The traditional
focus of demography has been the growth and distribution of
human populations through the central demographic processes
of fertility, mortality, and migration. In recent years, demographic
science has grown increasingly diverse. While maintaining
its traditional focus, demography has strengthened its connections
other social science fields and specialties. As a result,
it is increasingly common for demographic research to incorporate
the theories, concepts, and methods from family sociology,
urban sociology, social stratification, aging, and economic/political
sociology.
Closely linked to
demography is human ecology, the study of the organizational
features of human populations in response to changes in demographic,
technological, and environmental factors. Within sociology,
human ecology has been closely tied to the study of urbanization
and social structure of urban populations. The impact of immigration
and internal migration on urban communities has grown to be
an important focus of research in human ecology.
The Center
for Studies in Demography and Ecology (CSDE) is one of
the leading interdisciplinary research and graduate training
programs at the University of Washington. The Center draws
together sociologists, economists, anthropologists, geographers,
and other scholars in a very productive program of research
and training on population problems in the United States,
Asia, Africa, and elsewhere. Many graduate students in sociology
are supported as research assistants in CSDE.
Faculty:
Clark, Crowder, Dechter, Hargens, Herting, Hirschman, Lavely,
Lee, Morris, Pettit, Raftery, Tolnay
Deviance and
Social Control
All societies seek
to ensure that its inhabitants comply with social norms. Those
who do not do so are considered to be "deviant"
and are subject to social control. Sociologists interested
in deviance study how certain behaviors come to be defined
as "deviant", as well as the prevalence and causes
of deviant behavior. Those interested in social control focus
on public reactions to deviance, the emergence and operation
of law and law enforcement, and other group attempts to secure
compliance with social norms.
Graduate students
typically have opportunities to work with faculty on research
projects, and students and faculty share their research in a research
seminar throughout the year.
Many graduates are
employed by colleges and universities, where they teach a
broad range of courses in deviance, delinquency, criminology,
social control, the sociology of law. Others work in government
agencies responsible for research and administration in law
enforcement and corrections.
Faculty:
Beckett, Crutchfield, Harris, Herting, Matsueda, Pettit, Rosenfeld,
Takeuchi, Weis
Many early sociologists (including Marx, Weber, Veblen, and others) concerned themselves with understanding systems that produced and distributed goods - that is, with things economic. In fact, since thre was no such thing as sociology, many of our displines' "founding fathers" held university appointments in economics. After a long hiatus in the mid-twentieth century, sociologists have begun to return to the study of economic institutions, bringing with them new theories and better data with which to study what is social about production, distribution, and consumption.
While economic sociology, like economics, is the study of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, the modern field is characterized by an emphasis on the role of social relations and social institutions on these activities. Faculty and students active in the field of economic sociology are committeed to empirical study, and use a variety of methods in their work. Those interested in Economic Sociology are active participants in the SOPES seminar (Seminar in Organizational, Political, and Economic Sociology), which is jointly sponsored with the Political Sociology area.
Faculty: Hamilton, Kiser, Morris, Stovel, Quinn
Family and Kinship
Research on family
encompasses studies of historical change, cross-cultural comparison,
institutional interdependence, life-cycle transitions, social
psychological processes, and biological imperatives--all of
which make the field of family studies unusually wide-ranging
and varied.
The program of courses
is designed to provide a solid background in family history,
contemporary issues, cross-cultural topics, family demography,
and sociobiology. Central to the program are courses on gender
and the family, the history of the family, the family and
work, the family in China, family demography, family and development,
and family and the life cycle. Students have produced theses
and dissertations on topics ranging from gay and lesbian marriage
rituals to the relationship between government programs and
fertility outcomes.
Sociology courses
may be supplemented by related coursework in Women
Studies, the
Jackson School of International Studies, American
Ethnic Studies, and Anthropology.
Informal cross-disciplinary groups supplement the formal course
programs.
Faculty:
Brines, Clark, Dechter, Howard, Lavely, Lee, Pettit, Schwartz,
Scott, Tolnay
Political
Sociology
Political
sociology is the study of governments and, sometimes, other
centers of power, from a sociological point of view. This
means that the development of government institutions, their
activities, and their change or decline are explained by forces
that are primarily social; the impact of government on social
life is also a key concern. Political sociology considers
the political activities of individuals (including party choice
and involvement in political organization), the structure
and impact of political organizations (including interest
groups, social movement organizations, and political parties),
and government itself. Research examines the historical, the
comparative, and the contemporary, utilizing a variety of
research methods and drawing on cultural, rational-choice,
and other theoretical approaches to political change. Those interested in Political Sociology are active participants in the SOPES seminar (Seminar in Organizational, Political, and Economic Sociology), which is jointly sponsored with the Economic Sociology area.
Faculty:
Burstein, Chirot, Kiser, Pfaff, Quinn, Rosenfeld
Sociologists trained
at the University of Washington have traditionally had strong
training in research methodology as part of their basic graduate
education. Students who intend to present themselves as specialists
in quantitative research methodology are expected to develop
skills in greater depth and breadth than is implied by the
general Ph.D. requirements.
