MA Program

Prepares students for careers in the area of social research, applied sociological analysis, and basic college-level teaching, while also providing the foundation for advanced graduate=level study toward the Ph.D. Superior students, regardless of their undergrad areas of specialization, are encouraged to apply.

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Master's Program

Degree Requirements for the Master of Arts

The Master's degree is completed by:

Taking ten courses.
Fulfilling a Master's Comprehensive requirement.

Among the courses needed for completion of the M.A. degree, five are required. The required courses are:

A two semester sequence in Social Theory, SC715, "Classical Social Theory" and SC716, "Contemporary Social Theory";
A one-semester course, "Advanced Research Methods" (SC710);
A two-semester sequence in Statistics (SC702 and SC703).

Two options exist for fulfilling the Master's Comprehensive requirement, a Master's thesis or a Master's paper. The M.A. thesis should be considered as a work on a well defined empirical problem and will involve the analysis of collected data. The Master's paper is written with the supervision of a faculty advisor, and can focus on one of the following:

A critical review of the literature in a specific area of interest to the student (e.g., social stratification, deviance, women's studies).
A critical review of the literature in general sociology.
An issue or problem paper.

FAQs

What can I do with an MA in Sociology?

Our MA program provides the opportunity to gain skills and credentials for jobs in education, applied research, social service, government and business. MA and PhD students enroll in the same courses, so that course work done for an MA can substitute for PhD work should the student decide to pursue the higher degree. Both course work and thesis research can be used to develop and expertise in a topic area or a methodology, which becomes the basis of Future employment.

You may not yet be committed to the PhD route, and choose the MA as a first step. Our MA students have an excellent track record of moving on to highly competitive PhD programs.

How do I get funding to do an MA?

MA students are not funded by the department. In rare cases, they may be able to find Research Assistant positions with the National Association for Women in Catholic Higher Education (NAWCHE) or theCenter on Wealth and Philanthropy (CWP), two research groups associated with the Sociology Department. There are only 3 or 4 RA slots between them, however, and these positions are filled for NAWCHE until 2009. Feel free to review their websites, and contact Director Sharlene Hesse-Biber with questions on NAWCHE, and Director Paul Schervish with questions about CWP.

The department website provides several links to sources of external funding for both MA and PhD students, including some positions on the BC campus.

How long does an MA take to complete?

The MA program takes two years to complete. The ten required courses can be completed in three or four semesters. The typical course load is three per semester, so a student can either take three semesters of three courses and a semester of one course (ten in total), or they can take two semesters of three courses and a semester with four courses (ten in total). The comprehensive paper or thesis is completed during the last year.

Should I apply for both the MA and the PhD?

Applicants who are not admitted to the PhD program are often invited to the MA program. The MA program is an excellent way to develop research skill sand experience before re-applying for a PhD at Boston College or elsewhere.

If I don’t gain entrance to the PhD should I come for the MA instead in hopes of being admitted to the PhD at a later date?

MA and PhD students take the same courses, so it is possible to continue study from the MA for the PhD. It requires a new application process, typically in the second year of the MA. Acceptance to the PhD program for MA students is not guaranteed, even for students who do very well. However, some MA students do matriculate into the PhD. Others go on to very competitive, excellent PhD programs at other schools.