The College Honors Program offers exceptional students the opportunity to do independent research, write a thesis, and graduate with honors. For many who complete the program, it is one of the highlights of their careers as undergraduates, a learning experience that adds significantly to their course work. In the Sociology Department, we strongly encourage our best students to consider entering the program and we are committed to supporting honors students' research.

Frequently asked questions about our program are below.

 

Am I Eligible?

You are eligible to participate if you have an overall 3.5 Grade Point Average at the end of your junior year.

Students who meet this basic qualification are invited to consider participating in the Spring of, or the Summer after, their junior year. After receiving the invitation, your next step should be to talk to Dr. Jeff Mullis, the Director of Undergraduate Studies, or your faculty adviser about the area in which you would like to work and which member(s) of the faculty might be able to serve as mentors in your honors work. You then need to talk to one or two possible mentors about your tentative plans. When a faculty member agrees to serve as your mentor and supervise your work, you will receive permission from Dr. Mullis to enter by signing up for SOC 495A in the Fall of your senior year.

 

What Does It Involve?

• Before you formally enter the program, you will need to secure the support of a faculty mentor willing to oversee your research. A successful working relationship with a faculty member is the key to the honors experience.

• Your actual research normally starts with brainstorming with your faculty mentor and reviewing literature relevant to the issues that interest you. Formulating your actual research problems, in a manner that is both interesting and manageable, often is one of the greatest challenges in honors research. The first months of the Fall semester are usually devoted to this, but you should get started in the summer before your senior year if you can.

• Once you have examined the literature and focused your interests you will then write a thesis proposal outlining how you will collect and/or analyze evidence you need to address the issues you intend to raise. The proposal can take different forms depending on the nature of the project, but minimally should state your problems, some hypotheses, sources of evidence and methods for analyzing them, and a plan for completing the actual work involved. This proposal must be approved by your honors committee (see below) no later than the end of the Fall semester. The honors committee normally considers both the sociological merits and the feasibility of the project.

• After completing the proposal, you will carry out your research and analysis, which you must finish by March.

• The final stage of the process is the writing of the thesis itself, which should be ready to be defended before your honors committee by early April. The actual format, length, and content of the thesis may vary, depending on your project. In most cases, we encourage students to aim for a long research article, but other formats may be appropriate as well.

• In addition to the thesis work, you also must take one Sociology graduate course, either in the Fall or in the Spring. Ideally, this course will be related to the substance of your work. We also strongly recommend taking SOC 356: Social Research II or SOC 500: Research Methods-Statistics in your senior year.

Who Is Involved?

Your faculty mentor is the most important person. This faculty member will help you form an honors committee, consisting of the mentor, another sociology professor, and one faculty member from another department. The names of committee members and a project title must be submitted to Dr. Mullis at the beginning of March.

 

What Is a Thesis?

A thesis is the final document that results from your research. It usually contains a statement of your research problems, a review of relevant literature, an analysis of evidence, and discussion and conclusions. It may take the form of a long research article or a more extended narrative of historical analysis. Your research methods also may vary, depending on the nature of the problems you want to examine. The length of a thesis varies from about 30 to 200 pages, depending on your topic and methods. Recent thesis topics include the synergy between the film and recording industries; the relationship between SES, social capital, parental involvement in education; an analysis of the anti-globalization movement; upward mobility among women who are raised in female-headed families; the effects of cognitive and cultural factors on racial and ethnic self-segregation; and the perceptions of police and prosecutors toward violent female offenders. Feel free to take a look at recent theses, either at Woodruff Library or in the department office (see Katharine Wilson to view copies).

 

What Is Required?

1. Honors committee approval of the proposal by end of Fall semester of senior year.
2. Successful completion and defense of a thesis by April of senior year.
3. Pass one graduate course.
4. Maintain overall 3.5 GPA.
5. Register for SOC 495A in Fall and SOC 495BWR in Spring.

What is the Schedule?

• Early Fall: complete review of literature; formulate problems.
• Late Fall: write a proposal.
• Fall/early Spring: carry out research and analysis.
• Late Spring: write and defend a thesis

For more information, please contact:

Dr. Jeff Mullis (or your faculty adviser)
Phone: 404-727-0181
E-mail: jmullis@emory.edu