INTRODUCTION
The Department of Sociology and Anthropology began to offer graduate work in 1961-62, when it was authorized to offer an M.A. degree. From the beginning, the Department has been committed to offering high quality graduate training in sociology. Initially, we saw the M.A. primarily as preparation for doctoral training to be taken elsewhere, typically outside of Canada. As undergraduate enrolments in sociology rapidly increased, causing Canadian universities to appoint more sociologists, an interest in establishing Ph.D. programmes in Canada developed. The availability of funding at McMaster for such purposes made the interest realistic. A proposal was developed and McMaster became the first university in Ontario to submit a Ph.D. programme in Sociology for appraisal. The outcome was successful and the Department was authorized to offer a Ph.D. programme in 1967-68. The first Ph.D. degree in Sociology was awarded in spring, 1972.|
In 1974 the Sociology and Anthropology disciplines had each developed to the point where they could successfully stand on their own. Following extensive discussions it was agreed that Sociology and Anthropology should form two separate and free-standing departments. This was an harmonious and collegial decision that met with widespread approval.
Since our inception we have developed and maintained a successful programme and have achieved a strong reputation inside and outside of Canada for graduate study in sociology. In fact, in the 1997 Internal University Review of the Department, the external member of the review committee noted that "...the Department of Sociology at McMaster University is a very strong, very good department."
OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME
The objectives of the programme are to help candidates acquire the skills that will enable them to take-up academic, managerial, instructional, planning, organizational, service and research positions in the public and private sectors in both Canada and abroad. At the Master’s level the Department gives students the opportunity to complete their degrees by either coursework or thesis. Both options are rigorous in their own right, and reflect a desire on our part to attend to the different needs that students have in regard to depth versus breadth of their education. The students’ Master’s theses and Ph.D. dissertations are expected to make original contributions to knowledge in the discipline of sociology.
Holders of the M.A. or the Ph.D. in Sociology from McMaster will have a command of a wide variety of research methods and theories. But, in the course of their scholarly activities in the Department, students also develop a number of inter-related skills. These skills include critical reasoning, problem solving and writing. By focussing on the development of a combination of knowledge and skills, we believe that our students are able to make meaningful contributions in a variety of different kinds of fields. Our students are able to successfully apply what they have learned in our programmes in order to pursue their careers in the fields of health care, corrections, social services, immigration, employment and manpower, teaching, management and in many other areas in private and public sector organizations.
Admission to the graduate programme in sociology is based upon four criteria: i) the achievement of excellence in an accredited institution of higher learning culminating in the attainment of an Honours B.A. degree (or equivalent) which includes a broad range of courses successfully completed in sociology and the social sciences and humanities in which competence in sociological theory and research methods has been demonstrated; ii) strongly supportive letters of reference from two accredited university instructors which document the suitability of the candidate for graduate study in sociology; iii) a statement of interest in which applicants describe their interests in sociology, outline the course of study and research they plan to follow if accepted, and demonstrate their ability to carry out this plan of research; iv) and a sample of their written work.
METHOD USED FOR SELF-STUDY
Self-study is a normal and regular part of departmental activities. Over the past seven years faculty have reviewed and made changes to a number of both undergraduate and graduate policies and procedures. In relation to the graduate programme in particular, the faculty have reviewed and considered issues such as: the admission of students without funding; incompletes; length of stay in the graduate programme; TA allocation; the number of faculty who serve on comprehensive examinations; the fulfilment of theory and methods requirements; an increase the number of courses students should take; and the determination of the proper balance between croursework and comprehensive examinations. In addition, the faculty regularly reviews the different kinds of issues that its career, publication and dissertation workshops should cover.
FIELDS IN THE PROGRAMME
Some degree of specialization has existed right from the time of the establishment of the Sociology Department and it soon coalesced into three distinct fields: Class, Status and Power; Occupations and Organizations; and Individual and Society.
Ph.D. dissertations must be in one of these three main fields while topics for M.A. theses may be drawn from a broader spectrum.
I "Social Inequality" covers a broad range of issues and a variety of perspectives. It includes such topics as the application of various theoretical perspectives to class analysis, the examination of power structures at national and international levels, quantitative studies of occupational and educational attainment, and analyses of the position of such groups as women, racial, ethnic and cultural minorities, and members of various age-groups within the stratification system. Also included are analyses of regional, social and economic variations.
II "Occupations and Organizations" includes the study of work, career structures, socialization within professions, the educational system and its role in channeling individuals into various occupational settings, the changing occupational structure, and the analysis of down-sizing. It also involves analyses of aspects of organizations of various types, for example, government bodies, educational institutions, hospitals and nursing homes, small businesses and large corporations.
III "Individual and Society" includes the analysis of identity and identity transformation, organizational studies carried out from the perspective of the individual, research on deviant behaviour, studies of the individual in a community context and of the social networks that are part of that context. It also involves research on stigmatization, the presentation of self, the social construction of social problems and issues, and the significance of such factors as ethnicity, gender, disability in social interaction and in the formation of identity.
Our three major fields of specialization are complemented by eleven "B Areas" in which doctoral students can sit for their second Comprehensive Examination. Our "B" Comprehensive Examinations are in the following areas: aging, deviance and social problems, education, gender, health and health care, ideology and culture, methodology, political sociology, race and ethnic relations, and theory.
