Culminating
Events:
Culminating event for the degree program
Dissertation
Dissertation Advising Committee Information
Following the Preliminary Examination, the student will select the chairperson of his/her Doctoral Advisory Committee. The remaining three or more members of the committee will be selected by the student after consultation with his/her chairperson. A minimum of three members must be from Temple University's Graduate Faculty and a majority must be from the Department of Sociology.
Dissertation Examining Committee Information
The Committee consists of all members of the Disertation Advising Committee and at least one outside examiner. This outside examiner may not be a faculty member from the Sociology Department at Temple University.
Advisor/Committee Information
Changes in the membership of a Doctoral Advisory Committee must be approved by the Graduate Chair.
Preliminary Exam Description
The department has identified a small number of broadly defined areas that are consistent with its mission and self-defined areas of strength.
Subject Areas/Major Components of the Preliminary Examination
The areas are: Organizations and Work, Urban Education, Race and Ethnicity, Medical, Gender, Family, and Political Sociology.
At what point in the program is the student expected to take the preliminary examination
Each doctoral student, at the end of the third year of graduate study, will select two of these areas and will be examined on them by an appointed faculty committee (a "Preliminary Examination Committee").
Writing the Questions for the Preliminary Examination
Faculty committees have developed bibliographies of important books and articles in each of these areas. These bibliographies form the basis for the preliminary examinations.
Evaluating the Preliminary Examination
A faculty committee evaluates the student's competency in the preliminary areas.
Criterion for Passing the Preliminary Examination.
Grading of the exam will result in the following rankings:
1. Pass with Distinction (Ready to form a Dissertation Committee, "Distinction" will be recorded in the student's record).
2. Pass (Ready to form a Dissertation Committee).
3. No Pass (Student will be allowed to take the examination one more time the following year).
4. Final No Pass (Student is no longer eligible to continue in the Ph.D. program).
Administering, Scheduling, and Proctoring the Preliminary Examination
The exam will be held in late September or October of the year following the student's completion of course work (typically the beginning of the fourth year).
A student who does not receive his/her doctoral degree within five years of passing the Preliminary Examination must retake and pass the Preliminary Examination in order to remain in good academic standing. The retake examination must be administered with the same testing procedure as is currently employed in the department.
Dissertation/Monograph Philosophy
In keeping with the sharpened focus in the Preliminary Examinations, the department will make clear to students that dissertation topics must be confined to areas within which the faculty has expertise. This clarification will begin with the information sent to prospective applicants and it will be repeated regularly in advising sessions with students. The purpose of this clarification is to avoid situations where students feel compelled to look outside the department for their primary intellectual guidance in dissertation work.
NOTE: This does not imply that students may not have outside faculty members on dissertation committees. It is intended only to assure that the department's faculty will, in all dissertation committees, be the primary focus of instruction.
Philosophy of the Proposal
The dissertation proposal is a brief statement of the dissertation research. It should contain a review of the literature, a statement of the research problem, and a comprehensive description of the research strategy to be employed.
Normally, proposal hearings will be held during the academic year. All members of the committee must be present at the proposal hearing. An alternate member may be requested, but prior approval must be secured from the chairperson of the Graduate Committee.
The dissertation proposal will be accepted only when the members of the dissertation committee vote unanimously to accept it.
Criterion for Passing the Dissertation and the Defense.
The dissertation committee must vote unanimously that the student has passed the Ph.D. Final Examination. Each member of the dissertation committee indicates his/her assessment of the examination and signs his/her name to Form II, Temple University Graduate Boards, Ph.D. Final Examination.
Normally, the dissertation defense will be held during the regular academic year. However, a summer defense may be scheduled if all members of the committee agree. The entire dissertation committee must attend the defense. If one or more committee members fail to attend the defense, the departmental Chairperson will not sign the form certifying the defense. All full-time faculty members and members of the university community are invited to participate.
Dissertation Defense Scheduling
Students who are preparing to defend their dissertation should confirm a time and date with their Dissertation Advisory Committee and register with the Graduate Secretary at least 30 days before the defense is to be scheduled. The Graduate Secretary will arrange the time, date, and room, and forward to the student the appropriate forms.
Announcing the Dissertation Defense
All dissertation oral defense examinations will be publicly announced by the department in writing at least 10 days in advance of the examination. The written announcement must be sent to all members of the Doctoral Dissertation Examining Committee, all graduate faculty in the candidate's department, the Dean of the Graduate School, and posted in the college.
