Sociology
Department of Sociology and Social Work,
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Social and Behavioral Sciences Building (building 65), room 330
PO Box 15300, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5300
520-523-2979

Graduate Coordinator--Warren Lucas
520-523-6543

"The Department of Sociology and Social Work features an experienced faculty working closely with graduate students. Professors offer a wide range of expertise in the areas of population, communities, family, child development, women's studies, deviance, rural mental health, social control, social policy, and program evaluation."
     --Richard Fernandez, Chair

Introduction
Applied sociology involves the study of human relations in groups and communities, focusing on the consequences of differing patterns of organization on the creation, maintenance, and delivery of human services. While we have amassed an impressive body of knowledge about many aspects of the world, severe limits remain in our ability to develop and maintain human interaction among organizations composed of differing populations and values.

NAU's M.A. in applied sociology was among the first applied sociology graduate programs in the United States. Since 1975, our department has trained students in the practical aspects of this field. Our program combines the discipline of study with research and work experience.

Our graduates have found a variety of occupations and advanced graduate training in which to use their skills. According to SuzAnne Baker Ehardt, associate planner for McHenry County, Illinois, "My census and statistics background has helped me in some of the research that I have been required to do." Dr. Gary G. Auxier, a pediatrician from Montrose, Colorado, has said, "Sociology has given me a broader understanding of the social aspects of medicine."

Admission Requirements
To apply, you must submit an application and official transcript to NAU's Graduate College.

In addition, you must submit a written statement of interest and intent directly to our department.

All materials must arrive no later than March 31 to be considered for fall admission. We do not admit candidates midyear.

To be admitted to the program, you must have an undergraduate major in sociology or a related field with a minimum overall grade point average of 3.0. If your grade point average is less than 3.0, we may admit you in graduate provisional status, in which case you must complete 12 hours of approved graduate courses with a 3.0 average.

If you have neither an undergraduate degree in sociology nor a substantial number of undergraduate sociology courses, you must pass, at a minimum, the following courses with at least a 3.0 before we can admit you to the program in graduate regular status:

• SOC 101 (Introduction to Sociology)

• SOC 201 (Development of Sociological Thought)

• SOC 365 (Social Statistics)

For further information, contact our graduate program coordinator.

Financial Assistance
We offer approximately 5-10 graduate assistantships each year. You can get information and an application from our graduate coordinator, and you must return application materials to our department before March 15 for the next academic year.

You can find additional information about financial assistance in the Financial Information chapter of this catalog.

Degree Offered--
M.A. in Applied Sociology
To complete this degree, you must take:

• a 12-hour applied core

• a 12-hour emphasis area (applied research methods, human services, or sociological perspectives)

• 6 hours of electives

• a 6-hour internship or thesis

Current areas of strength in our department include social control, deviance, policy, planning, demography, social psychology, and the family.

Core Requirements
You must take the following four courses:

• SOC 619 The Sociological Imagination

• SOC 651 Applied Sociological Theory

• SOC 653 Applied Social Research Methods and Design

• SOC 654 Qualitative Research Methods
  or SOC 655 Quantitative Analysis

Graduate Advisory Committee
You must select a committee of three faculty members by the time you have completed 12 credit hours. One member serves as your adviser and as chair of your committee. One member may be from outside of our department.

Your committee guides and oversees your program of study as you progress toward completing your degree requirements.

Thesis or Internship
Before your second year of study, you select either a thesis or internship. For the internship, we maintain a field-placement network with social service agencies throughout Arizona. Both options require a formal paper and oral presentation to your committee for approval.

Sociology Courses
Some courses may not be offered every semester. Check with the department for current information about when specific courses are offered.

SOC 510 Sociology of Sport and Leisure (3). Societal dimension of contemporary sport and leisure including general sociological perspectives on sport, as well as the impact of sport on the social structure; focuses on the meaning sport has for society as well as some socially problematic conditions generated by sport.

SOC 528 Sociology of Mental Health (3). Social conditions pertaining to mental illness; survey of sociological theory and research on mental disturbance, its treatment, and societal efforts to cope with this disorder.

SOC 599 Contemporary Developments (1-3).

SOC 610 Seminar in Sociology (3). May be repeated once for credit.

SOC 612 Sociology of Education (3). Educational system and the larger society; education as a social system; implications for teachers and administrators.

SOC 616 Group Structure and Behavior (3). Relationship between the individual and the social system with emphasis on contexts within which interpersonal behavior occurs: the small group, the large-scale organization, the community, and the society.

