Degree Requirements

The thesis is an empirically-based research paper.  Empirical is construed broadly to include a variety of data including quantitative, qualitative, discourse/text based, historical/comparative, and so forth. You can collect your own data or use secondary analysis.

Students are expected to carry out the original research project planned in their proposal and report the results in appropriate thesis form. The thesis should demonstrate originality and understanding of the topic. Theses are typically 120 to 150 pages long, plus references.

If you are using human participants, attention should be paid to the Senate Policy for the Ethics Review Process for Research Involving Human Participants. This policy states that all university-based research involving human participants, whether funded or non-funded, faculty or student, scholarly, commercial or consultative, is subject to the ethics review process. Students should, therefore, familiarize themselves with (i) the Senate Policy for the Ethics Review Process for Research Involving Human Participants and (ii) the SSHRC/NSERC/CIHR Tri–Council Policy Statement Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans. Information about these policies can be found on the Faculty of Graduate Studies website.

The RRP is intended as an opportunity for you to assess and evaluate the existing sociological research and theoretical literature pertaining to a particular topic of interest. It is to be based on a broader engagement with the literature as opposed to a deliberately focused research endeavor that addresses a narrowly specified research question and comes to a conclusive answer (as is done in the thesis option).

The end result of the RRP may vary depending on the approach you have adopted. For instance, it may involve the development of a set of new research questions that are well-grounded in the debates or questions you have identified from the existing literature. Alternatively, the end result may be the development of an initial exegesis (i.e. a critical interpretation, explanation or exposition) and preliminary development of a working argument based on what you have read. Third, it may be an exposition of how different theories explain a particular sociological issue/problem.  This typically involves some comparing and contrasting of these perspective as well as some evaluation or assessment of the state of the literature (which theoretical perspective seems the best or most promising and why?).

This planning tool is meant to represent the major degree requirements with some suggested timelines for their completion within a 5-year timeframe. Student circumstances vary. Please take that into account when working with this planning guide.

1. Coursework (equivalent of 8 half courses including):
   • SOCI 6001 3.0: Doctoral Seminar I
   • SOCI 6002 3.0: Doctoral Seminar II (2nd year winter term)
   • SOCI XXXX: Methods (student’s choice)—in SOCI
   • SOCI XXXX: Methods (student’s choice)—in SOCI
   • SOCI XXXX: Theory (student’s choice)—in SOCI
   • SOCI XXXX: Theory (student’s choice)—in SOCI
   • SOCI XXXX: Elective
   • SOCI XXXX: Elective

   PhD students are permitted to take up to one full course (as electives) in another graduate program at York.

2. Comprehensive exams (2 comprehensive exams are required)
3. PhD Proposal
4. Research Ethics Approval (for original empirical research involving human participants)
5. Dissertation and Defence

This requirement is met by completing SOCI 6001 3.0:  Doctoral Seminar I: Professional Development Workshop Series in the first year and SOCI 6002 3.0:  Doctoral Seminar II:  Professional Development Workshop Series in the second year.  The overall objectives of these workshop-based courses are: (i) the development of professional skills for the academic and non-academic labour market; (ii) to facilitate timely progress through the program; and (iii) to contribute to the development of a research culture in the cohort and beyond.

Four full courses, or the equivalent, including a full course in theory and a full course in methods.

Courses which meet the theory requirement are: 6130; 6132; 6135; 6160; 6170; 6180; 6190; 6192; 6195; 6196; 6200; 6201; 6204; 6810; 6894.

Courses which meet the methods requirement are: 6060; 6086; 6090; 6095; 6096; 6112; 6120; 6121; 6150.

The program is only able to offer a select number of theory and methods courses during any academic year. As a result, not all of the courses which meet the theory and methods requirements will be available for you to enrol.

All courses are chosen from those offered at the 6000-level. With the Director's permission students may take the equivalent of one full reading course (Sociology 6900) and/or the equivalent of one full course in another graduate program.

At the core of a student’s program is the formation of a three–person graduate faculty supervisory committee. This committee is a way to establish and maintain close contact with faculty members who share similar orientation and interests. While the committee is particularly important when working on the dissertation, if it is in place early enough, the members can also act as academic advisors. Within the general parameters of program requirements, the supervisory committee is largely responsible for advising students on a course of study appropriate to their interests, assessing their work and progress, and for professional mentoring.

