There are several opportunities for students to get involved in research. The Honors Program in Sociology (Socy 98 & SOCY 99) consists of advanced independent research under the direction of a faculty supervisor, culminating in the completion and presentation to the department of an honors thesis. Faculty routinely hire undergraduates as research assistants, often through the Presidential Scholars Program. The department provides research support for advanced students conducting independent research, and several of our courses provide hands-on research opportunities.
Many faculty members are involved in ongoing research projects that require assistance. Several of our faculty have relied on a combination of paid and unpaid undergraduate research assistants for help doing literature reviews, assembling bibliographies, cleaning and coding data, and preliminary data analysis. If you are interested in working with a faculty member on their research, you should contact them directly to see what opportunities are available.
The sociology department offers small research awards to students pursuing honors theses or other independent research. The awards can support any research-related activity (e.g., interview transcription, purchasing of a dataset, travel to do field work, etc.).
The Presidential Scholars Program, funded by the Office of Undergraduate Research, pairs undergraduates and faculty advisors for a two-term research opportunity. Students meeting a certain GPA requirement apply for these positions in their sophomore year and work on the faculty member's project for two terms of their junior year. Please see the OUR website for more detail.
The A. Wade Smith award will be given each fall to a student pursuing original research on racial justice or a closely related topic. The award is for up to $500 and can be used to support any research-related activity (e.g., interview transcription, purchasing of a dataset, travel to do field work, etc.).
