Students in the research paper stream must complete the required course work in the first two terms of study, participate in regularly scheduled meetings (offered in the winter term) in order to satisfy the MA Sociological Research Practicum Milestone, and complete a research paper.

Courses—Students in the MRP stream are required to take six courses PLUS meet the requirements of the MA Sociological Research Practicum Milestone (offered in the winter term). Normally three courses are taken in the fall term and three courses are taken in the winter term. Students are required to take the following 3 courses PLUS 3 electives:

1) Sociology 9003 (Research Design)
2) Sociology 9001 (Introduction to Multivariable Analysis)
3) Either Sociology 9005 (Contemporary Social Theory) OR 9002 (Sociological Perspectives)

A minimum of five of the six required courses must be graduate courses offered by the Department. The other may be a graduate course offered in another department or from an inter-disciplinary program. Students are advised to explore the possibilities that are available. As with any course selection, the approval of the graduate chair is required.

Students in collaborative specializations should consult the respective web pages to determine required courses for the specialization (see side bar for links). For more information on various course regulations please click on course information.

In exceptional circumstances, permission to take a reading course may be granted at the discretion of the graduate chair. Exceptional circumstances may include that there is no course being offered in the student's area of study (broadly, rather than narrowly considered) in a given year (not a given term) or that a student wishes to take additional courses beyond those that are required. Normally, students will be permitted to take a maximum of one reading course. 

Sociological Research—In the second semester of study, students will be required to participate in sessions designed to meet the requirements of the MA Sociological Research Practicum Milestone. Each student must complete a Research Paper Supervisor form (see "Documents" at the top of this page) and submit it to the graduate program

MA Supervisor Form due Oct 31 

If you are interested in applying to the 2-year thesis program, talk to your supervisor and see MA Thesis Forms and Guidelines section below. Deadline to apply is December 1.

MA Research Program Guidelines

SGPS Graduate Supervision Handbook 

The Master’s Research Paper (MRP) is started during the Fall term and completed during the Summer term.

1. Each student develops and works on the MRP under a close supervision of a faculty member (their supervisor)
2. The MRP paper is typically the length of a journal article, roughly 30-45 pages all inclusive (e.g. abstract, tables, references).
3. The typical MRP is an empirical analysis of existing data.  However, other formats are acceptable, such as theoretical, or systematic review articles such as could be submitted and are found in sociological journals.

Finishing the MRP

1. Student emails their final version of the MRP to their supervisor and the Graduate Assistant at any time in the spring or summer, but no later than August 15.   
2. The supervisor marks the work before August 30 and sends the mark to the Graduate Assistant. The marking is like for graduate classes in that passing means a mark of at least 60%
3. The MRP is subject to textual similarity review (Turnitin) for the detection of plagiarism. The Graduate Assistant runs a Turnitin when the student submits the final version.
4. The MRP mark is displayed on the student’s transcript

MRP format template 

Research Data Centre 

Research Ethics

Thesis students must complete a minimum of six half-courses, a thesis proposal and an MA thesis, approved according to regulations established by the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.

Courses—Students in the thesis stream are required to take six courses, normally three in the fall term and three in the winter term.  Students are required to take the following 3 courses PLUS 3 electives:

1) Sociology 9003 (Research Design)
2) Sociology 9001 (Introduction to Multivariable Analysis)
3) Either Sociology 9005 (Contemporary Social Theory) OR 9002 (Sociological Perspectives)

A minimum of five of the six required courses must be graduate courses offered by the Department. The other may be a graduate course offered in another department or from an inter-disciplinary program. Students are advised to explore the possibilities that are available. As with any course selection, the approval of the graduate chair is required.

Students in collaborative specializations should consult the respective web pages to determine required courses for the specialization (see side bar for links). For more information on various course regulations please click on course information.