SOC 619 The Sociological Imagination (3). Interplay of people and society, of self and world; existential basis of thought and ideas; belief system including ideology, science and religion, development of C. Wright Mills' "The Sociological Imagination." Fall

SOC 630 Social Policy (3). A critical review of the structural, financial, and other policy issues that are a part of our current social service delivery systems. Fall

SOC 631 Advanced Planning for Human Services (3). Contemporary social and community-action programs and their relationship to sociological theory; development of proposed programs. Fall

SOC 640 Theories and Trends in Criminology (3). Focus on adult crime including historical theories of crime causation as well as modern attempts to understand that phenomenon.

SOC 641 Theories of Deviance (3). Historical and contemporary analysis of deviance theory; particular attention to the strain, interactionist, and labeling models of deviance.

SOC 642 Theories of Social Control (3). Theories of social control and their application in institutional and social settings; focus on the historical development of control theories and contemporary research efforts dealing with these theoretical perspectives.

SOC 651 Applied Sociological Theory (3). Focus on theoretical models of social change; examination of the historical development of social change theories and models; with major emphasis on the systemic models of development and change. Spring

SOC 653 Applied Social Research Methods and Design (3). Current research topics and methodologies in applied sociology; an acquaintance with current literature and a critical understanding of the designs and methods appropriate for different problem areas. Fall

SOC 654 Qualitative Research Methods (3). Application of case-study methodology, ethnomethodology, and comparative qualitative methods in research. Nonquantitative applications of social research. Prerequisite: SOC 653. Spring

SOC 655 Quantitative Analysis (3). Quantitative research methodology techniques for survey data management and analysis. Emphasis on linear multivariate statistical techniques. Prerequisite: SOC 653. Spring

SOC 656 Program Evaluation (3). Applications of social research methods and theory to the evaluation of human services and public health programs. Spring

SOC 660 Social Gerontology (3). The emergence of aging as an issue in industrial societies; analysis of the aging process and the social ramifications on the individual role, status, and impact on society.

SOC 661 Methods of Demographic Research (3). Techniques of population analysis. Population projections and forecasting. Measurement of fertility, mortality, and migration.

SOC 685 Graduate Research (1-6). All semesters

SOC 696 Internship (3-6). Supervised placement in a social agency. All semesters

SOC 697 Independent Study (1-3). All semesters

SOC 698 Graduate Seminar (1-3).

Faculty
Mark A. Beeman, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Race relations, international development, social change (University of Illinois 1985)

Mary D. Damskey, M.S.W., Assistant Professor
Social work, health issues, bereavement, group work (Michigan State University 1979)

Douglas Degher, Ph.D., Professor
Criminology, deviance, social theory, sociology of sports (Washington State University 1974)

Richard R. Fernandez, Ph.D., Professor and Department Chair
Communities, complex organizations, social stratification, research methods, evaluation research (Washington State University 1976)

Rebecca J. Garrison, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Social work and social policy (Virginia Commonwealth University 1984)

Charlotte Goodluck, M.S.W., Associate Professor
Social work (Smith College 1973)

Karla B. Hackstaff, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Sociology of the family, gender, culture, psychoanalytic sociology, social psychology (University of California-Berkeley 1994)

Stuart C. Hadden, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Deviance, corrections, social psychology, ethnomethodology, qualitative methods (Washington State University 1973)

Gerald Hughes, Ph.D., Professor
Research methods, social change, program planning and evaluation (University of Arizona 1979)

Michael Kanan, Ph.D., Professor
Population, minorities, fertility research, social stratification (University of Iowa 1976)

Warren Lucas, Ph.D., Professor
Criminology, corrections, drug abuse, social problems (Utah State University 1972)

Kooros M. Mahmoudi, Ph.D., Professor
Demography, urban, planning, social organization (Utah State University 1973)

David McKell, M.S.W., Associate Professor
Social work, corrections, social service systems, criminal justice system, Nicaragua (University of Utah 1963)

Anne Medill, M.S.W., Assistant Professor
Native American youth, social welfare reform, youth and children (Arizona State University 1985)

Karen Pugliesi, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Mental health and illness, quantitative methods, deviance, gender (Washington State University 1984)

Phyllis Schiller, D.S.W., Professor
Social work, rural mental health, women's issues, clinical practice and consultation, minority issues (University of Utah 1986)

Richard E. Skeen, Ph.D., Professor
Honors studies, social psychology, studies in sexuality and sex roles (University of Colorado 1980)

Angela A.A. Willeto, M.A., Instructor
Native American studies, race and ethnicity, stratification, gender, family, life course (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill 1990)

Harold Widdison, Ph.D., Professor
Research methods, medical sociology, death and dying, complex organization, deviance (Case Western Reserve University 1970)

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Please note that this electronic version of the 1996-1998 Graduate Catalog is a reproduction of the official printed catalog and is not updated more frequently than the printed catalog. If you have questions or comments about these pages, please e-mail Graduate Admissions and Academic Services.