The Sociology Major at Institutions of Higher Education in the United States

Kain, Edward L.

doi:10.1177/0092055x0703500103

Cited by 24 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…A larger portion of the sample reported offering capstones (80.7 percent) than previous research results estimating 60 percent of schools offer senior capstones (Hauhart and Grahe 2010;Kain 2007;Perlman and McCann 1999a (N = 187, df = 2) = 2.51, p = .285, with sociology (77.6 percent), psychology (79.5 percent), and combined (90.6 percent) departments all similar in the likelihood that they would offer capstones.…”

Section: Presence Of a Capstonementioning

confidence: 59%

A National Survey of American Higher Education Capstone Practices in Sociology and Psychology

Hauhart

Grahe

2012

Teach Sociol

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ArticleRecent research has suggested that capstone or senior seminar courses are a common feature of American undergraduate sociology and psychology curricula (Hauhart and Grahe 2010;McKinney and Busher 2011). Until very recently, however, capstone studies in sociology and psychology have not, by and large, sought comparative data between institutions nor addressed with any perceptiveness and rigor the organizational and pedagogical features of capstone courses. This lack of comparative data has made it difficult to develop a broader understanding of the nature and role of capstone courses within sociology and psychology. Beginning in 2007 in sociology, Kain (2007) inaugurated research into the general availability of capstones and senior seminars. Hauhart and Grahe (2010) then extended, and broadened, this line of research for both sociology and psychology through a regional survey and also explored the nature, characteristics, and mechanics of the typical capstone course in sociology and psychology. Recently, in a smaller comparative study, McKinney and Busher (2011) confirmed a number of those findings with respect to sociology. In psychology, Perlman and McCann (1999a, 1999b produced a series of studies that identified capstones or senior seminars as central to the core psychology curriculum in American higher education. However, their work did little to contribute to our understanding of the mechanics of those courses and the pedagogical methods employed.This article reports the results of a national survey regarding sociology and psychology capstones. The national survey project was developed to build on the regional survey data we previously reported (Hauhart and Grahe 2010). On one hand, AbstractPrevious research on capstones in sociology and psychology has suggested that there is a typical capstone experience required by three quarters of all four-year colleges and universities in the United States. This article reports results from a national survey that confirm that sociology and psychology capstone courses conform generally to a common format. The findings further indicate that factors related to student limits and time limits predominate with respect to those variables that produce less successful course outcomes. A review of the social science capstone literature and the pedagogical best practices literature suggests that student limitations and time limitations can be attenuated by curricular, structural, and resourceallocation changes.

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Section: Presence Of a Capstonementioning

confidence: 59%

A National Survey of American Higher Education Capstone Practices in Sociology and Psychology

Hauhart

Grahe

2012

Teach Sociol

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“…Only the occasional journal article in sociology attempts to take a broader view and survey the roles, purposes, nature, organization, content, and pedagogy of capstone courses across the field more generally (Wagenaar 1991(Wagenaar , 1993. Kain (2007), however, recently examined through a content analysis the catalogs of the top 10 sociology departments within each tier of the 2000 US News and World Report survey of colleges. Kain found that 63 percent of sociology departments offered capstone courses, identical to McCann's (1999a, 1999b) finding for psychology reported below.…”

Section: Sociologymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Undergraduate Capstone Course in the Social Sciences

Hauhart

Grahe

2010

Teach Sociol

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Among the common requirements for receipt of a degree in the social sciences is the completion of a senior seminar in which a senior thesis or capstone project is produced. A number of educational goals have been proposed for this requirement: integrating the knowledge base supplied by the regular curriculum, contributing to students' future roles as informed citizens, and preparing for study in graduate programs, among others. However, few studies have empirically explored the substance of the senior seminars and capstones offered across a discipline or studied their organization, requirements, and pedagogy. In the present article, the authors describe the results of a survey of sociology and psychology departments in the western United States regarding their senior seminar and capstone courses.

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“…Early in their undergraduate education, many young sociologists receive minimal exposure to studies of non-Western groups, as demonstrated by the Western focus of sociology textbooks (Najafizadeh and Mennerick 1992) and content of undergraduate courses (Kain 2007). In graduate school, institutional parochialism is further intensified during the advisor-advisee relationship, the pressure to publish research in academic journals, the pressure to present papers at academic conferences, and the teaching of undergraduate courses, all of which are primarily concerned with, or dominated by, issues relating to religion in the West.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isomorphism, Institutional Parochialism, and the Sociology of Religion

Poulson

Campbell

2010

Am Soc

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This article investigates whether the field of sociology of religion is occupied by parochial concerns. We characterize institutional parochialism as the degree to which people in an academic field tend to study their own societies. This study employs a content analysis of articles published in The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion and Sociology of Religion from 2001 to 2008, with particular attention paid to the incidences in which Muslim and non-Western groups were studied before and after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. There was no change in the rate that "Muslim" communities were studied following the 9/11 attacks, but it appears journal content did change to reflect ongoing debates in the West and in response to mimetic pressures being placed on the field. Overall, if the sociology of religion can be characterized as parochial, we contend that the broader field of American sociology is likely far more so.Keywords Institutional parochialism . Institutional isomorphism . Sociology of religion . Islam . Gender studies . Christianity . 9/11This study investigates the degree to which scholars in a sub-discipline within the field of sociology-the sociology of religion-are occupied by parochial interests. By this we mean that Western sociologists, whatever the diversity of their interests and backgrounds, tend to study their own societies. Institutional parochialism is apparent despite the fact that many within the discipline are calling for an increase in the study of other societies. In effect, we believe that there are few symbolic taboos against

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The Sociology Major at Institutions of Higher Education in the United States

Cited by 24 publications

References 10 publications

A National Survey of American Higher Education Capstone Practices in Sociology and Psychology

A National Survey of American Higher Education Capstone Practices in Sociology and Psychology

The Undergraduate Capstone Course in the Social Sciences

Isomorphism, Institutional Parochialism, and the Sociology of Religion

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