In exceptional circumstances, permission to take a reading course may be granted at the discretion of the graduate chair. Exceptional circumstances may include that there is no course being offered in the student's area of study (broadly, rather than narrowly considered) in a given year (not a given term) or that a student wishes to take additional courses beyond those that are required. Normally, students will be permitted to take a maximum of one reading course.

Thesis Supervisory Committee—By the end of the second term of the first year of study, the student must have a thesis supervisor. To serve as an MA thesis supervisor, the faculty member must be a member of the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and a member of the main campus Sociology Department at Western. The student and the supervisor sign the Thesis Supervisor form (see below MA Supervisor form due October 31) and submit it to the graduate program assistant.  It is the student's prerogative to change supervisors. In that case, a new form is to be completed and submitted. In the case of an impasse between the student and the supervisor, the graduate chair will adjudicate and determine an appropriate course of action. Either the student or the supervisor may bring such a matter to the attention of the graduate chair. 

MA Thesis Proposal—MA students are required to write a thesis proposal, normally in the third term of the program, under the supervision of the faculty member selected to be the thesis supervisor. The thesis proposal is considered a milestone of our program and requires:

1) The selection of a supervisory committee member. The expectation is that the supervisory committee member will serve as a "reader," providing feedback beginning at the proposal stage and throughout the writing process, and will read the thesis in its entirety before preliminary submission. A supervisory committee member must be a member of SGPS with at least non-core limited membership status (see the graduate program assistant for further details).

2) Approval of the proposal by both the supervisor and the supervisory committee member.

3) Completion by the end of the student’s third semester in residence.

4) Completion of the Thesis Proposal Report.

Format: The content and structure of the proposal should be developed in consultation with the supervisor before writing.  Please consult the following:

1) The MA Thesis Proposal Guidelines provide details such as what should be included and questions to consider in the preparation of your proposal A proposal typically provides key background literature, methods/methodology, and expected contributions. 

2) Ethics Approval—Students planning to conduct research involving human participants (e.g., survey, participant observation, interviews) need to obtain Ethics approval from the University's Non-Medical Research Ethics Board.  This is not a simple process and, since from start to finish the Ethics process could take up to 3 months, the student and supervisor need to plan accordingly.

MA Thesis Program Guidelines 
MA Thesis Exam Request Form

MA Thesis—The submission of the Thesis Proposal Report represents a commitment by the student, supported by the thesis supervisor, to pursue the thesis upon completion of the thesis proposal. 

Regulations: All procedures and formatting found in the School of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies' Thesis Regulation Guide must be followed in the preparation of a thesis. Theses will be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial plagiarism detection software under license to the University for the detection of plagiarism.

Length: MA theses in Sociology typically range from 100-150 pages, but should not be shorter than 75 pages excluding appendices. 

Format:  Students may submit their MA thesis in either monograph or integrated-article format. Listed below are components required in the main body of the thesis. Students should consult Section 8.3 of the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies' (SGPS) Thesis Regulation Guide for a complete list of components and formatting details.

Following SGPS guidelines, it is expected that an MA thesis following an integrated article format will include the following components in the body of the thesis:

• An introductory chapter that introduces and establishes the relevance of the broader dissertation topic that is addressed by the separate articles;
• A literature review chapter that sets the broader theoretical, conceptual, and methodological context for the separate articles to follow;
• One to two articles, depending on length;
• A concluding chapter that relates the separate articles to each other and integrates and discusses the findings within the context of the broader field of study;
• A separate bibliography should be included at the end of each chapter and article.
  
  Further, following the SGPS guidelines, it is expected that an MA thesis following a monograph format will usually include the following components in the body of the thesis:

• An introductory chapter that introduces and establishes the relevance of the broader dissertation topic;
• A literature review chapter that sets the broader theoretical, conceptual, and methodological context for the dissertation;
• A methodology chapter that describes the analyses conducted;
• One or more results chapters;
• A concluding chapter that discusses the findings within the context of the broader field of study;
• A bibliography.

Research Data Centre
Research Ethics
SGPS Thesis Regulations