As the culmination of their studies, sociology majors design, conduct and present findings from their own independent research. This year-long project is completed through two courses taken during senior year- SOC 408 in the fall and SOC 409 in the spring - and is conducted under the supervision of a faculty advisor. Students produce a full research paper and present their findings at the annual Stander Symposium.

Sociology majors select their own topics of interest for their capstone projects and use a variety of research methods including surveys, qualitative interviews, program assessments, content analysis, quantitative data analysis and more.

Our students also have the opportunity to conduct research under the guidance of faculty through research assistantships and fellowships. Faculty work one-on-one with students to train them in various research methodologies and supervise data collection and analysis. These research partnerships may also continue through presentation of findings at professional conferences and submission of manuscripts to academic journals.