Program Overview

Introduction to the Ph.D. Program

The UCF Sociology 5-Year Bachelor's to Ph.D. program provides training in the skills necessary to secure research careers in both academic and non-academic professions and emphasizes applied research in community-based settings.

Program Structure

The program is organized around a curriculum combining grounding in the acquisition of theoretical and methodological skills with advanced study in one of the department's five primary areas of specialization.

Primary Areas of Specialization

Students will develop a Primary Area of Specialization from the three primary areas in the department:

• Crime and Deviance
• Medical Sociology
• Social Inequalities Additional Primary Areas of Specialization can be assembled by students based on course offerings pending approval by the graduate committee.

Secondary Areas of Specialization

Students will also create a Secondary Area of Specialization. A Secondary Area of Specialization may be a substantive topic area (e.g., Medical Sociology), a research approach (e.g., Quantitative Methods), sociological theory, or an approach to knowledge dissemination (e.g., Public Sociology, Applied Sociology). Secondary Areas can be created from the list of primary areas (e.g., Crime and Deviance, Social Inequalities, etc.) or they can be assembled by the student to reflect their interests. Some examples of possible Secondary Areas of Specialization include:

• Racial/ethnic inequalities
• Gender and sexuality
• Intersectionality
• Global sociology
• Criminology
• Health The Secondary Area may include 1 or more courses from outside the department, but in most cases, a student must include at least 2 courses from inside the department.

Program Focus and Training

The program is one of only a few Sociology programs in the United States focusing on applied research. Students are trained in specific applied research skills such as:

• Data analysis
• Qualitative methods
• Quantitative methods
• Mixed methods
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
• Program evaluation Combined with coursework in one of the five primary areas of specialization and a secondary area of specialization, graduates will be trained for employment in the following settings:
• The academy
• Industry
• Business
• Government
• Nonprofit agencies

Program Requirements

The Sociology Ph.D. requires a minimum of 90 credit hours beyond the bachelor's degree. Those students with an M.A. or M.S. degree in Sociology or a closely related field can transfer up to 30 graduate credit hours into their Ph.D. program with consent of the Sociology graduate committee and UCF College of Graduate Studies. After entering the Ph.D. program and successfully completing 30 credit hours, including 12 hours in a primary area of specialization and SYA 6909 Research Report (3 credit hours) where students will execute a research deliverable (i.e., paper, applied project, thesis, etc.) to demonstrate their knowledge gained in a research topic agreed upon and approved by their advisory committee, the student will be awarded an M.A. degree and may discontinue their work toward the remaining Ph.D. requirements and leave the program.