 403.282.9298
Email address: socigrad@ucalgary.ca
Web page URL:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Master of Arts (MA), thesis-based

In addition to Faculties of Graduate Studies and Arts requirements, the Department requires:

Master of Arts

a) A grade point average of 3.30 on a four-point scale over the last two years of coursework or 10 full-course equivalents.

b) Demonstrated competence, normally through course work, in classical and contemporary sociological theory, social research methods, and social statistics.

c) A written statement of intent.

d) A sample of written work.

e) Two reference letters.

Doctor of Philosophy

a) A grade point average of 3.30 on a four-point scale over a master’s program.

c) Demonstrated competence in sociological theory, social methodology, and social statistics, in addition to a substantive interest.

d) A written statement of intent.

e) A sample of written work.

f) Two reference letters.

January 15 for September admission.

The applicant must make advanced credit requests as part of the admission process. Credit will not be given for course work taken as part of another completed degree/diploma or for courses taken to bring the grade point average to a required level for admission.

Master of Arts – Credit may be allowed for up to two 600-level Sociology half courses.

Doctor of Philosophy – Credit may be allowed for up to three 600- or 700-level half courses.

In addition to Faculties of Graduate Studies and Arts requirements, the Department requires:

Master of Arts

a) Competence in sociological statistics, methods of sociological research, and sociological theory demonstrated by completing Sociology 611; 613 or 615; and 631.

b) Completion of two half-course equivalent electives at the 600 or 700 level; at least one half-course equivalent elective must be a Sociology Department offering in a substantive area.

c) Completion of Sociology 602 - Training in Professional Sociology and successful preparation and completion of a thesis prospectus.

d) Completion of the MA Thesis requirement.

Doctor of Philosophy

a) Sociology 611; 702; 731; two half-course equivalent methodology courses at the 700 level, selected from decimalized sections of Sociology 705Q, 711Q, or 715Q; two half-course equivalent electives at the 600 or 700 level selected from Sociology Department offerings on substantive topics. Students who have taken one of the required courses in a previous degree may substitute any other 600- or 700-level course.

b) Successful completion of a thesis prospectus, normally within twenty months of initial registration in the doctoral program. Successful completion of the prospectus means that the Supervisory Committee has approved the thesis project, and a written copy of the prospectus is filed with the Sociology Department Student Administrator.

c) A candidacy examination with a written and an oral component.

d) Completion of the PhD Thesis requirement.

Copyediting Policy

Students may hire an editor to copyedit their theses.  The student, supervisor and editor must abide by the following regulations:

1. Prior to hiring a copy editor, permission from the supervisor(s) must be obtained. An agreement outlining the permitted scope of editing must be signed by the student and the supervisor(s).

2. A disclosure statement is required in the thesis (e.g., a sentence in the preface or acknowledgment stating that the thesis has been professionally edited).

3. Under no circumstances should the copyediting alter the content, structure or contribution of the thesis.

None.

None.

Expected completion time is 20 months for the Master of Arts and four years for the Doctor of Philosophy degree. Maximum completion time is four years for the Master of Arts and six years for the doctoral program.

An interim advisor is assigned to incoming students who have not already selected a supervisor. In the case of MA students, after one term in the program, a student will make supervisory arrangements with a faculty member in the chosen area of research. In the case of PhD students after two terms in the program, a student will make supervisory arrangements with a faculty member in the chosen area of research. In the case of PhD students, the supervisor and student will select two other faculty members to serve on the student’s supervisory committee.

Doctoral Candidacy Examinations

The candidacy examination has a written and an oral component. A final reading list is prepared by the student’s supervisory committee and given to the student at least three months before the written examination. The written candidacy examination in the student’s substantive area is written within one month of the oral candidacy examination. The written candidacy is normally a seven day take-home or seven hour closed-book examination. Both the written and oral candidacy examinations are graded together.

Questions on the research proposal will not be included in the oral candidacy examination.

The Candidacy Oral Defence is a Closed Examination.

Thesis Oral Examinations

Final thesis oral examinations are open.

Students whose research involves human subjects must receive approval from Áù¾ÅÉ«Ìà Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board or the Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board (if applicable) before beginning data collection.

Master of Arts students are required to prepare a thesis prospectus within nine months of the date of entry into the program.

Doctoral students are required to prepare a thesis prospectus for approval by their supervisory committee within twenty months of the date of entry into the program.

None.

Financial assistance may be available to qualified students. Information on departmental funding is available in the online Graduate Student Handbook at . For further information on awards, please see the Awards and Financial Assistance section of this Calendar.

Students applying for Graduate Award Competitions through the Faculty of Graduate Studies must submit their applications to the Department by January 15.

Students should refer to the Department's online information and the Sociology Graduate Student Handbook at for further clarification and explanation of these regulations.

The active research interests of the faculty can be found at .