Master's paper

No later than in their sixth quarter of residence graduate students must submit an acceptable Master’s paper for approval by the general faculty. The paper must demonstrate the student's general competence in sociological theory, methodology, and one substantive area.

As early in the graduate career as possible, each student will select two faculty members who consent to serve as his/her Master’s Committee. Faculty serving should represent a broad range of professional interests. Formation of the Master’s Committee may not be postponed beyond the beginning of the fourth quarter of residence in graduate work. For more specific guidelines, deadlines, and procedures regarding the Master’s review, contact the Graduate Affairs Assistant.

In consultation with and on the advice of this committee, the student shall develop a paper, probably initially written for a course, demonstrating intellectual attainment. The paper should show that the student (a) has an accurate grasp of the intellectual traditions of sociology, (b) can bring evidence to bear on theoretical problems, c) can describe how some aspect of the social order works, and (d) can handle research and methodological issues adequately. The main concern is with the student's capacity to do Ph.D. level work.

A student is allowed two years from entrance into the Department to qualify for the M.A. degree. The student's Master’s Committee may nominate a student at the beginning of any quarter if they feel that the student's paper is ready for faculty approval. However, it is expected and strongly recommended that the paper be completed by the second week of class in a student’s sixth quarter of the program (In most cases, a student’s sixth quarter in the program coincides with the spring quarter).  The paper should be submitted to the graduate affairs officer at that time; simultaneously, the M.A. committee must send a narrative evaluation of the paper to the Graduate Curriculum and Advisement Committee (GCAC).

If the M.A. committee concludes that the paper needs minor revisions before it is acceptable, the committee must subsequently deposit a revised paper and a second narrative evaluation by the end of the sixth week.

It is possible that the paper and its evaluation will not be ready for submission by the end of the second week of the student’s sixth quarter.  In that case, the M.A. committee must send a narrative evaluation to that effect, and consideration of the case is then postponed to the next quarter.

Papers postponed to the seventh quarter must be submitted to the graduate affairs officer and GCAC, along with the M.A. committee’s narrative evaluation, by the second week of class in that quarter.  There will be no further extensions beyond this point:  failure to submit the paper by the deadline would normally result in the student’s dismissal from the program. 

At the time of the transmission of the paper to the graduate advisor, the committee of advisors will send an evaluation of the paper to the GCAC, indicating whether to pass the paper; or reject it outright.  The evaluation will include a full characterization of the paper, highlighting strengths and weaknesses, and drawing lessons for the student’s future career in the program.

Based on the advisors’ evaluation of the paper and its own review of the student’s academic record, the GCAC will make a recommendation to the department at a faculty meeting about whether or not to award the MA degree, and whether or not to encourage advancement to the PhD program.  In making its recommendation, the GCAC will solicit information from the advisors and other knowledgeable faculty members.  The GCAC will make its recommendation no later than the eighth week of the quarter in which the paper is submitted.

Diffusion of relevant information to faculty: Titles of papers, 150 word abstracts, the names of the committee members, the committee’s evaluation of the paper, and the recommendation of the GCAC on the awarding of the MA and advancement to the PhD program will be distributed to the full faculty well in advance of the MA review meeting.  All of this material will be on file in the Graduate Student Advisor’s office, available for inspection by interested colleagues.

Any student entering graduate studies at UCLA with an M.A. degree in Sociology from another institution will normally come up for a Master’s review in the first quarter of residence at UCLA, and under no circumstances later than the third quarter of residence. In this review, the Department will determine whether or not the student may proceed directly to preparation for the field examinations, whether additional courses need to be taken for breadth purposes, whether the submitted paper needs additional work, or whether an additional paper needs to be done, and whether theory and methodology sequence requirements have been adequately satisfied. In addition to a paper of normally no more than 50 double spaced pages, which can be based on an M.A. thesis written at another university, such a student should submit for the Master’s review a transcript from the university at which the M.A. degree was earned so that we can determine whether the requirements ordinarily constraining students in the first years of our program have been met.