The specific composition of the supervisory committee is in the student’s own hands, subject to the Director's approval and general Faculty of Graduate Studies regulations which specify the categories of membership which must be filled. Briefly stated:

The PhD supervisory committee MUST consist of a minimum of three members from the Faculty of Graduate Studies, at least two of whom must be from sociology. The principal supervisor must be from sociology. In exceptional circumstances, the third, or an additional, member who does not have an appointment to the Faculty of Graduate Studies may be included, but this requires prior approval by the Dean.

Faculty of Graduate Studies regulations state  that PhD students must have a supervisor in place no later than their fifth term of study. Doctoral supervisory committees must be formed no later than the student’s eighth term of study. Students who do not meet these deadlines will be unable to register unless the supervisor and/or supervisory committee has been approved.

Students must submit a completed supervisor and supervisory committee approval form to the program office in order for their supervisor and supervisory committee to be formally approved.

The York Sociology Graduate Association, with help from the program members, has developed some guidelines (.pdf) to assist you in both choosing and meeting potential committee members.

In addition to coursework, students must demonstrate comprehensive knowledge in two fields:

Goals

The comprehensives are intended to prepare the student for the dissertation, to do research and to teach in a field. Outside the structure of a course, the comprehensive provides the student with the challenge of examining and synthesizing a body of theory, and usually related empirical research. Comprehensiveness in a field combines breadth, depth and synthetic ability, without necessarily entailing exhaustive knowledge of the field. Students are expected to have a broad understanding of the major theoretical perspectives in the field and key debates. In most fields, comprehensiveness also requires a good knowledge of the alternative approaches to relevant empirical research, key findings and their interpretation in relation to theoretical approaches, and gaps in current research.

It is the responsibility of the program to provide a list of the program's pre–approved comprehensive areas (.pdf), updated annually, and the names of available faculty with expertise in each field. Students must have a comprehensive pre-approval form  on file, before the comprehensive can be signed off by the program. With the approval of the student’s faculty group or comprehensive committee and the Graduate Program Director, comprehensives may be written in fields other than those designated. Any such additional field, however, must have the same degree of generality as the designated fields. A more specialized area is better explored as part of the student’s dissertation or other research. Students usually choose comprehensive fields that are relevant to their dissertations and/or to the fields in which they expect to teach, but this is not a requirement.

Scheduling and Relationship to the Dissertation

The student will complete the comprehensive requirements by his or her eighth or ninth term of study in the doctoral program, that is, during the third year of registration. Students are required to complete the comprehensive requirements before the dissertation proposal is approved. The comprehensives can play an important role in defining the dissertation project and some students may choose their comprehensive fields partially in order to prepare broadly for background in a field related to the dissertation, but the comprehensives should not be seen as the beginning or a direct part of the dissertation.

Faculty Supervision

The student will form a three-person comprehensive committee for each or both of the comprehensive fields, which may or may not become their dissertation committee. Like the dissertation supervisory committee, the comprehensive committee consists of:

a minimum of three members from the Faculty of Graduate Studies, at least two of whom must be from sociology. The principal supervisor must be from sociology. At least one member must have declared themselves an expert in the comprehensive field being examined (see list of pre–approved comprehensive areas) (.pdf).

Preparing the Reading List

The student and the comprehensive committee will jointly decide on a reading list for each comprehensive; for comprehensive groups this will be done collectively, but will still require student–faculty agreement. The list will be equivalent to about 25 medium–sized books, with articles counting for about one–fifth of a book. Students are encouraged to make use of reading lists from completed comprehensives in the program office. Lists of core readings (.pdf) have been developed in 29 areas, with others in the works. These will be updated regularly. Students might take 15–20 readings from the core list and add 5–10 to reflect their particular interests, or find a balance that suits them and is acceptable to the faculty group or committee supporting and assessing the comprehensive.

