Students majoring in Sociology or Sociology - Organizational Studies can distinguish themselves to potential employers and establish momentum toward grad school by producing an undergraduate honors thesis.
The honors thesis program offers an enhanced academic experience for talented undergraduates. Writing an honors thesis provides a taste of graduate school — honors students conduct their first original, in-depth research project under the guidance of a faculty member. Those who have completed an honors thesis agree that it is an unforgettable and highly rewarding experience.
Honors students have completed theses on a wide variety of topics, including incarceration, immigration, environmental attitudes, marijuana and the media, and alcohol consumption. Additionally, the College of Letters & Science specifies that only participants in departmental honors programs are eligible to graduate with high or highest honors.
- Eligibility
- By the start of fall quarter, you must:
1. Be a declared major in sociology or sociology-organizational studies.
2. Have completed 135 units.
3. Have a 3.3 GPA in your upper division major courses.
4. Have completed at least four upper-division sociology courses.
5. Have agreement of a faculty member to serve as the advisor for your thesis. The advisor will serve as your mentor while you are working on your thesis and will meet with you regularly. You will also enroll in the department's Honors course - SOC 194HA (fall quarter - 4 units) and SOC 194HB (winter quarter - 4 units). - Preparing for Your Honors Thesis
You should begin by thinking about general topics that you would like to research. Once you have some ideas, you can begin discussions with faculty to determine a more concrete research question and learn how to conduct research in a way that is feasible so that the project can be completed in one year.
Ideally, you will have an agreement of sponsorship from a faculty mentor before the end of your spring quarter prior to your senior year.
If you have difficulty finding a mentor by the end of spring quarter, please contact Caroline Herrod at caherrod@ucdavis.edu. You can find a list of sociology faculty on the sociology website. When you click on the faculty name you will be able to see their bios and research interests.
Some SOC lecturers are eligible to be thesis mentors. If you have questions about a lecturer's eligibility this, please email Caroline.- SOC 194HA and 194HB - Honors Thesis Course
- Once accepted into the honors thesis program, students must enroll in SOC 194HA (fall quarter - 4 units) and SOC 194HB (winter quarter - 4 units). The first quarter typically involves a literature review, primary data collection (e.g., interviews, surveys, or participant observation) or analysis of existing data in relation to the thesis topic. The second quarter often entails directed reading, research and writing culminating in an honors thesis. Students meet regularly with their faculty thesis mentor during both quarters to assess the progress of the thesis both in the research and writing stages.
While students only enroll in 194h in fall and winter quarters, it is very common for students to continue to work on their thesis in spring quarter. It could be possible to receive SOC 199 units for spring quarter. Please make an advising appointment with Caroline if you have questions regarding how the honors thesis units can fit into your academic plan. Schedule an Advising Appointment
Fall 2025/Winter 2026 - SOC 194ha and 194hb will be taught by Professor Erin Hamilton on Mondays from 10am-11:50am. The course is hidden in Schedule Builder and is not searchable. You will receive the CRN within a week after you submit your proposal so you can register for the course.
Please note, students who intend to use human subjects in their research will be invited to a Zoom training session in mid/late Aug with Professor Hamilton to help them prepare the IRB application in late Aug/early Sept. The session will be recorded!
- Research Proposal
Students will be required to submit a 3-page proposal answering the questions below along with their honors thesis application. Students' faculty mentors need to review and approve their proposals before students complete the application.
Proposals and applications will be due Aug 1.1.) Begin with a brief, clear statement of your research topic and your research question(s). What do you want to find out and why? What is the puzzle that you are trying to solve? Your research question may change over the course of the year, but having a question at the beginning of your research can help guide your thinking and data collection.
2.) Discuss your preliminary plans for conducting your research. What method(s) will you use? What are some potential sources of data?
3.) Do you plan to conduct human subjects research? Please read the information at this webpage: https://irb.ucdavis.edu/irb-submissions/do-i-need-irb-review/ before answering this question.
4.) What two books or five articles do you plan to read on your topic over the summer?
2025-2026 Honors Thesis Application (Due Aug 1)
Students can also submit their papers for the Lofland Research Award. Links to papers of previous Lofland Award winners can be found on this page and can give you an idea of what a strong honors thesis looks like.