Northern Illinois University
Department of Sociology
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

We offer graduate courses and research opportunities leading to the M.A. degree. Competitive graduate assistantships are available. Our degree program is designed to prepare students for teaching and research in sociology, for positions in public and private agencies and for advanced study leading to the Ph.D.

Requirements for a M.A. in Sociology

Applicants for admission to the NIU graduate program in sociology should have a background equivalent to three semester hours in sociological theory, sociological methods and statistics. Students with deficiencies in these areas are required to take appropriate course work to remove these deficiencies before enrollment. Students admitted to these programs with stipulated deficiencies will be informed by the graduate advisor of the courses that must be taken.

Graduate courses are classified into six fields: theory, research methods and statistics, race and gender inequality, social organization and institutions, social psychology and criminology. The specific classification of courses by field can be obtained from the sociology office.

Students must earn an overall GPA of 3.0 or better and a grade of A or B in SOCI 674 (The Research Process - replacing SOCI 676), SOCI 675 (Sociological Statistics), SOCI 677 (Qualitative Research Methodology), SOCI 670 (Classical Sociological Theory) and SOCI 671 (Contemporary Sociological Theory).

A minimum of 33 semester hours of credit is necessary (including six semester hours for the thesis itself). Students must maintain an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher. No more than 12 semester hours in 500-level graduate courses may be included in the student's program for the master's degree.

General Sociology

• SOCI 670 Classical Sociological Theory (3)
• SOCI 671 Contemporary Sociological Theory (3)
• SOCI 674 The Research Process (3)
• SOCI 675 Sociological Statistics (3)
• SOCI 677 Qualitative Research Methods (3)
• SOCI 699 Master's Thesis (6)
  • or SOCI 602 Internship Project (6)
• Four elective courses in one or two of the following areas: theory, research methods and statistics, race and gender inequality, social organizations and institutions, social psychology, criminology (12)

Specialization in Criminology

• SOCI 670 Classical Sociological Theory (3)
• SOCI 671 Contemporary Sociological Theory (3)
• SOCI 674 The Research Process (3)
• SOCI 675 Sociological Statistics (3)
• SOCI 677 Qualitative Research Methods (3)
• SOCI 681 Theories of Delinquency and Crime (3)
• SOCI 689 Criminal Justice in Society (3)
• SOCI 699 Master's Thesis (6)
  • or SOCI 602 Internship Project (6)
• Two electives in criminology selected from graduate offerings in consultation with the graduate advisor (6)

Thesis

Evidence of mastery in the student's area of substantive specialization comes from their thesis, with close faculty supervision. A thesis is intended to provide the student with the opportunity to grapple with a significant sociological problem. The student attempts to pose meaningful questions and systematically marshal a body of evidence to address these questions. A successful defense satisfies the comprehensive exam requirement.

Internship

This non-thesis path to the M.A. provides a substantial field experience, requiring at least 240 hours of work at an internship site (120 hours is the equivlant of three credit hours). The graduate committee supervises the internship. A brief proposal of the student's internship project must be submitted and they must successfully pass written comprehensive exams before starting internship hours. Upon completion of internship hours, students submit a final paper on their internship experience to the graduate committee for evaluation.

Related Links

• Thesis
• Sociology teaching certificate
• Graduate assistantships

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