| The Social/Behavioral Science Qualifying
Paper
Note: Students who entered the program in Fall 2006 or later are not required to complete the social/behavioral science qualifying paper.
The purpose of the qualifying paper
is to encourage students’ exploration and mastery
of a range of theoretical and conceptual
formulations of issues in the social and behavioral
sciences that are relevant to their social work method
and substantive interests.
Ideally, the qualifying paper will contribute to
an initial draft of theory and literature review
sections in a student's dissertation.
The qualifying paper is 20–30 pages in
length (double spaced, standard margins, excluding
bibliography), and must conform
in form and standard to literature reviews in major
disciplinary journals. Completed by the spring
semester of the third
year (and
within one year of completing all course work),
the qualifying paper serves as a final lead-in
to the dissertation process.
Two possible approaches for the qualifying paper
include:
- Take a social work or social welfare issue
as a point of departure and focus on how a social/behavioral
science theory offers explanation or insight.
Examples include: causes of adolescent childbearing,
the debate on measuring
poverty,
the ability of economies to afford social
expenditures, the etiology of a specific type
of substance abuse, and problems of leadership in various
organizational structures.
- Investigate a social/behavioral
science theory or framework, its research trends
and knowledge gaps, and implications
for social work practice or social policy.
Examples include: a specific topic in organizational
theory, key concepts in comparative
theories of personality, learning, or human
development, or a particular development in
historical research or political science.
Basic Guidelines for the Qualifying
Paper
While there are no absolute requirements (topics
and fields call for different strategies), the
Doctoral Program offers the following guidelines:
- A range of
theories
Regardless of the specific social science topic
selected, the paper should include a review of
the range of theories that address the relationships
among constructs relevant to the
phenomena in question. Exhaustive investigation
of all theories on the topic is not expected,
but the paper should evidence familiarity
with commonly known and prevailing theories.
The student can expand or critique a given theory
but the paper should
go beyond a simple
description of a single theoretical approach.
Comparative analysis of the merits and limitations
of the major theories examined,
rather than a mere inventory of theories, is
also expected.
- Dominant issues
The paper
should review the main issues in the social science
literature on the selected topic.
To ensure optimal coverage, the paper should
be interdisciplinary in scope. For
instance, a topic such as the “psychology of
child abuse” might
include sociological, economic, and anthropological
perspectives on the issue.
- Research
The paper should
demonstrate a thorough working knowledge of the empirical research
base that
underlies and contributes to the leading theories
reviewed.
- Application to social welfare
The paper should either identify influences
that theories might have on existing policy
and/or practice or draw on these theories to develop
recommendations for policy
and/or
practice.
Qualifying Paper Readers
Students
must enlist two faculty readers to evaluate the
qualifying paper; one must be a CUSSW faculty member, while
the other must be social scientist. The latter
is usually a faculty member with whom the student
has taken a social or behavioral
science course. Students should meet with their
readers several times prior to completing the qualifying
paper, and should consult
with the readers whenever necessary. Readers
must critique and approve early outlines of the
paper, any subsequent drafts,
as well as the final draft.
Problems that arise
because of sabbaticals, retirement, unavailability
etc. (if such events occur during the qualifying
paper process) should be brought to the Doctoral
Chair for resolution. The student may want to
consult with their faculty advisor in
order to choose appropriate readers.
Evaluation
of the Qualifying Paper
Each faculty reader evaluates
the completed qualifying paper as “satisfactory”
or “unsatisfactory.” If
unsatisfactory, a student may make necessary revisions
and resubmit the paper. The qualifying paper evaluation
form must be signed
by both faculty readers and submitted to the Doctoral
Office in order for the student to receive credit
for the qualifying paper
requirement.
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