Senior Exit Requirement (Comprehensive Requirement)

Every major at UCSC includes a senior exit requirement (also known as the comprehensive requirement) designed to integrate the knowledge and skills learned throughout the curriculum. For the sociology major, students may select one from three options outlined below.

Please note: Prior to the 2020-21 academic year, the options were different. Instead of the current three options outlined below, there were two options: SOCY 196A Capstone or Senior Thesis. Read the announcement of this change here. If you have already passed SOCY 196A Capstone, you have already met the comprehensive requirement and do not need to take one of the options outlined below. The Senior Thesis option remained the same.

Options as of 2020-21

Students majoring in the Sociology BA or Sociology with GISES concentration, must complete one of the comprehensive requirements outlined below. Students majoring in the Combined LALS/SOCY major should refer to the LALS department for the comprehensive requirements.

1. SOCY 196S Senior Seminar
2. SOCY Graduate Level Course
3. Senior Thesis
   • Steps Toward a Thesis
   • Thesis Timeline
   • Thesis Resources

SOCY 196S Senior Seminar

Sociology majors who select this option must pass (C or better or Pass grade) one SOCY 196S seminar course in Fall, Winter, or Spring of their senior year. Topics will vary yearly. These seminars focus on advanced topics in sociology. The pedagogical aims vary but these seminars often emphasize at least one of the following: close textual analysis, critical and analytical thinking, active learning, field research, advanced research methods, or advanced theory.

Enrollment is by application and permission code. It is highly recommended that students apply early in their senior year, and not wait until Spring quarter when the seminars will be the most impacted.

Fall Quarter Application Process:

Upcoming Senior Seminar Topics:

• Winter 2021 Senior Seminar Topics
• Spring 2021 Senior Seminar Topics

SOCY Graduate Level Course

Sociology majors may be invited or approved to join a sociology graduate level course to satify their comprehensive requirement. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. In most cases, this option is for students who excelled in an upper-division undergraduate course with the same instructor. 

Sociology graduate courses are numbered SOCY 200-299 and topics vary yearly.

Students may contact the sociology graduate course instructor to discuss if admission to their course is possible. It is recommended that students provide the following information when contacting the instructor:

• Whether you have previously taken a course with the instructor
• Relevant courses you have taken
• Why you are interested in the topic
• Any other relevant information you may want to provide
• If you have not previously taken a course with the instructor it is also recommend that you provide writing samples.

Senior Thesis

A senior thesis is a large, independent research project that students may choose to complete in order to fulfill the comprehensive requirement in the major. The thesis should be a project that can be feasibly completed in 7-10 months. Generally, a thesis is about 40-80 pages, but there is no minimum or maximum.

Steps Towards a Thesis

1. Prerequisites: SOCY 3A The Evaluation of Evidence (or equivalent) and, if possible, have completed or in progress with the Disciplinary Communications (DC) requirement, SOCY 105A and SOCY 105B. These prerequisites should ideally be completed by the end of junior year, as methodological and theoretical preparation for thesis research. If you are a Combined LALS/SOCY major student, you do not have SOCY 3A as a major requirement, therefore it is not a prerequisite for the thesis.
2. You must be in good academic standing. Students on academic probation are not eligible to write a senior thesis. A senior thesis is an honors-level option for the comprehensive requirement in the major. Students should be doing well in their Sociology courses.
3. Submit a thesis proposal to the preferred faculty thesis sponsor for approval. Students may begin this process with a discussion of their thesis topic ideas with their preferred faculty thesis sponsor, then formalize the idea in a thesis proposal. Or some students may choose to write a thesis proposal first before speaking to their preferred faculty thesis sponsor. The proposal must be submitted and approved by the faculty thesis sponsor one quarter prior to the commencement of the thesis work.
   1. The proposal must include: a working title, a description of the work to be undertaken, research question(s), methodology, a brief bibliography, a timeline to completion, at least three keywords describing your thesis topic, and materials from relevant courses that might help faculty determine your preparedness to complete the thesis. Students must also familiarize themselves with IRB protocols (https://irb.ucsc.edu/) and include in their proposal whether an IRB review is needed. In general, you do not need an IRB review for a thesis unless the research will be made available to the public, used by other researchers, or there is a possibility that you will formally present or publish your research. If you are working with human subjects but are not required to complete an IRB review, the faculty sponsor is responsible for educating their student to safeguard the well being of the subjects.
   2. Students unsuccessful in obtaining a thesis sponsor through these means may submit their thesis proposal to the Sociology Undergraduate Education Committee (UEC), through the Undergraduate Advisor, no later than the sixth week of the quarter, one quarter prior to the commencement of the thesis. This is ideally in spring quarter of your junior year. UEC members will review the merits of the proposal and if approved, the UEC will consult with available faculty and assign the student to a faculty member who has not yet agreed to serve as a thesis advisor. Students will be notified of the UEC's decision within three weeks.
4. Complete the “Petition for Undergraduate Individual Studies Course” once the faculty thesis sponsor has approved the proposal. Students must complete the form and obtain their faculty thesis sponsor signature prior to submitting it to the Undergraduate Advisor. The faculty thesis sponsor signature on the form indicates their approval of the project proposal and their approval to sponsor your thesis course.
5. Submit an approved thesis proposal and “Petition for Undergraduate Individual Studies Course” to the Undergraduate Advisor. Enrollment numbers will not be given to students until they have submitted the approved thesis proposal and the “Petition for Undergraduate Individual Studies Course” signed by the thesis sponsor. You must submit a completed and signed form each quarter you are working on your thesis in order to receive the thesis enrollment number.
6. Enroll in SOCY 195A: Senior Thesis. Two quarters of thesis work is required; however, three quarters is highly recommended. Students are allowed 10-15 units of individual study course credit for the thesis (195A, 195B and 195C), which may be taken consecutively or concurrently. Students must complete SOCY 195A and 195B, while 195C is optional. Five units of this course credit may be counted as one of the upper-division elective courses required for the major.
7. Complete the first draft of the thesis early in your final quarter, or as discussed with the faculty thesis sponsor. Students are expected to take draft comments from the faculty thesis sponsor into account in revising for the final draft. For examples of previous students’ research and thesis writing, some copies of past projects are available in the department office, for review only.
8. Submit the final thesis to the faculty thesis sponsor by the due date discussed with the faculty thesis sponsor. The thesis must be submitted no later than the end of the quarter in which the final thesis independent study course is taken, unless an incomplete grade notation was discussed with the faculty sponsor.
   
