Degree Requirements

As is true of Sociology doctoral students, JDP-Sociology students must complete at least one year in residence, an approved dissertation, and successful performance on the general and final oral examination. In addition to this, there are a number of requirements specific to this program: all of the courses that are mandatory for the graduate students in Sociology, plus some that are just for those enrolled in the JDP-Sociology program.

In rough order in which they occur in a student’s program, the required courses include:

1. Two full-semester courses in Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory, taken in the first year. (Students who have covered this material may “place out” of these courses, but in practice, few have chosen this option.)

2. Two full-semester courses in statistical methods, normally taken in the first year. (Qualified students may move directly into advanced courses after consultation with relevant faculty.)

3. A one-semester course in Techniques and Methods of Social Science, taken in the first year, which provides a systematic overview of research methods in social science, with emphasis on empirical procedures.

4. A two semester course, “Problems in Social Policy,” taken in the second year of study.

5. A one semester course, “Workshop in Social Policy,” taken in the Fall of the third year of study.

Note: Students enrolled in the core seminar and the workshop are required to attend the program’s interdisciplinary colloquium, “Dilemmas of Inequality.” In 2007-8, this colloquium will meet over dinner from 6-8:30 pm on selected Tuesdays.

6. Demonstration of competence in a language other than English (by the end of the second year of study). Students are certified as competent by qualified Princeton University faculty members, usually after carrying out written and oral exercises.

7. A two-semester workshop, taken in the second year, known as “The Empirical Seminar,” in which students work together under the guidance of a faculty member as each student develops a research idea to fruition as a publishable research paper.

8. The second empirical paper in Sociology, which must be completed by the end of the third year, and will often be completed earlier, is produced independently by the student working with one or more faculty advisers, and may employ empirical data of any kind (e.g., ethnographic observation or archival materials, as well as data in quantitative form).

Note: One of these two empirical papers will be submitted to fulfill the requirements of the Core Seminar in the JDP program.

9. A comprehensive examination (ordinarily taken between the end of the second year and the mid-point of the third year), in which the student selects and prepares to be examined in three substantive fields of sociology. The student works with a separate faculty member for each field; takes a written examination; and then meets with all three faculty advisors for an oral examination. JDP-Sociology students should anticipate taking one of these examinations in the field of inequality and stratification. The other exams should be developed in consultation with faculty advisors.

10. Submission of a contract (ordinarily before taking the comprehensive examination) confirming completion of required courses, describing one’s academic program (coursework and independent study), presenting areas (with reading lists and examiners) for the comprehensive examination, and describing the two qualifying papers (at least one of which must be accepted before taking the comprehensive exam).

11. Preparation of a dissertation prospectus. Usually during the third year the student will work with faculty advisors to develop a detailed plan for the Ph.D. dissertation and will constitute a committee (with a chair and two or more other members), which will meet to discuss and approve the prospectus. Students will be expected to focus on some aspect of inequality, broadly conceived.

12. Teaching experience. All students are required to serve as “preceptors” (teaching assistants) in courses taught by Department faculty on several occasions, ordinarily during their second and third years of study. Although students receive payment for this work, the purpose of the requirement is to ensure that students acquire sufficient teaching experience to prepare them for academic positions. JDP-Sociology students are expected to teach only 2/3 as much as regular sociology students in view of their additional required courses.

13. The Ph.D. Dissertation. Each student must produce, submit, and have accepted a substantial piece of original scholarly work that is of publishable quality and that represents a significant contribution to sociological knowledge.

14. A capstone course, taken in the final year of study, “Advanced Research in Social Policy,” in which students present part of their dissertation to their cohort-mates across all of the fields of the JDP.