Management and Organizations and Sociology

Degree Types: PhD

Students in this joint program offered by Kellogg School of Management’s Management & Organizations (MORS) Department and Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences Sociology Department are interested in topics that bridge management strategy and economic sociology, such as social movements, the production of culture, entrepreneurship, social networks, gender and race inequality in organizations, and globalization.  

Our philosophy is that intellectual and research interests come first, and that research methods should be tailored to fit research questions. Within this research framework, our program is designed to bring together those students who want a disciplinary base in sociology while focusing their research on organizations and their environments. Our students become actively involved in research during their first year of study. The Management & Organizations & Sociology program develops students' theoretical knowledge and methodological skills for careers as successful and productive researchers within a business school or sociology department.

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Learning objective(s)/Students should be able to…

Management and Organizations and Sociology Courses

MORS 499-0 Independent Study (1-3 Units)  

Students who have established superior records and who wish to study more in depth than what is provided in regular courses may register for independent study with a selected instructor. Permission of the instructor and the department is required.

MORS 521-1 Special Topics in Management & Organizations: Micro (1 Unit)  

The course covers classic and recent research topics in micro-oriented areas of Management and Organizations. Topics are drawn from social psychology, organizational behavior, and micro-organizational research methods.

MORS 521-2 Special Topics in Management and Organizations: Macro (1 Unit)  

The course covers classic and recent research topics in macro-oriented areas of Management and Organizations. Topics are drawn from sociology, organizational theory, and macro-organizational research methods.

MORS 521-3 Special Topics in Management & Organizations: Emerging Topics in Computational Social Science (1 Unit)  

Social scientists increasingly have access to data sets of unparalleled scope and complexity. At the same time, there has been remarkable development in fields like network science, data science, and machine learning over the past decade, which offers us a wide range of tools that help us make sense of this data with growing accuracy and robustness. Together, the new data and computational methods offer researchers opportunities to explore and understand human behavior at an unprecedented level of scale and detail, fueling the emergence of an exciting, interdisciplinary field called computational social science. This course surveys the emerging frontiers in the field, open to students from both computational and social science backgrounds. For those new to the social sciences, this is an opportunity to see where your computer science and statistical skills can go, with innovative applications to problems of massive societal interest. For those new to computational methods, this is a chance to develop the tools necessary to make new and exciting contributions, tools that will shape the originality and power of your work for years to come.

MORS 524-1 The Individual and the Organization (1 Unit)  

Individual behavior in organizational settings. Topics include recent theory and research on social cognition, decision making, negotiation, groups, norms, fairness, and equity theory.

MORS 524-2 Social Processes in Organizations (1 Unit)  

Group behavior in organizational settings. Topics include recent theory and research on group formation, social influence, group composition, group performance, group decision making, diversity, coalitions, intergroup relations and social dilemmas.

MORS 525-1 Behavior in Organizational Systems (1 Unit)  

Theory construction, with effort at verification, drawing on empirical studies. Macro-level analysis of internal organizational system problems such as goals, structure, roles, power, authority, communications, and controls.

MORS 525-2 Organizations in Their Environments (1 Unit)  

Analysis of organizations as open systems in relation to social, cultural, political and economic environments. The course covers classical, canonical and contemporary approaches in management research and organizational sociology, as well as selective research in other disciplines.

MORS 526-1 Micro-Organizational Research Methods (1 Unit)  

This course provides an introduction to research designs and methods for "micro" research in organizations. The purpose to develop students' skill at designing, executing, interpreting, and evaluating micro-organizational and social psychological research. The course addresses both theoretical and practical considerations of research methods, with a special focus on the role of laboratory experiments and other common methods in behavioral research.

MORS 526-2 Macro-Organizational Research Methods (1 Unit)  

This course examines the empirical research methods commonly used to test key concepts in macro-organizational theory. It focuses on developing doctoral students' skills in (1) identifying interesting research questions, (2) linking them creatively and appropriately to specific research contexts, measures, and analyses, and then (3) ensuring a clarity of writing at the level of a publishable study.

MORS 590-0 Research (3 Units)  

Independent investigation of selected problems pertaining to thesis or dissertation. May be repeated for credit.

SOCIOL 400-0 Introduction to Statistics & Statistical Software (1 Unit)  

This course is designed to teach students the basics of single variable calculus, probability, set theory, random variables, and hypothesis testing. The course prepares students for the next class in the statistics sequence. The fundamental math used in this course will be covered in a review course prior to the start of the quarter. By the end of the course, students will understand the intuition behind statistical analysis, have practice applying the statistical techniques covered, and be familiar with different types of statistical analysis.

SOCIOL 401-1 Statistical Analysis of Social Data: Applied Regression Methods I (1 Unit)  

Introduction to the theory, methods, and practice of linear regression analysis: descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, ordinary least squares (OLS), non-linear models with linear regression, and regression diagnostics. For first-year graduate students in sociology.

SOCIOL 401-2 Statistical Analysis of Social Data: Applied Regression Methods II (1 Unit)  

Regression models with categorical and discrete outcomes: categorical variables, ordinal outcomes, maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), probit and logistic regression, logit models. Other advanced methods may also be covered.  For first-year graduate students in sociology.