Comprehensive Format

In each field, a student must demonstrate competence through written work followed by oral discussion. The written work can take three forms:

1. Outline of an advanced undergraduate course in the field chosen, to include: a detailed academic rationale for the organization of a course providing broad coverage of the field; a rationale for the particular selection of topics; and a list of twenty-five two-hour lecture sessions, with readings to accompany each session; and the full text of a final lecture that identifies broad strengths of the field, major gaps in theoretical work and empirical research, as well as describing important issues the course could not address. This exercise provides opportunities to discuss how such a course would provide advanced undergraduates with a broad knowledge of the current state of the field, to show how the instructor would integrate major debates, to locate key empirical findings in relation to theoretical approaches, and to address gaps in current knowledge. The written lecture will be approximately 25 – 30 pages.
2. A review of research in the comprehensive field. The paper (approximately 40 pages) must demonstrate an understanding of the major theoretical approaches and findings of the important bodies of empirical research, perhaps including comments on alternative methodological approaches. The paper should identify critical current debates in the field and identify significant theoretical and research gaps in the literature. This review is not an opportunity to explore specialized theory or empirical research.
3. A take–home exam. The exam, consisting of two questions, shall be designed to elicit responses that reflect an understanding of the major theoretical approaches and the findings of the important bodies of empirical research as they pertain to the comprehensive field. Exams will be held three times per year: in September, January and May, within a two–week period announced by the program office.  Students should be aware of the take-home exam deadlines (.pdf) as these will not be waived. Three months before the proposed exam date, students will submit to the program office: a reading list; a 300–500–word rationale for the list; and 3–5 exam questions, all of which will be developed by the student in consultation with their supervisor and committee members. For the exam, the committee will develop two questions, based on the issues covered by the questions developed in conjunction with the students; these two questions may be from amongst the three to five questions submitted earlier. The supervisor will send the two exam questions to the student by e–mail and cc the program office. Students will respond to these questions in 3000–4000 words, each, over the course of one week (seven days). Students must inform the program office of the seven–day period in which they will be writing the exam. When students submit their responses to their comp committee, they are also required to send their responses to the program office at this same time. The committee will assess the responses, hold an oral discussion, and make an evaluation, normally within one month of receiving the responses to the written portion of the exam. (If, due to extenuating circumstances, such as extended illness, a student is unable to take the exam during the scheduled period, the program will assist in making alternative arrangements as needed).

Option 1 may be used for completing ONLY one of the two comprehensives

Evaluation of the Comprehensives

It is the responsibility of the student’s faculty group or comprehensive committee to organize the evaluation of the student’s work. In each field, a student must demonstrate competence through her or his written work. Assessment of the written work is to be completed in the context of an oral discussion of the field between the student and her or his entire faculty group and/or comprehensive committee. This will include a presentation by the student, followed by questions. The assessment of the group/committee will be that the student has passed or failed. A field requirement is considered passed if no more than one member of this group/committee casts a negative vote.

The process is constructed to be both evaluative and educative. In the case of an assessment of “Fail,” one of the committee members (typically, the supervisor) will provide the student with feedback and guidance (concerning revisions, preparation for the take–home exam, or preparation for the oral discussion, as appropriate), directed to enable the successful completion of the comprehensive. In the case of Option 1 and Option 2, the student should aim to be re–examined in the field, by the original committee members, within three months of the first attempt. In the case of Option 3, the student should be re–examined, by the original committee members, at the next scheduled exam date. In principle, the reexamination should be based on the original list of 3–5 questions, though the reexamination questions must be new. Regardless of the option selected for completing a comprehensive, two failures will require the student’s withdrawal from the program.

When the student has passed the oral exam, they must submit  the following to the graduate program office:

(i) Comprehensive Exam Approval Form (.pdf)
(ii)  Hard copy of the comprehensive

Students must develop an acceptable dissertation proposal. When this has been approved by the supervisory committee, the following must be submitted to the graduate program office:

(i) Dissertation Proposal Form (TD1)
(ii) FGS Human Participants Research Form (TD2)
(iii) Appendix B: Informed Consent Checklist for Researchers (TD3)
(iv) Appendix F: Statement of Relationship Between Proposal and an Existing HPRC-Approved Project (TD4), if necessary
(v)TCPS Tutorial Certificate
(vi) Informed Consent Document
(vii) Hard copy of the proposal

Dissertation proposals must be approved by Faculty of Graduate Studies at least six months prior to the defence date.

Proposals written by former students may be consulted, but not borrowed, in the program office.

Carry out research project and report the results in appropriate dissertation format (gradstudies.yorku.ca/current-students/thesis-dissertation/).

Students may also choose to complete the dissertation requirement by writing an article-based dissertation.