There is no fixed
program of study for such a specialization, but an individually
tailored program can be adapted to each student's educational
and career goals. Courses in the Department
of Statistics and selected courses in economics and psychology
can be used to supplement offerings within the Department
of Sociology. Faculty members with special expertise in social
statistics work with the Sociology and Statistics departments.
The new Center for
Statistics in the Social Sciences (CSSS) sponsors a weekly
seminar for which graduate students can earn course credit,
and also provides assistance with methodological issues associated
with research in substantive areas.
A specialization
in research methodology is broader than statistics and incorporates
examination of study designs, the conceptualization and measurement
of social variables, the formulation and analysis of causal
models, experimental and quasi-experimental designs, issues
pertaining to case selection and sampling, and demographic
analysis.
Students specializing
in research methodology are expected to develop sophisticated
computer skills. The Center
for Social Science Computation and Research (CSSCR), a
computer equipment and service center for the social sciences,
supports students in developing computer expertise. Located
in Savery Hall, CSSCR offers a range of computer hardware
and software, consultation in computer analysis, assistance
in the acquisition and use of computerized data sets, and
brief, non-credit seminars on program packages. The Department
of Sociology also has its own 24-hour computer lab for graduate
students and faculty, located in the same building. This lab
has sixteen machines with zip drives, including two Macintosh
G3s, voice-recognition software, and a full complement of
statistical, graphical, and internet applications.
Students with strong
methodological skills can expect to have a wide range of educational
experiences. They may teach undergraduate courses in research
methodology, assist faculty in more advanced methodology courses,
become CSSCR consultants, work with sociology faculty on the
design and/or implementation of funded projects, or participate
in paid projects outside the department.
Recently the prestigious
journal Sociological Methodology was edited
by faculty in our program.
Faculty:
Brines, Burstein, Clark, Dechter, Hargens, Herting,
Matsueda, Morris, Pettit, Raftery, Stovel
Sociology of Sex and
Gender
The sociology of
gender addresses the systematic positions of women and men
in our society. Courses in this area emphasize the sociological
significance of gender relations in settings ranging from
macro-level institutions to micro-level interactions. Courses
at the macro-level emphasize the significance of gender relations
in occupational, family, and other stratification systems.
Courses at the micro level emphasize the effects of gender
relations in the context of social interaction. Other courses
address the political contexts and policy implications of
gender relations. Courses in this program also emphasize cross-cultural
patterns of gender relations, as well as the cross-cutting
patterns among relations of gender, race, class, and sexuality.
Supplementary coursework
may be taken in Women Studies, American Ethnic Studies, Political
Science, Anthropology, and History, as well as in a number
of departments in the humanities and natural sciences. Related
lecture and seminar series are offered by the Northwest Center
for Research on Women and the Women's Information Center.
Faculty:
Brines, Howard, Reskin, Schwartz
Stratification,
Race and Ethnicity
Social stratification
is one central focus of sociologists: we explore how social
groups are created, how they maintain themselves, how they
relate to one another, and what role they play in stratification,
politics, culture, and social change. How people earn a living;
how their opportunities are affected by family background,
education,personality, personal contacts, public policy, and
currents of social change; how work and the structure of economic
institutions affects individual personalities, family life,
or sense of the world as fair or unfair: all of these are
the concerns of sociologists studying social stratification.
Sociology faculty
teach a variety of courses on stratification and on race and
ethnic relations, including introductory courses that acquaint
students with basic issues and current research and more specialized
seminars that address social mobility in industrialized countries,
the impact of race and ethnicity on stratification in the
United States, race relations and slavery in the Americas,
ethnic relations in Southeast Asia, the role of age and gender
in stratification systems around the world.
Faculty:
Beckett, Brines, Burstein, Crowder, Crutchfield, Harris, Hirschman,
Lee, Morris, Pettit, Pitchford, Rosenfeld,
Takeuchi, Tolnay
Theory offers to
the field an effort to organize and integrate knowledge from
diverse topical areas of sociology. The function of the specialist
in theory is to discern, compare, and develop the general
images or models that underlie substantive sociological investigations.
In so doing, theorists facilitate the transfer of insights
from one research specialty to another, in an effort to support
and develop general sociology.
Some theorists produce
general propositions intended to have broad relevance. Others
may try to show how different theories relate to one another,
or to apply an existing theory in a new domain.
Training in theory
stresses analytic and abstract reasoning. Students may select
from a set of courses that range from micro-macro relationships
to theory in comparative and historical studies. Courses emphasize
exposure to the varieties and processes of theorizing, the
continuities and discontinuities in the development of sociological
theory, and current issues, controversies and trends.
Current interests
of the program's faculty include levels-of-analysis and "micro-macro"
issues; development and application of exchange, equity, and
rational choice theories; causal issues in macrohistorical
studies; power; clarification of institutional and cultural
processes; and relations of explanatory, interpretive, and
critical argumentation in sociology.
Faculty:
Burstein, Chirot, Hamilton, Kiser, Pfaff, Quinn,
Stovel
*Adjunct
or Affiliate Faculty
|
