Sociology Department

Sociology Department> Degree Programs> Graduate Program> Dissertation

A dissertation should not be approved until the dissertation committee by consensus believes that it makes a major original scholarly contribution to the field of sociology and brings credit to the student, the department, the university, and the committee members whose signatures appear on its cover page. While the lengths of dissertations can vary, they should be comparable in length to a typical scholarly book in the field of sociology. A student must also pass an oral defense of the dissertation. Please remember that the graduate division has a seven year limit on a student’s time to PhD, so each student is encouraged to aim to complete their dissertation well in advance of this limit, thus allowing for additional time in case of unexpected obstacles.

Initial examination of dissertation chapter drafts should be undertaken by the chair, with other committee members brought in as needed for expertise. Once the chair believes that the complete draft is reasonably close to being ready, it is submitted to the entire committee, who indicate whether they believe the student is ready for an oral defense or further major revisions are needed. At that point or earlier, the student should be informed whether it is possible that she/he may graduate in the following semester, so that proper arrangements can be made (see documentation on graduation procedures). Once the entire committee feels they know when the dissertation is likely to be ready, a date for the oral defense should immediately be scheduled by mutual agreement, well in advance. The defense is open to the public, and the committee chair should submit to the department a memo at least three weeks in advance, addressed to the graduate division, announcing the defense.

The student should bring to the oral the signature page of the dissertation, which she or he has prepared in accordance with graduate division style requirements, as well as graduate division doctorate Student Progress Form III with the top portion filled out.

The oral defense begins with a 15-20 minute presentation by the student of the dissertation’s main points, aimed at a general social science audience that is not familiar with the dissertation. Each committee members then has the student respond to questions about the dissertation, following a format designated by chair. Questions should focus primarily on summarizing or elaborating on the content of the dissertation, as well as defending against any perceived weaknesses.Efforts should be made to couch questions and answers in a manner that is appropriate for a public forum. After the committee members have completed their questions, the floor is opened for questions or comments from the audience, until there are no more questions or the time allocated for the defense (which must be at minimum one hour, and typically longer) is running out.

For further instructions, please refer to the section on Dissertation and Thesis Procedures.