Doctoral Area Examinations

If you are a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology at Western Michigan University, you will be required to select one area of concentration and to complete an examination in that area by the time you've completed your 45th credit hour in the doctoral program. Successful completion of the area examinations is required before you may defend a dissertation prospectus.

A doctoral degree in sociology is granted only to those who have achieved a level of mastery that is necessary to become a professional in the field (i.e., you are able to contribute to the knowledge base of sociology through research and teaching). The area examinations are qualifying exams and in your performance of these examinations must demonstrate a level of mastery that is sufficient for becoming a viable professional in the field of sociology. The area examinations:

• Allow you an opportunity to demonstrate expertise—in terms of both breadth and depth of knowledge—in theory, research methods and special topics within your selected area of sociology.
• Give the faculty an opportunity to assess your progress toward becoming a professional sociologist and to identify areas that may need improvement before completing a doctoral degree.

As an alternative to the traditional area examination, students may elect to pursue the area exam publication option. This option entails the development and completion of a research article with the intent of publication. The research project must be empirical (requiring the use of some methodology and include results) in nature and be related to at least one of our programmatic areas

Students selecting this option would be required to:

1. Identify which programmatic area the research most falls under.
2. Form a panel of faculty. Panel must be composed of a minimum of three faculty members (two of which must hold faculty status within the Department of Sociology and be members of the programmatic area the research falls under).
3. Complete any area exam prerequisites (e.g., course qualifications) for the identified programmatic area.
4. Complete essential readings in the programmatic area based on a reading list approved by the panel.
5. Identify a target journal for your manuscript based on the panel’s approved outlets (each area will work to create and maintain a list of recommended target journals, however, students may request additions to the list from their panel).
6. Complete a draft of the manuscript that includes the following:
1. the research and manuscript must be original to this process, and not a re-use of prior work (exceptions may be granted by the student’s panel for ideas that stem from coursework taken during their time in the program)
2. students must be the sole author of the manuscript
3. 25-30 page (double spaced) manuscript (not inclusive of tables, figures, or references)
4. format the manuscript to match the publication guidelines of your approved target journal
7. Schedule a submission of your manuscript draft with your review panel (scheduling decisions should keep in mind academic calendars and should not assume availability of panel members to review, panel members should also be given a minimum of 3 weeks to review the manuscript).
8. Your panel will provide you with anonymized feedback (in the fashion of a peer-review of your work) and your panel chair will provide a synopsis of the panel’s review as well as the determination of the panel on whether your manuscript needs to be revised and resubmitted or is acceptable for publication.
1. In the event of your panel provides a determination of revise and resubmit,
1. You will schedule a deadline for revisions with your panel’s input and submit the revised manuscript to the panel by that scheduled deadline (again keeping in mind panel members should be provided a minimum of 3 weeks to review the manuscript).
2. In addition to the revised manuscript, you will also prepare and submit a letter to the panel in which you detail and explain all of the changes you made or didn’t make based upon the panel’s review of your manuscript.
3. After reviewing your revised manuscript the panel will make a final determination on whether or not your manuscript is acceptable for publication. If after reviewing the revised manuscript the panel determines that the publication is not acceptable for publication the student will have failed the area exam publication option.
2. In the event your panel provides a determination of acceptable for publication
1. You will revise your manuscript to fit within the target journal’s page guidelines
2. You will submit your manuscript to your target journal. Once submitted students will forward their confirmation of submission on to their panel, at which time, the panel will notify the graduate director that the student has successfully completed the area exam publication option.
3. Acceptance of the article at the journal is not required, but students are strongly encouraged to continue the publishing process until the research is published.
3. In the event your panel provides a determination of unacceptable for publication
1. You will have failed the area exam publication option.
2. This same work may not be used again with a new committee.
3. If you choose to attempt the area exam publication option again, you may do so only if you begin the process anew with a new original research idea. Failure to meet the acceptable for publication criteria twice will result in dismissal from the program.
4. If you choose to take an area exam after failing to earn a determination of acceptable for publication, you will have only one attempt to pass said exam. Students who fail in any two attempts at the area exams or area exam publication option will be dismissed from the program.

Areas of Concentration

Each of the concentration areas has a doctoral program committee responsible for general supervision and policy formation in its area.

• Comparative Sociology
• Criminology
• Gender and feminism
• Power and Inequality
• Race and Ethnic Relations
• Religion
• Research methods/applied sociology