SOCIOL 402-0 Event-History Analysis (1 Unit)  

Statistical techniques for the analysis of longitudinal data to explain or predict the occurrence of discrete events.

SOCIOL 403-0 Field Methods (1 Unit)  

Application of the methods of case study, interviewing, and participant observation.

SOCIOL 405-0 Research Design (1 Unit)  

This course provides an overview of the major components involved in designing an empirical research project and writing an empirical paper including (i) developing and refining a research question; (ii) situating the question in the relevant literature; and (iii) constructing an appropriate research strategy to explore the question.  Throughout the course, students will gain familiarity with (i) academic writing and the academic article format; (ii) the peer review publication process; (iii) the practice of giving constructive feedback on peer work; and (iv) presenting research in conference presentation style. By the end of the course, students will have developed a detailed research proposal that will resemble the front end of an academic journal article. This class will emphasize strategies conducive to writing a peer review journal article that can be applied to other academic endeavors as well (e.g. dissertation proposal development etc.). 

SOCIOL 406-1 Classical Theory in Sociological Analysis (1 Unit)  

Marx and Weber: comparison and contrasts of their theories. Also, theorists such as Lukacs and Gramsci, who combine elements from both.

SOCIOL 406-2 Race, Gender, Du Bois & Sociological Theory (1 Unit)  

This course addresses the role that social factors play in in the development of sociological perspectives and schools of thought. Attention will focus on the role of race, gender and power in the rise of American sociology. The case of W. E. B. Du Bois will be highlighted to shed light on the origins and development of American sociology.

SOCIOL 406-3 Contemporary Theory in Sociological Analysis (1 Unit)  

Contemporary approaches to important theoretical issues. Emphasizes the relationship between theory and current research. Topics may include functionalism, neo-Marxism, rational action, feminism, or symbolic interactionism.

SOCIOL 408-0 Sociology of Law (1 Unit)  

Classical and modern theories of law. Modes of inquiry in sociolegal research. Patterns of legal development; comparisons among capitalist, socialist, customary, and indigenous legal systems. The relationship of law to social control, inequality, and social change. Social organization of legal institutions, including systems of dispute resolution and litigation, the legal profession, and regulatory and enforcement agencies.

SOCIOL 410-0 Race, Racism, and Resistance (1 Unit)  

Survey of sociological theories about and empirical study of race, racism, and resistance. Course content will cover at least three of the following five topics: 1) historical formations; 2) relations of power and resistance; 3) comparative perspectives; 4) intersection of race/racism with other categorical hierarchies; 5) race, racism, and resistance in specific institutional and social contexts.

SOCIOL 420-0 Cultural Sociology and the Sociology of Culture (1 Unit)  

Production, distribution, reception of culture; culture and meaning; cultural approaches to social boundaries, social problems; local and global cultures.

SOCIOL 437-0 Economic Sociology (1 Unit)  

This course provides an introduction to economic sociology. It poses the key idea of "embeddedness" and develops it by exploring various connections between economic behavior and social processes and relations.

SOCIOL 439-0 Comparative and Historical Sociology (1 Unit)  

Theoretical and methodological issues in the comparison of whole societies and other macrosocial units. Contrasts approaches that emphasize variables with those that emphasize cases (i.e., countries) and their histories. Content varies. May be repeated for credit with change of topic.

SOCIOL 440-0 Stratification, Race and Gender (1 Unit)  

Issues in current research and theory in stratification, race, and gender. For graduate students.

SOCIOL 441-0 Social Movements (1 Unit)  

Issues in research and theory in organizations, institutions, and social movements. For graduate students.

SOCIOL 476-0 Topics in Sociological Analysis (1 Unit)  

Advanced areas of graduate student interest. Content varies. May be repeated for credit with change of topic.

SOCIOL 480-0 Introduction to the Discipline (0 Unit)  

Introduction to the department, faculty, and adjunct faculty. Faculty discuss their research and teaching interests. Mandatory two-quarter weekly seminar for first-year students.

SOCIOL 490-0 Research: Second Year Paper (1 Unit)  

Independent study for work on second-year paper.

SOCIOL 499-0 Independent Study (1 Unit)  

SEE DEPT FOR SECTION AND PERMISSION NUMBERS.

SOCIOL 519-0 Responsible Conduct of Research Training (0 Unit)  

SOCIOL 570-0 Seminar on College Teaching (1 Unit)  

This course should be seen as a first step in a never-ending mission for developing one's own pedagogical skills. Students will learn each stage of the collegiate course design and implementation process: creating syllabi, teaching effectively, and evaluating both student and teacher. Assignments throughout the course are designed primarily to help students improve and reflect on their teaching. The final assignment is to create a teaching portfolio that will lay the foundations for what students would use on the academic job market. As part of the course, students gain hands-on teaching experience by the department's 110 course: Introduction to Sociology. TAing for 110 will require students to lead a discussion section every week along with grading essays, midterms, and the final exam. The first two weeks of the course will prepare students to quickly learn and execute their responsibilities.

SOCIOL 576-0 Topics in Sociological Analysis (0.33-0.34 Unit)  

Workshops in areas of expressed student interest. Open to advanced graduate students. May be counted for credit with instructor approval.

SOCIOL 590-0 Research (1-3 Units)  

SEE DEPT FOR SECTION AND PERMISSION NUMBERS.