tldr; Polisci trained data analyst wants to leave career as data analyst for a sociology phd.
Hello Everyone!
I'm considering applying for a Sociology PhD this fall. I'm an older applicant (30) with 5-6 years working experience in the tech industry as a data analyst. As far as education, I have a background in Political Science (BA from University of California, and Msc at the LSE). I plan on taking the GRE next month.
I guess to start I'm just wondering if I could get a sense of what brought people to sociology at the graduate level? What was the moment where you were decided that it was the right discipline for a Phd? For myself, I realized that I'm more interested in broader social science questions than what political science offers. Of course there are broad questions in that discipline, but I get the feeling that a lot of the study at top departments centers around formal theory about the dynamics of legislatures and/or voting rules, which I'm not particularly interested in. I also buy into social science theory that places individuals within a network, rather than something based in purely rational choice like I was trained in Polisci.
Other questions I have are more directed towards PhD applications specifically. Does anyone have experience starting a sociology PhD later in life? What work experience did you have and how did you communicate about it? Do you feel like your work experience was a valuable asset in your application?
In my case I have been working as a quantitative researcher and data analyst since my Masters. I also know a few programming languages (R, Sql, Python). I’m hoping this experience will be relevant to most social science PhDs, and just want to know if there is a particular way to spin it.
As far as motivations, I have realized over the last few years that I really want to be a researcher, and I specifically want to be able to dive into social science topics. I love the idea of being able read, study and analyze issues from sociology, history and philosophy. Work as a data analyst often focuses on questions I'm not particularly interested in, and focuses on a superficial understanding of these questions.
Also if anyone has a good reading list to work through to get a good overview I would greatly appreciate any guidance. I’m thinking of just reading through a bunch of scholarship to help seed ideas for my personal statement.
Anyways just wanted to start the conversation and hear people’s thoughts.
Thanks
