Question 1

1. Ancillary Master's Degree

Answer

Those working for a doctoral degree are expected to enter with, or obtain concurrently at Berkeley, a Master's degree in a different but related subject (e.g., Sociology, Economics, Anthropology, Statistics, Public Policy, Public Health, Biostatistics, Regional Planning, Geography). This ancillary Master’s degree must be earned before the dissertation stage. We recognize that some students may enter the doctoral program with a Master's degree in Demography, or with a one in a subject not clearly related to their demographic work. The applicability of such degrees to the doctoral program is determined on an individual basis.

Question 2

2. Foreign Language Exam

Answer

All Ph.D. candidates in Demography must pass a foreign language exam before taking their oral qualifying examination. Since English has clearly become the dominant language of international demographic research, this language requirement should be seen as one means of encouraging all students to cultivate an international focus appropriate for anyone working in the field of Demography. The Department follows Option 3 of Graduate Division guidelines for foreign language examinations, which requires that students demonstrate a “reading knowledge” of one language. For the Ph.D.s in Demography and in Sociology and Demography, this language must be a “major world language” other than English, defined as a language with at least 100 million speakers worldwide (including non-native speakers). In recognition of the fact that it may be difficult to know how many people speak a given language, the “100 million” rule may be interpreted loosely and yet still serve as a useful guideline. An exception to the “100 million” rule can be made in cases where students will be using a less widely spoken language as an integral part of their dissertation research. Students can fulfill their language requirement using such a language provided that: 1) the language has a formal writing system, and 2) a person qualified to administer the exam is available. Language exams may be administered by faculty members in the Department if they are competent in a particular language. In other cases, students may arrange to be tested in one of the foreign language departments on campus or by some other means if approved by the Graduate Advisor. The exam will normally consist of translating a passage of 300 to 500 words into English within a time limit of 90 minutes, either with or without a dictionary. The level of difficulty of the passage should be similar to what is encountered in scholarly social science research written in that language. Standards for passing the language exam are at the discretion of the examiner but should generally adhere to the following guidelines. The translation should be well written and complete. It should not be an awkward literal rendering of the original into English. Most small errors that do not change the meaning of the text can be excused, although major faults (those that significantly distort the meaning of the passage or an individual phrase) must be minimized. At the discretion of the examiner, even one major fault could be judged to indicate a failing exam. There are two other means of fulfilling the foreign language requirement for a qualified language: 1) a high school or university diploma where the language was the primary medium of instruction automatically fulfills the requirement; and 2) a course sequence of four semesters (or six quarters) in the language at any UC campus also fulfills the requirement. (Foreign language courses at other institutions must be validated by Graduate Division in order to qualify for this exemption. In addition, any foreign language sequence, whether taken at the University of California or elsewhere, must have been completed within four years of admission to Berkeley.)

