Program Overview

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Applied Sociology (MA)

The Department of Sociology offers a graduate program leading to a Master of Arts degree in Applied Sociology. This Applied Sociology MA program provides training in the skills necessary to secure careers in both academic and non-academic professions and emphasizes applied research in community-based settings. The program is organized around a curriculum that provides grounding in the theoretical perspectives and methodological skills of the discipline with advanced study in one or more of the department's three primary areas of specialization: Crime and Deviance; Medical Sociology; Social Inequalities.

Program Overview

A primary focus of the program is the examination and analysis of a variety of social problems in society. Toward this objective, the program promotes the application of sociological knowledge, principles, and research skills that can be used in a variety of organizational, community, and institutional settings. Examples of competencies in applied sociology include effective skills in program design and evaluation research; planning, feasibility and needs assessment studies; data management, analysis and presentation; and the application of structural, social conflict and interactionist theories to organizational problems, community development and planned change.

Areas of Specialization

The three primary areas of specialization are organized around the themes mentioned below. Students are not required to identify a Primary Area of Specialization in the Applied MA program and are able to take courses across areas. All courses in these areas count toward the 12 required program electives.

• Crime and Deviance: The Crime and Deviance area of specialization comprises a broad analysis of criminal and deviant behavior including the locations of crime, fluctuations in crime rates, and the experiences of crime victims. This area of specialization encompasses the program's strength in the study of intimate partner violence and other types of gender-based violence.
• Medical Sociology: The Medical Sociology area of specialization examines the ways connecting social statuses relate to health, illness, and medical care. This area includes analysis of social, political, economic, and environmental factors that impact health and illness; societal structures and forces that constrain medical care; people's subjective experiences of health, illness, and healthcare; and social movements related to health and healthcare.
• Social Inequalities: The Social Inequalities area of specialization examines how power, social, and spatial inequalities are manifested, reinforced, and contested in contemporary society. It seeks to understand how inequalities are structured within social institutions; how and why power relationships have shifted over time; how they manifest in contemporary institutions, groups, and interactions; how social inequalities vary across space and place; and how social forces perpetuate and challenge social inequalities.

Degree Requirements

Required Courses

12 Total Credits

• Complete all of the following:
  • Student receive core knowledge in the 12 hours of required courses.
  • Complete the following:
    • SYA5625 - ProSeminar (3)
    • SYA6126 - Social Theory (3)
  • Complete at least 2 of the following:
    • SYA6305 - Quantitative Social Research Methods (3)
    • SYA6315 - Qualitative Research Methods (3)
    • SYA6356 - Geographic Information Systems in Society (3)

Elective Courses

12 Total Credits

• Earn at least 12 credits from the following types of courses: All Sociology graduate electives listed as SYA, SYD, SYP 5000, 6000 or 7000). Students will select a minimum of 12 credit hours of unrestricted electives in consultation with their faculty advisor. No more than 3 hours may be taken in related social science UCF graduate programs outside the Department of Sociology.

MA Final Product (6 Credits)

6 Total Credits

• Complete all of the following:
  • Earn at least 6 credits from the following:
    • SYA6507 - Academic Writing in Sociology (3)
    • SYA6909 - Research Report (1 - 99)
  • To fulfill the Final Product requirement, students must enroll in SYA 6507 and SYA 6909, and complete a final research report.

Equipment Fee

0 Total Credits

• Full-time students in the Applied Sociology MA program pay a $39 equipment fee each semester that they are enrolled. Part-time students pay $19.50 per semester.

Independent Learning

0 Total Credits

• As with all graduate programs, independent learning is an important component in the Applied Sociology MA program. Students will demonstrate independent learning through research seminars and research experiences with faculty and colleagues.

Total Credit Hours Required

30 Credit Hours Minimum beyond the Bachelor's Degree

Financial Information

Graduate students may receive financial assistance through fellowships, assistantships, tuition support, or loans. For more information, see the College of Graduate Studies Funding website.

Fellowship Information

Fellowships are awarded based on academic merit to highly qualified students. They are paid to students through the Office of Student Financial Assistance, based on instructions provided by the College of Graduate Studies. Fellowships are given to support a student's graduate study and do not have a work obligation.