Open to students in related disciplines. A survey of the most important contemporary theories and theorists. A critical examination of Weber's writings and his influence on social science. The steps necessary to design a research project including searching the literature, formulating the problem, deriving propositions, operationalizing concepts, constructing explanations and testing hypotheses. The theory and practice of survey research.
Students collectively design and carry out one major survey.
An examination of the most recent theoretical and methodological developments in the sociology of culture. In establishing the centrality of cultural analysis to contemporary sociological theory and practice, the seminar examines the various contributions of structuralism, phenomenology, critical theory and cultural anthropology to this area of inquiry. Social Demography International study of population structures with special emphasis on comparison of developed and developing societies. Particular attention is paid to the way in which differing rates of population growth affect the patterns of social and economic change in these societies. An analysis of the key structural features of South Asian societies from a sociological perspective.