Question 3

3. Oral Qualifying Examination

Answer

Students in the Ph.D. program must pass an oral qualifying examination before they can be advanced to candidacy. Students are responsible for making all arrangements for the exam including: 1) filling out the necessary paperwork with help from the Graduate Services Advisor at least 3 weeks in advance of your expected exam date, 2) forming an examination committee (see below) with the advice and consent of the Graduate Advisor and/or other faculty members, 3) scheduling a date and time for the exam that is agreeable to all committee members, and 4) preparing reading lists for the two specialized sections of the exam (see below), which must be approved by the Graduate Advisor; 5) providing copies of the final reading lists, plus the two designated "showpiece" articles, to all committee members at least two weeks before the exam. COMMITTEE MEMBERS The examination committee must have four members. Students should choose committee members to achieve an appropriate balance in light of their chosen areas of specialization (see below). Two members of the examination committee must be chosen from the regular faculty and/or emeriti of the Department of Demography (Feehan, Goldstein, Hammel, Johnson-Hanks, Lee, Wachter, and Wilmoth). One of these individuals should be designated as chair of the orals committee, although note that the chair of the orals committee cannot also serve as chair of the student´s dissertation committee. The third "inside member" can be either a regular or an affiliated faculty of the Department. (For a current list of affiliated faculty, please refer to the list of all Faculty members.) Professors from other departments on the Berkeley campus who are not formally designated as affiliates of the Department may serve as the third inside member with approval from the Graduate Advisor. Visiting professors or faculty from other campuses may serve as an inside member with an approval of the Graduate Dean. One member of the committee must be from outside the Department. Graduate Division guidelines require that the designated "outside member" must belong to the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate. In other words, the outside member must be regular faculty in another department on the Berkeley campus. Exceptions to this rule are not possible. Affiliated faculty of the Department of Demography may serve as either the third inside member, or as the sole outside member of the examination committee. Sociology/Demography students should refer to the program description for further details on selection of oral exam committees specific to their program. AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION Students are tested in three subject areas, which must include General Demography plus two specialized fields chosen by the student in consultation with the Graduate Advisor. There can be considerable flexibility in the choice of the areas of specialization, but they must not duplicate field exams or other requirements for degrees being earned in other departments. Typical choices include: Fertility, Mortality, Mathematical Demography, Economic Demography, Anthropological Demography, Migration, Historical Demography, Family/Kinship, etc. READING LISTS Reading lists should be prepared by the student for the specialized areas. These lists should be comparable in scope and length to a one-semester course syllabus on the topic. If the student has attended a specialized course on the topic, s/he may wish to use the syllabus for that course as the basis for assembling the reading list, though usually with some modifications to reflect his/her own interests. Each reading list should be organized into sections based on thematic content. Students should consult with the exam committee members who are most knowledgeable in each specialized area and then obtain final approval of their reading lists from the Graduate Advisor at least one month prior to the exam. Each of the two specialized reading lists must contain one article (or chapter, if appropriate) that is designated as a "showpiece." The article chosen for this purpose should have analytical depth and be regarded as a major contribution to the broader subject area. Students should be familiar with all aspects (theory, data, methods, policy implications, etc.) of these articles and be prepared to discuss them in detail. PREPARATION Students should think about three aspects of preparation for this examination. First, the General Demography section is a test of "what every young demographer should know and be able to explain clearly." Sample questions include: "What is a synthetic cohort?," "What is the range of TFRs observed for national populations in the world today?," "What is the demographic transition?," "What are stable and stationary populations?," etc. Clarity of presentation is especially important in this section of the exam. Second, the two specialized sections of the exam are a test of whether the student could prepare to teach a graduate-level semester course on either of these topics. Students will be asked to demonstrate a broad and detailed knowledge of their chosen areas, although they are not expected to prepare full lectures on specific subjects for sake of the orals exam. Students may also be asked to comment on possibilities for further research in their specialized areas; for example, they could be asked to respond to a question like, "What open questions remain in this area?" Third, the two showpiece articles are a test of whether the student can give an in-depth evaluation of a specific piece of scholarly research. The student should demonstrate not only a thorough knowledge of the author´s methods, arguments, and findings, but also an ability to analyze the general problem considered in the article and to propose alternative approaches.

Question 4

4. Dissertation Prospectus

Answer

The dissertation prospectus is an important step toward completing a doctoral degree in Demography. It is generally the final requirement that a student must complete before being approved for “advancement to candidacy” for the Ph.D. (see also “Guidelines for Advancement to Candidacy, Normative Time, and Filing Fee”). This document describes procedures and suggests a format for the prospectus. The prospectus must be approved by the faculty member who will serve as chair of the student's dissertation committee. Signed approval of the prospectus by the dissertation chair is needed before the Graduate Advisor can sign the forms for advancement to candidacy. All decisions about the appropriate form, length, and content of a dissertation prospectus lie with the dissertation chair, not the Graduate Advisor. Thus, the guidelines provided here are merely suggestions, which may serve as a starting point for discussion with the dissertation chair about directions and requirements for a successful prospectus. In making plans for the dissertation prospectus, the student and her/his chair should keep in mind the deadline for advancement to candidacy that will qualify the student for the normative time fee reduction. As a suggestion, the form and content of the dissertation prospectus should follow (roughly) the specifications for a standard NIH grant application (i.e., an R01 award). The Research Plan in such an application has four essential parts, which are intended to answer the following questions: (1) What do you intend to do? (2) Why is this work important? (3) What has already been done? (4) How are you going to do the work? Thus, the four sections of an NIH grant application, modified as appropriate for a dissertation prospectus, are as follows: a) Specific Aims. List the research objectives and specific goals of the dissertation research project. State the hypotheses to be tested (1 page is recommended). b) Background and Significance. Briefly sketch the background leading to the proposed dissertation, critically evaluate existing knowledge, and specifically identify the gaps which the project is intended to fill ( 2-3 pages are recommended). c) Preliminary Studies. Describe previous studies by the student that are relevant to the proposed project. This could include a summary of a class paper, other preliminary data analyses, results of a pilot survey, etc. (6-8 pages are recommended). d) Research design and methods. Describe the research design and procedures to be used to accomplish the specific aims of the project. Include how the data will be collected, analyzed, and interpreted. Describe any new methodology and its advantage over existing methodologies. Discuss the potential difficulties and limitations of the proposed procedures and alternative approaches to achieve the aims. Provide also a tentative sequence or time-table for completing the research and writing the dissertation (14-16 pages are recommended). The research plan for an NIH grant application may not exceed 25 single-spaced pages, although the distribution of pages within these four section may vary. A dissertation prospectus should be no longer than this, although it could be somewhat shorter (25 double-spaced pages, for example). In any event, the proportional distribution between the four sections should be maintained at least approximately. In particular, it is very important for the fourth section to be the most prominent.