   1. It is recommended that students aim to complete their thesis prior to the end of the quarter in order to be eligible for the department’s Sociology of Race, Class and Gender Senior Thesis Award, the campus’s Deans’ and Chancellors Undergraduate Research Award. If an early completion date is not possible, students are also eligible to apply for both of these awards in the next cycle in following year, even if the student has already graduated.
9. Email the undergraduate advisor a pdf version of the final thesis to be filed in the department’s thesis archives. All theses filed in the department archives will be available as examples for future students to refer to, unless you request otherwise. The thesis must be emailed to the advisor by the end of quarter in which the thesis was finalized.
10. Comprehensive Honors can be awarded to a senior thesis. If the faculty thesis sponsor believes the thesis is of honors quality, the faculty member will ask a second reader to evaluate the thesis. If both the faculty sponsor and second reader approve of honors, then the approval is reported to the undergraduate advisor who can then note Comprehensive Honors during the student's graduation review.

Additional Notes for Combined Sociology/LALS Majors

Students in the Combined Sociology/LALS major who choose to complete a senior thesis for their comprehensive requirement, must meet the requirements of both departments. For LALS thesis information, see their website and Senior Exit Requirement details. The thesis must be planned in consultation with a faculty advisor from each department, completed under the supervision of a faculty member from either department, read and approved by both faculty advisors. One faculty advisor is sufficient if this faculty member belongs to both departments. Students may choose to enroll on either the Sociology side, SOCY 195A/B/C, with their Sociology faculty advisor, or on the LALS side, LALS 195A/B/C, with their LALS faculty advisor. Combined Sociology/LALS majors are not held to the SOCY 3A prerequisite listed at the top of this section

Recommended Timeline*

(Adapted from Harvard's "A Guide to Writing a Senior Thesis in Sociology")

* Additional Notes on Timeline:

• This is a recommended timeline. Students must discuss a timeline to completion with their faculty thesis advisor.
• It is highly recommended that students begin this process in spring of their junior year and take the full three quarters to complete the thesis.  Students who intend to complete the thesis in two quarters (SOCY 195A and 195B) or start this process late, must discuss the shortened timeline with their faculty thesis advisor.
• Students are expected to meet with their faculty thesis advisor frequently, typically once every 1-2 weeks. Meeting frequency should be discussed with your faculty thesis advisor when you are obtaining their signature on the "Petition for Undergraduate Individual Studies Course" each quarter.
• This timeline assumes that a student begins thesis research in the summer. While this is not required, it is highly recommended.

Senior Thesis Resources

• Download a PDF version of the Steps Toward a Thesis and Timeline [PDF]
  
• Sociology Faculty eligible to sponsor a thesis [PDF]
• Sociology Thesis Recommended Outline [PDF]
• Sociology Research Guides with the UCSC University Library
• Institutional Review Board (IRB)
• Harvard University "A Guide to Writing a Senior Thesis in Sociology" [PDF]
• Princeton University "Writing Sociology: A Guide for Writing Junior Papers and Senior Theses" [PDF]