Interested in applying graduate studies program? Click here. For additional information, please contact graduate director Dale Dannefer.

Doctoral Studies in Sociology

Specializing in the Sociology of Age & The Life Course, Medical Sociology, Social Inequality and Research Methods

Graduate Program Mission Statement

At Case Western Reserve University, doctoral study in sociology is focused on four areas of inquiry:  the sociology of age and the life course; medical sociology; social inequality; and research methods.  Within these areas, students may focus on a wide range of specific topics, such as stress and coping, health disparities, the social construction of diagnosis and disease, and the interaction of race, class, gender, age and other factors as sources of social inequality.  Graduate training includes a wide array of advanced quantitative, qualitative, action, and other techniques taught through courses and one-on-one mentors hip.  Students learn to integrate theory and methods and to apply them to specific substantive issues, which can range from health practices of individuals to institutional care and reform to international phenomena.  

Our doctoral students pursue their education in an intellectually rigorous environment that is informal and friendly.  Study at CWRU provides exceptional opportunities for mentoring and close working relationships with faculty.  These opportunities include meaningful hands-on involvement in research projects such as managing data collection, preparing grant applications for research funding, presenting papers at national and international meetings, and writing and publishing collaboratively with faculty. 

As part of their research apprenticeships, students have the opportunity to participate in a range of empirical projects, including some that are supported by the National Institutes of Health.  Our students also have opportunities to work with researchers in other schools, including the School of Medicine, the School of Law, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, and the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.