Question 5

5. Dissertation

Answer

Upon successful completion of the foreign language requirement, the oral qualifying exam, and the prospectus, students enter into the final phase of the program, doctoral candidacy. During this period, students are expected to take another research seminar, Demography 296, every semester until the completion of the dissertation. This phase should last two or three academic years.

Question 6

2. Foreign Language Exam

Answer

All candidates to the Ph.D. in Sociology and Demography must fulfill a foreign language requirement before taking their oral Qualifying Examination. The foreign language exam for the Ph.D. in Sociology and Demography is administered by the Graduate Group in Sociology and Demography (GGSD) following the standards and procedures used by the Department of Demography. The Department follows Option 3 of Graduate Division guidelines for foreign language examinations, which requires that students demonstrate a “reading knowledge” of one language. For the Ph.D.s in Demography and in Sociology and Demography, this language must be a “major world language” other than English, defined as a language with at least 100 million speakers worldwide (including non-native speakers). In recognition of the fact that it may be difficult to know how many people speak a given language, the “100 million” rule may be interpreted loosely and yet still serve as a useful guideline. An exception to the “100 million” rule can be made in cases where students will be using a less widely spoken language as an integral part of their dissertation research. Students can fulfill their language requirement using such a language provided that: 1) the language has a formal writing system, and 2) a person qualified to administer the exam is available. Language exams may be administered by faculty members in the Department if they are competent in a particular language. In other cases, students may arrange to be tested in one of the foreign language departments on campus or by some other means if approved by the Graduate Advisor. The exam will normally consist of translating a passage of 300 to 500 words into English within a time limit of 90 minutes, either with or without a dictionary. The level of difficulty of the passage should be similar to what is encountered in scholarly social science research written in that language. Standards for passing the language exam are at the discretion of the examiner but should generally adhere to the following guidelines. The translation should be well written and complete. It should not be an awkward literal rendering of the original into English. Most small errors that do not change the meaning of the text can be excused, although major faults (those that significantly distort the meaning of the passage or an individual phrase) must be minimized. At the discretion of the examiner, even one major fault could be judged to indicate a failing exam. There are two other means of fulfilling the foreign language requirement for a qualified language: 1) a high school or university diploma where the language was the primary medium of instruction automatically fulfills the requirement; and 2) a course sequence of four semesters (or six quarters) in the language at any UC campus also fulfills the requirement. (Foreign language courses at other institutions must be validated by Graduate Division in order to qualify for this exemption. In addition, any foreign language sequence, whether taken at the University of California or elsewhere, must have been completed within four years of admission to Berkeley.)

Question 7

3. M.A. Research Paper in Sociology and Other Joint Program Requirements

Answer

The Demography preliminary examination must be passed at a level commensurate with the usual requirements for the doctoral program in the Department of Demography in order for a student to continue toward the Ph.D. in Sociology and Demography. Consistent with the standard practice in the Department of Sociology, students in the joint program are required to write an M.A. research paper. This paper is written with the supervision and approval of a personal M.A. committee comprising two Sociology faculty members. The student's M.A. committee must approve in advance all details regarding the design, research, content, length, and timetable for the research paper project. Each candidate for the M.A. selects a faculty member as the Chair of her/his M.A. committee (with that professor's approval) and a second reader. The student may ask the Graduate Advisor of the GGSD to assist in finding a second reader. The M.A. research paper requirement is fulfilled when both members of the M.A. committee have signed and dated the cover page. After all the coursework, methods, and paper requirements in Sociology are met, each student in the program is required to have an M.A. Advising Conference, organized by GGSD in conjunction with the Department of Sociology (and following the rules prevailing in that department), where it is decided whether the student satisfies doctoral requirements or not. Thus, in addition to the aforementioned requirements in the Department of Demography a student must satisfy the usual doctoral requirements in the Department of Sociology in order to continue toward the Ph.D. in Sociology and Demography.

