College of Liberal Arts

Introduction

The Department of Sociology and Anthropology offers a graduate certificate in Survey Research.  The program provides graduate students the skills necessary to conduct sample surveys using state of the art technology and software.  Students are exposed to a variety of survey techniques including computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI), computer assisted self interviewing (CASI), Web surveys, e-mail surveys, Mixed Mode surveys, as well as standard paper and pencil surveys.

Admissions Requirements

Graduate School Admission Requirements

As specified by the Graduate School, the following three requirements must be   met:

1. Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution
2. Minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0/4.0 with the possibility of conditional admission for applicants who do not meet this requirement
3. Minimum TOEFL score of 550 for applicants whose native language is not English, with the possibility of allowing exceptions, including substitution of alternate criteria.

Department of Sociology and Anthropology Admission Requirements

The Department of Sociology and Anthropology specifies, in addition to the ones above, the following requirements:

1. Students who are currently admitted to a Purdue graduate degree program are eligible to earn the certificate.
2. A minimum TWE score of 5.0 for applicants whose native language is not English, with the possibility of allowing exceptions, including substitution of alternate criteria.
3. Required courses, or equivalent, for admission to the Certificate Program of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology is SOC 581 or equivalent, which must be completed prior to enrollment in SOC 680.  Possible exceptions may be approved by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.
4. Students seeking admission to the Certificate program must submit application materials to the Graduate program in Sociology/Anthropology for approval to verify that the above listed criteria have been satisfied.          

Completion requirements

As required by the Graduate School

1. No more than 12 credit hours earned in nondegree status, including credit hours earned toward completion of a single certificate or more than one certificate, may be applied toward a graduate degree.
2. Courses that have been certified as undergraduate excess may be used to satisfy requirements for the Certificate.

As required by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology

1. Total number credit hours are 12.
2. Specific course requirements: SOC 580, SOC 583, SOC 680, SOC 681.
3. GPA requirements:
   a. Minimum overall GPA for courses that are to be used to fulfill the   Certificate requirements is 3.0/4.0.
   Minimum grade for any course to be applied toward the certificate is a “B� or better.
4. No credit hours may be transferred from another institution.
5. No credits from undergraduate-level courses may be used toward the certificate.
6. Maximum time allowed for completion of the Certificate is five years.
7. The maximum number of credit hours taken prior to admission to the certificate program by students outside of Sociology/Anthropology that may be counted toward completion of the certificate is six. Sociology/Anthropology students may complete 9 hours before admission to the Certificate program.

Administration

Graduate School Administration Role

1. As specified by the Graduate School, the following administrative procedures will be followed:
2. The admission process shall parallel that for students seeking graduate degrees in Sociology and Anthropology.
3. The Office of the Registrar will establish a special admission status for all students enrolled in the certificate program.
4. When a student completes requirements for the certificate, the Graduate Program in Sociology and Anthropology will notify the Graduate School, which will then notify the Office of the Registrar.
5. The certificate will be posted separately upon completion of the requirements and recorded in the following manner:
             Graduate Certificate
             Field of Study: Sociology and Anthropology
             Specialization: Survey Research
   Credits earned toward a certificate will be included in the computation of the overall GPA posted on the transcript.
6. The certificate will be printed by the Office of the Registrar.
7. The certificate will be awarded jointly by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the Graduate School.  It will bear the signature of the head of the Sociology and Anthropology Department and the Dean of the Graduate School.
8. The certificate will be awarded at the normal times when degrees are awarded.
9. The Sociology and Anthropology Department will submit an annual report in February of each year to the Graduate Council containing the following information.
   a. the number of students currently admitted to the certificate program
   b. for each admitted student:
       i.   date admitted
       ii.  whether or not the student is also currently admitted to a degree
            program at Purdue, and if so, which degree
       iii.  number of credits completed toward fulfillment of certificate
            registration
   c. number of certificates awarded annually

Department of Sociology and Anthropology Administration Role

The Graduate Program in Sociology and Anthropology will use the following procedures in administering the certificate program:

1. At the end of each semester (including summer school) after the initial enrollment of the student in the Certificate program, the student’s record will be updated by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology Graduate Secretary to reflect courses completed toward certificate requirements.  If the requirements are completed at any time by the end of five years, then the student will be informed as will the Graduate School.  The student’s mailing address for the certificate will be requested and sent along to the Graduate School which will forward it to the Office of the Registrar.  If the requirements are not met by the end of five years, then the student and the Graduate School will be informed of his or her dismissal from the Certificate Program.
2. Upon notification by the Graduate School of the completion of the certificate requirements, the Office of the Registrar will mail the certificate to the student.

Approvals and Other Aspects of the Certificate Program

Title, Rationale and Start Date of the Program

1. The official title of the Program will be “Graduate Certificate in Survey Research�.
2. The purpose of the program is to credential students who have a baccalaureate degree and who have mastered a sufficient number of courses in survey research at the graduate level beyond those required for a bachelor’s degree.  Certificate courses may be used on the plan of study for an M.S. in Sociology and Anthropology.  The survey research industry has changed substantially in recent years.  An increasing number of Social Science trained graduate students are being employed in the data collection industry to design, set up and monitor projects.  As the demand for survey data increases, the demand for people trained in the survey research also increases.  There are several new programs in American universities who are offering specialized doctorates in survey research, like the University of Maryland, in response to the demand for students not only trained in the social science of survey research but also the technology that has developed within the industry.  Social scientists in the near past had to rely heavily on some version of the mailed questionnaire and face to face interviewing to collect survey data.  With the advent of technological innovations, the survey research process has all but abandoned large scale mailed surveys and personal interviewing.  Today survey researchers have to be able to use the research tools that have been developed to accompany the new methods of data collection.  Researchers have to be familiar with computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI), Web based surveys, e-mail surveys, on-line focus group interviewing, computer direct interviewing, voice capture and transcription technology, designing samples for each new mode of data collection as well as the data management/warehousing skills.
   
   This certificate will expose the graduate student to current survey research innovations and techniques.  A student will help design, set up, and run a survey project through the course sequence.  In SOC 583, the student will participate in the collection of data on a national sample of respondents using CATI, Web surveys, and email surveys.  Students will also participate in a local computer direct study.  The certificate in survey research will document the student’s exposure to current techniques and methods within the industry.
   
   Currently, a significant number of students from outside of Sociology and Anthropology enroll in the various courses within the certificate sequence.  All of the courses in the sequence are taught on a yearly basis.  In the past, SOC 580 and SOC 680 have been offered each fall and SOC 583 and SOC 681 each spring.
   Enrollment is limited in two ways in all five (including the SOC 581 pre-requisite) of these courses:
   a.  12 spaces are reserved for sociology graduate students; and
   b.  maximum enrollment is 24 students per course.

In this section

• Programs
• Family, Sex, and Gender
• Law and Society
• Politics and Economy
• Graduate Certificate in Survey Research
• Health, Aging, and the Life Course
• Sociology of Religion