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Sociology Program Learning Outcomes

Many occupations today require a college educated individual who can write and speak well, solve problems, learn new information quickly, and work well with others on a team. This means that graduates use their education in a wide variety of fields, and their future career may relate more to their personal career interests, work values, and transferable skills than any specific academic major. The program in Sociology seeks to provide students with a comprehensive background for graduate level study and for careers in social service, probation/parole, mental health, and related areas. Sociology provides important background knowledge as well as:
• Identify and distinguish between research methods used by sociologists to ask and answer questions about human societies.
• Understand the roles of individuals and groups in the social construction of reality.
• Recognize major sociological theories and apply them to real world situations.
• Identify the roles of gender, race, ethnicity and social class in social change at the micro social and macro social levels.
• Demonstrate undergraduate-level written communication skills
• Apply analytical and critical thinking skills.

Description of the Senior Research Project

The senior project is taken near the end of the student’s degree program after completion of the 40.5 units of core required courses for the major, and after completion of six or more of the elective courses.
The objective of the capstone course is to produce a paper or creative project that is exemplified by extensive research, critical thought, and intellectual engagement. The project should excite students and deepen their sociological understanding. As a “senior project,” it will require students to identify a research or creative project, develop a research question, choose an appropriate method for studying the problem, and adopt a theoretical perspective to explain the issue. Grading is H, S, or U only.

Goals of the Senior Project

The purposes of this course are to provide students with the opportunity to acquire and demonstrate the skills involved in developing and designing a viable research project; collecting and analyzing data; evaluating research data and drawing conclusions; make an oral presentation of research findings; and applying the APA format.

Course Learning Outcomes of the Senior Project

1.    The objective of the capstone course is to produce a paper or creative project that is exemplified by extensive research, critical thought, and intellectual engagement.
2.    The project should excite students and deepen their sociological understanding.
3.    As a “senior project,” it will require students to identify a research or creative project, develop a research question, choose an appropriate method for studying the problem and adopt a theoretical perspective to explain the issue.
4.    Grading is H, S, or U only.

Requirements of the Senior Project

Each student must complete a research project that conforms to the requirements described in this handout:  SOC 499 Senior Project Requirements.  Each project must be organized into a five-chapter format on a topic related to the field of sociology.  Research projects will utilize a methodology appropriate for the research topic; methods may quantitative or qualitative in nature, or a combination of the two.

Each student must present the findings of his or her research project to the instructor and peers in an open forum.  The presentation is approximately 20 minutes in duration.