Question 8

4. Oral Qualifying Examination

Answer

This program includes one oral Qualifying Examination, to be taken when all pre-qualifying requirements have been met, including the language examination. The orals committee consists of five members, all of whom must be members of the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate. At least three but not more than four of the committee members must be core faculty in the GGSD, with at least one committee member representing the Department of Demography and another representing the Department of Sociology. One of these “inside” members will serve as chair of the Orals Committee. That person may not also serve as Chair of the student's dissertation committee. At least one and not more than two members must be outside of the core faculty of the GGSD. The Graduate Adviser of the GGSD recommends the membership of the Qualifying Exam committee and the topics of examination to the Graduate Dean. The student prepares four fields of study for the oral Qualifying Examination, including Sociological Theory, General Demography, and two specialized fields in sociology and/or demography. Preparation for the exam is supervised by the Chair of the orals committee, who may separate and delegate the task of supervision to other committee members with expertise in one of the student's fields of examination. The oral Qualifying Examination itself consists of questions on each of the four topics, in an order chosen by the student. For a successful outcome, the committee must vote unanimously for a "pass." The jurisdiction for ruling on split votes rests with the Administrative Committee.

Question 9

5. Dissertation

Answer

After passing the oral Qualifying Examination, the student assembles a provisional dissertation committee. This provisional committee will become the permanent dissertation committee once the student is advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. This committee will consist of three members, including two core faculty member in the GGSD and one outside member who does not belong to core faculty of the GGSD. All committee members must be members of the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate. With the guidance of the Chair of the provisional committee, the student prepares a dissertation prospectus. Once the provisional committee approves the dissertation prospectus, the student will be advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. Once the dissertation committee members have accepted the dissertation, they sign and date the cover page. A public dissertation defense is not required although students are strongly encouraged to give a final presentation to the Graduate Group. As with the oral Qualifying Examination, dissertation committee members are chosen by the Graduate Adviser of the GGSD in consultation with the student. The dissertation committee is approved formally by the Graduate Dean.

Question 10

What is the relationship between the Master's and the Doctoral programs?

Answer

The graduate program in Sociology and Demography does not allow students to earn a joint M.A. degree since the goal of the program is doctoral studies only. If there is no overlap between required courses and other requirements, students can earn both an M.A. in Sociology and an M.A. in Demography at the discretion of the two Departments. These degrees are not the end goal, but rather milestones en route towards the Ph.D. However, in those cases where a student's progress is not deemed sufficient for advancement to candidacy for the Ph.D. in Sociology and Demography, terminal M.A. degrees may be granted by one or both departments.

Question 11

Who can serve on my Qualifying Exam and Dissertation committees?

Answer

Graduate Group in Sociology and Demography Core Faculty Irene Bloemraad, Professor of Sociology William Dow, Professor of Public Health Dennis Feehan, Assistant Professor of Demography Neil Fligstein, Professor of Sociology Marion Fourcade, Professor of Sociology Joshua Goldstein, Professor of Demography David Harding, Associate Professor of Sociology Heather Haveman, Professor of Sociology Jennifer Johnson-Hanks, Professor of Demography and Sociology Rucker Johnson, Associate Professor of Public Policy Mara Loveman, Professor of Sociology Samuel Lucas, Professor of Sociology Jane Mauldon, Associate Teaching Professor of Public Policy Ayesha Mahmud, Assistant Professor of Demography Trond Petersen, Professor of Sociology Daniel Schneider, Assistant Professor of Sociology Sandra Smith, Professor of Sociology

Graduate Program

1. Ph.D. in Demography

2. Graduate Group in Sociology and Demography (GGSD)

3. Master of Arts in Demography

Common First-Year Curriculum

Fall semester

Spring semester

Demography Ph.D. Degree Requirements

1. Ancillary Master's Degree

2. Foreign Language Exam

3. Oral Qualifying Examination

4. Dissertation Prospectus

5. Dissertation

Sociology and Demography Ph.D. (GGSD) Requirements

1. Approximately 23 units of required coursework in addition to the Common First-Year Curriculum

2. Foreign Language Exam

3. M.A. Research Paper in Sociology and Other Joint Program Requirements

4. Oral Qualifying Examination

5. Dissertation

What is the relationship between the Master's and the Doctoral programs?

Who can serve on my Qualifying Exam and Dissertation committees?

See here for a comprehensive list of Sociology and Demography Ph.D. Program requirements