Research Experience

[Pino5]

For those applying or who have applied for the Sociology Phd, what constitutes as research experience? I'm coming from an MA program and when I'm trying to map out my "research" experience, the most I can come up with are:

 

1) master's thesis

2) 2-3 course papers

3) research work for a former professor's commissioned book project (not in an official capacity)

4) some odd research work for a professor researching materials for his class (again, not in an official capacity, more of a favor)

 

The funny thing is, I did "research" work in writing #1 and #2, as does everybody, and #3 and #4 are technically, "researching" for somebody, but I'm not sure if this is what the adcomms are asking for. So in our field, what counts as research experience? What did you identify as your research experience(s)? For those with less experience in this area, how did you address it in your application? 

 

Thanks for the help!

[ohgoodness]

I had a full paragraph in my SOP regarding research experience which summarizes the work that I did in an official capacity:  being a research assistant in different projects. From that I had a paragraph on my independent work within the context of the MA thesis.  

 

The RA paragraph was mostly "I have done this this this this and learnt this this this which will help me become a mature researcher and a competent member of an academic environment" whereas the independent work paragraph was more "my background, academic and professional experiences culminated in my MA thesis where I use these methods, theories, data to come up with these results".

 

Perhaps we should set up one of those threads with applicant profiles for future generations to come. 

[Pino5]

I had a full paragraph in my SOP regarding research experience which summarizes the work that I did in an official capacity:  being a research assistant in different projects. From that I had a paragraph on my independent work within the context of the MA thesis.  

 

The RA paragraph was mostly "I have done this this this this and learnt this this this which will help me become a mature researcher and a competent member of an academic environment" whereas the independent work paragraph was more "my background, academic and professional experiences culminated in my MA thesis where I use these methods, theories, data to come up with these results".

 

Thanks for this.  I will incorporate my thesis research along these lines as well.

 

 

 

Perhaps we should set up one of those threads with applicant profiles for future generations to come. 

 

Yes, I agree. Your post alone was a great start. Thanks.