The Independent Study in Sociology (Sociology 405, 406, and 407) is designed as a supervised research project or critical/theoretical analysis. The Independent Study may focus on any substative or topical area within sociology and utilizes one or more of the following methodological approaches: (a) modeling/theoretical synthesis; (b) designing and executing an original research project based on survey research, experimental research, observational research, historical/comparative reserach, or content analysis combined with a literature review and theoretical formulation; and (c) analysis of secondary data combined with a literature review and theoretical formulation.

Independent Study students benfit by: (a) learning sociology through active participation in sociological investigation; (b) practicing the sociological skills learned in the core courses within the discipline (Social Theory, Research Methods, Data Analysis, and Seminar) and illustrated in all of the sociology curriculum; and (c) gaining experience independent work that is much less structured than the normal classroom experience.

The specific requirements for enrolling in the Independent Study are that the student:

1. is classified (or will be at the time of the Independent Study) as a junior.
2. has successfully completed Sociology 251: Research Methods and Sociology 353: Social Theory with a grade of "C" or higher.
3. has demonstrated in the application proposal proficiency in writing or potential to develop such proficiency.
4. has a minimum grade point average in Sociology of 3.0, or permission from the Department before enrolling.
5. has submitted a Sociology Independent Study Application to the faculty supervisor.
6. has finalized arrangements with the faculty supervisor.

Students conducting an Independent Study must:

1. begin work at the beginning of the semester (if not before) and work on the project throughout the designated time period - the Study may be completed in one semester as one unit (SOCI 406) or in two semesters as two 1/2 units (SOCI 405 and 407). On average, students should expect to spend eight to ten hours per week on the project.
2. meet and work with the faculty supervisor according to a schedule and set of expectations that have been arranged between the two of them.
3. follow through on all requests from the faculty supervisor for indications of work completed to date (e.g., notes from journal articles, data files, and rough drafts).
4. complete and submit a final paper at least 20 pages long by the first day of final exams.

Full course credit (with an accompanying letter grade) is awarded for the successful completion of the Independent Study.

Recent Titles of Independent Research Projects:

• A Comparison of the Health Beliefs Model and the Fishbein/Azjen Theory of Reasoned Action in Predicting Exercise Behavior
• An Analysis of Holocaust Denials
• Alienation, Education, and High School Dropouts
• An Assessment of Service Gaps in the Roanoke Valley That Result in Out of Community Placement for Children and Adolescents
• A Conceptual and Empirical Analysis of the Secularization Thesis
• An Operationalization of Civil Religion
• Disability to Ethnicity: A Labeling Approach to Deafness
• Portrayal of the Physician-Patient Relationship in the Mass Media: A Content Analysis of Medically Themed Movies and Television Shows
• Empirical Analysis of Secularization
• Evaluation Research of Family Preservation Services
• Increasing the Access to Medications for Low Income Persons
• Sociological Methods and Advertising/Marketing
• Cultural Relativism and Female Circumcision
• A Durkheimian Perspective of Redemptive Cults
• Role of Women in the Ku Klux Klan
• Durkheim's Theoretical Approach to Suicide
• Now You Hear Them, Now You Don't: A Postmodern Analysis of One-Hit Wonders
• Prejudice Among Young Adults
• Durkheim's Theory of Collective Representation and the According of Sacred Significance to Secular Events
• What Went Right? Female Physicians' Perspectives on Gender Bias in Education

Recent Paper Presentations at Professional Meetings:

• Personal Advertisements: Content Analysis and Theoretical Perspectives (1995, Virginia Social Science Association, Virginia Beach)
• Alienation in Schools: A Marxian Analysis of Secondary Education (1995, Virginia Social Science Association, Virginia Beach)
• A Comparison of the Health Beliefs Model and the Fishbein/Azjen Theory of Reasoned Action in Predicting Exercise Behavior (1996, Virginia Social Science Association, Richmond)
• Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Contribution to Sociology (1996, Virginia Social Science Association, Richmond)
• Portrayal of the Physician-Patient Relationship in the Mass Media: A Content Analysis of Medically Themed Movies and Television Shows (1996, Virginia Social Science Association, Richmond)
• An Ethnomethodological Analysis of the Navajo Indian Culture: The Loss of Culture in America (1996, Virginia Social Science Association, Richmond).
• Religion as an Extension of Language: Toward a Theory of Meaning (1997, Southeastern Undergraduate Sociology Symposium, Atlanta)
• Soccer as Colective Representation: A Durkheimian Perspective (1997, Virginia Social Science Association, Fairfax)
• Secularization and Sacralization Within the Jewish Diaspora (1997, Virginia Social Science Association, Fairfax)
• Graniteville, South Carolina: Anomaly or Prototype of a Southern Textile Community (1997, Virgina Social Science Association, Fairfax)
• Secular Ethic and the Spirit of Elvis: Representations of Redemption (1997, Virgina Social Science Association, Fairfax)
• Humanizing the Cosmos: A Post-Modern Angelogy (1998, Virginia Social Science Association, Bridgewater)
• Prejudice Among College Students (1998, Virginia Social Science Association, Bridgewater)
• Representations of the State of Israel (1998, Virginia Social Science Association, Bridgewater)
• What Went Right? Female Physicians' Perpsectives on Gender Bias in Education (1998, Virginia Social Science Association, Bridgewater)
• Bridging the Chasm of the Bifurcation of Consciousness: Female Physicans and Structurally Transformative Agency (1998, Southern Sociological Society, Atlanta)

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