Switching from Political Science to Sociology

[qeta]

Hi, everyone. Based on the rather long description below, do you think it is possible for me to switch from a political science Master's program to PhD programs in sociology? (Apologies for the length of the post - I just wanted to give as full a picture as possible.)

I did a BA in history and political science and am currently enrolled in the Master's program in political science (comparative politics subfield) at McGill. I am finding political science to be rather narrow in both focus (concentrating too much on "top-down" state effects) and in attitude towards mixed-methods works. I also sense a kind of alignment in political science with methodological individualism, which bothers me.
 

I am finding myself working on mostly ethnic conflict because it turns out that, broadly speaking, I'm most interested in how groups of people relate to the state and how their positioning in society affects this relationship. If I were to specify keywords for my research interests, it would look like this: inequality, identity formation, state institutions (including but not limited to the law), conflicts and social movements, citizenship.

 

Political science uses a lot of the same methods as sociology, so I am lucky in that respect. I am currently loving comparative historical methods. Next semester I am looking forward to learning more about statistical methods, especially regression analysis, and a little bit of ethnography. Something I'd like to know more about is network analysis, but it's only started to migrate to political science so I'm probably out of luck there.

 

Given all this information, does it sound like I would fit in sociology and can make the transition? I have read some sociology, including some of the founding texts, but it's difficult to know the state/future direction of the field from the outside. I'm not miserable in political science--in fact, some of it I find quite interesting--, which weirdly makes the question all the more urgent.

Edited December 2, 2014 by qeta

[breaks0]

I am trying to do the same, 2nd year in a row, but don't take that as an indicator or level of difficulty in doing so, which it's not very. It just didn't work out for me well last year since I was late finishing my MA so only a few schools actually looked at my apps so I wasn't a strong applicant. 1st off, I basically agree w/you about polisci and  only did my MA in polisci at the new school since it's an atypical program and am only reapplying in that field for phds there and a school in the UK. Most of the other places I'm applying are in sociology. You're right polisci is relatively narrow, hierarchical if I can say that and individually-focused, relative to sociology and other fields, that's part of why I want out.

 

Your interests fit well in sociology at most places and there is overlap, but emphases are obviously different. I'll leave to others to give more specifics and to recommend what sorts of places you may wanna look at since I don't know your subfield (identity, ethnic conflict comp-historical,, etc) as well as I should. But this might well be the field for you.

[victorydance]

I am confused at what you guys mean as "narrow."

[qeta]

I am confused at what you guys mean as "narrow."

Not what I asked.

[high_hopes]

Sure, it's doable. You might need to repeat some MA courses before you can go into a PhD. However, you would be in good company -- here's a McGill BA(PoliSci) who went on to a MA and PhD in Sociology: http://sociology.berkeley.edu/faculty/irene-bloemraad.

[qeta]

I am trying to do the same, 2nd year in a row, but don't take that as an indicator or level of difficulty in doing so, which it's not very. It just didn't work out for me well last year since I was late finishing my MA so only a few schools actually looked at my apps so I wasn't a strong applicant. 1st off, I basically agree w/you about polisci and  only did my MA in polisci at the new school since it's an atypical program and am only reapplying in that field for phds there and a school in the UK. Most of the other places I'm applying are in sociology. You're right polisci is relatively narrow, hierarchical if I can say that and individually-focused, relative to sociology and other fields, that's part of why I want out.

 

Your interests fit well in sociology at most places and there is overlap, but emphases are obviously different. I'll leave to others to give more specifics and to recommend what sorts of places you may wanna look at since I don't know your subfield (identity, ethnic conflict comp-historical,, etc) as well as I should. But this might well be the field for you.

For the bolded part - I agree with you. Wish I could say I was remotely the only one in my MA cohort who felt this way.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this process. I have a much more well-defined interest to write about in political science SOPs due to the MA and need to refine/sharpen my interests for sociology. I guess that means spending my upcoming break reading tons and tons of sociology and this forum thread. Good luck on this year's cycle!

[qeta]

Sure, it's doable. You might need to repeat some MA courses before you can go into a PhD. However, you would be in good company -- here's a McGill BA(PoliSci) who went on to a MA and PhD in Sociology: http://sociology.berkeley.edu/faculty/irene-bloemraad.

Thanks for the link - I am interested in citizenship, so I am going to read some of her and her collaborator Kim Voss's recent work during the break.

I've been looking at graduate courses in sociology and it seems I will need to repeat at least one methods course and definitely will have to take a sociological theory course. Thankfully my current supervisor is the most sociological in my department. Hopefully I can get a recommendation letter from him, as well as one from a methods prof and the next most sociological prof after my supervisor.

[lyrehc]

Thanks for the link - I am interested in citizenship, so I am going to read some of her and her collaborator Kim Voss's recent work during the break.

I've been looking at graduate courses in sociology and it seems I will need to repeat at least one methods course and definitely will have to take a sociological theory course. Thankfully my current supervisor is the most sociological in my department. Hopefully I can get a recommendation letter from him, as well as one from a methods prof and the next most sociological prof after my supervisor.

Many programs require you to take their methods courses even if you have taken methods elsewhere. I'm in communication and my department requires students to take all of the required classes in department. The only PhD students who don't repeat methods from their master's programs are the ones who get the MA here.

[qeta]

Many programs require you to take their methods courses even if you have taken methods elsewhere. I'm in communication and my department requires students to take all of the required classes in department. The only PhD students who don't repeat methods from their master's programs are the ones who get the MA here.

You're totally right of course. I have no expectation of skipping methods courses even if I am admitted to a poli. sci. PhD program. Your response made me understand that what I'm truly anxious about is switching to a new mentality, a new way of thinking again. The switch from historical thinking to political science-appropriate thinking took me 1/3 to 1/2 of the first MA semester. I either need to resign myself to this prospect and mentally prepare, or take one graduate-level class in sociology to experience it beforehand. Thank you!

[lyrehc]

FWIW, changing mentality can be challenging but you can do it. I switched from sociology to communication. The adjustment took about a year, but in hindsight I can see that it really was the right decision for me.

[qeta]

Thank you for the kind words. I'm really happy things worked out for you!