Students must pass an oral examination on the subject of the dissertation and related questions. When the dissertation is judged examinable by the supervisory committee, a dissertation defence must be set up by the supervisory committee. At least 25 business days prior to the oral exam date, all paperwork for the defence must be deposited in the program office. The paperwork includes:

(i) A "recommendation for oral examination" form signed by your committee members, or with e-mails attached confirming that your dissertation  is defendable. The form must also include the title of your dissertation, the confirmed date and time of the defence, as well as the names of all examining committee members. Once deposited in the graduate program office, students will be unable to change the title of their dissertation. The examining committee consists of:

1. The Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies or her/his representative, who will be at arm's length from the supervision of the dissertation, and who will serve as Chair of the examining committee;
2. One external examiner, from outside York University, at arm's length from the dissertation;
3. One graduate faculty member at arm's length from the dissertation, and noramlly from outside the Program;
4. Two graduate faculty members from the supervisory committee, or one member from the supervisory committee and one graduate faculty member from the program.

(ii) Your CV

(iii) External examiner's pre-approval form (.pdf); this form is required if the external examiner's incurred expenses will exceed $350; prior-approval from the Faculty of Graduate Studies is required before an invitation can be extended to the external examiner.

(iv) A pdf of your thesis, without the acknowledgement section.  Students submitting e-copies of their thesis to their committee members or submitting large files may make use of York University’s Dropbox.

1. Log in at http://dropbox.yorku.ca using Passport York
2. Click “Choose File” and select the file to upload from your device
3. Enter only your email address in the “Recipient(s) Email” field
4. Click “Upload file and send notification”
5. Access your email to locate the unique download link
6. Draft an email to your recipients and include the unique download link

Alternatively, if your recipients are expecting the file, you can choose to have York University’s Dropbox send the file directly to them:

1. Log in at http://dropbox.yorku.ca using Passport York
2. Click “Choose File” and select the file to upload from your device
3. Enter all recipient email addresses in the “Recipient(s) Email” field (it is recommended you include your own email address so you receive a copy of the unique download link)
4. Click “Upload file and send notification”

Note: All files uploaded to the York University’s Dropbox are maintained for 3 days, upon which they are deleted. Recipients must ensure they download the file prior to its expiration.

Students can contact ithelp@yorku.ca for assistance with York University’s Dropbox.

(v) Apply to graduate through the convocation website.

There are important deadlines to be observed if you intend to graduate in February, June or October. THEY WILL NOT BE WAIVED.

Dissertations written by former students may be consulted, but not removed from the Common Room (2101 Vari Hall).

The dissertation oral examination requirement is met if one of the following situations exists:

(i) if the committee accepts the dissertation with no revisions; or

(ii) if the committee accepts the dissertation with specific revisions

If revisions are required, these must be completed and approved by both the supervisor and the chair of the examining committee. Once approved, your supervisor and the chair must fill out a "revisions approved memorandum" form confirming that the revisions have been completed, or they may each send an e-mail to the Thesis Coordinator confirming the same.

Once the Thesis Coordinator has received confirmation of your approved revisions, she'll send you an invitation to complete an Electronic Thesis record and upload your dissertation as a PDF along with any supplementary files you may have. Be sure that you have followed the proper dissertation formatting guidelines prior to uploading your document. The Thesis Coordinator will review, approve or return your document(s) if there any problems (e.g. formatting). Please note that it takes twenty-four  hours from the time in which the the Thesis Coordinator sends you an invitation for you to be able to access the portal to upload your Thesis.

When the Thesis Coordinator has confirmed that they've approved your submission, they'll send confirmation of this to the graduate program office. The date on which the Thesis Coordinator confirms approval of your document is the date on which your PhD is officially completed. Students must remain registered in the program until this confirmation is received.

The graduate program office will then process your name for convocation.

Approximately two months prior to the convocation ceremony, you should visit the convocation website and RSVP for the ceremony. Their website will also inform you about all facets of convocation.

Upon conferral of your degree, your dissertation will be deposited in the Institutional Repository (YorkSpace) and will be available for harvest by Library and Archives Canada.

Depending on the candidate’s qualifications and intended research, demonstrated competency in a foreign language and/or demonstrated competency in a technical skill, such as statistics, may be required at the discretion of a student’s supervisory committee.