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Sociology Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2024 2024.

Empowering Populist Politics: Social Media Use in the US and UK , James M. Howley

Exploring Educational Equity: An Ethnographic Case Study of Non-Profit Initiatives in Early Childhood Education , Jovana Jovanovic

Disability, Blackness, and Online Community: Black Twitter as Self-Narrative , Morgan S. Wilson

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

“You don’t seek help, You are just thankful for the things the country provides for you.” The Emotional Burden of Growing up Undocumented in the United States , Melanie Anne Escue

Deconstructing and Decolonizing Identities of “Gender” and “Sex” When Viewed as Anti-Black: Black Narratives Outside of the Binary , Didier Salgado

“We Need to Figure Out Who We Are”: Reframing Manhood in an Online Discussion Forum , Tomas Sanjuan Jr.

Musicking Higher Education: An Analysis of the Effects of Music Pedagogy On College Classroom Atmospheres , April Smith

Framing, Emotion, and Contradiction in the Tampa Bay Times’ Climate Change Coverage , Madison Veeneman

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

"Are We Done?": The Minimization of Covid-19 and the Individualization of Health in the United States , Cassidy R. Boe

A Tale of Two Art Programs: Art & Identity for People with Disabilities , Melinda Leigh Maconi

Revisiting ‘Our’ Place on Campus: A Queer(ed) and In-depth Interview Study of QT Resource Professionals in Higher Education , Kristopher Andrew Oliveira

Health and Friendships of LGBTQIA+ College Students , Komal Asim Qidwai

Organizing for Here and There: Exploring the Grassroots Organizing of the Puerto Rican Diaspora in the Tampa Bay Area , Dominique Rivera

Stitched Together: What We Learn from Secret Stories in Public Media , Sara D. Rocks

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

"Duck Wars": Examining the Narrative Construction of a "Problem" Species , Jenna A. Bateman

The Debate on Physician-Assisted Death in the United States: A Narrative Analysis of Formula Stories , Rebecca Blackwell

The Social Correlates of War: Conflict Correlations Within Belief Systems. , Richard R. N. Decampa

Narrative Meaning Productions of Compassionate Healthcare: An Examination of Cultural Codes, Organizational Practices, and Everyday Realities , Carley Geiss

Racialized Morality: The Logic of Anti-Trafficking Advocacy , Sophie Elizabeth James

Green Business and the Culture of Capitalism: Constructing Narratives of Environmentalism , Julia S. Jester

Presenting Selves and Interpreting Culture: An Ethnography of Chinese International Tourism in the United States , Fangheyue Ma

Making A Home Away from Home: A Qualitative Study of African Students’ Practices of Integration in the United States , Alphonse O. Opoku

"They Say We're Expendable:" Race, Nation, and Citizenship in the Dominican Republic. , Edlin Veras

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

A social network analysis of online gamers' friendship networks: Structural attributes of Steam friendships, and comparison of offline-online social ties of MMO gamers , Juan G. Arroyo-Flores

Family Response to a Diagnosis of Serious Mental Illness in Teens and Young Adults: A Multi-Voiced Narrative Analysis , Douglas J. Engelman

GoFundTransitions: Narratives of Transnormativity and the Limits of Crowdfunding Livable Futures , Hayden J. Fulton

"Courage Drives Us": Narrative Construction of Organizational Identity in a Cancer-Specific Health Non-Profit Organization , Katie J. Hilderbrand

“I woke up to the world”: Politicizing Blackness and Multiracial Identity Through Activism , Angelica Celeste Loblack

The Athletics Behind the Academics: The Academic Advisor’s Role in the Lives of Student Athletes , Max J.R. Murray

Red-Green Rows: Exploring the Conflict between Labor and Environmental Movements in Kerala, India , Silpa Satheesh

Winning “Americans” for Jesus?: Second-Generation, Racial Ideology, and the Future of the Brazilian Evangelical Church in the U.S. , Rodrigo Otavio Serrao Santana De Jesus

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Palatable Shades of Gender: Status Processes at the Intersections of Race, Gender, and Team Formation , Jasmón L. Bailey

American Converts to Islam: Identity, Racialization, and Authenticity , Patrick M. Casey

Meaning and Monuments: Morality, Racial Ideology, and Nationalism in Confederate Monument Removal Storytelling , Kathryn A. DelGenio

"Keep it in the Closet and Welcome to the Movement": Storying Gay Men Among the Alt-Right , Shelby Statham

Selling White Masculinity: An Analysis of Cultural Intermediaries in the Craft Beverage Industry , Erik Tyler Withers

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

The Role of the Soldier in Civilian Life: Personal and Social Concerns that Influence Reintegration Processes , Matthew J. Ahlfs

“I Want to Be Who I Am”: Stories of Rejecting Binary Gender , Ana Balius

Breaking the Crass Ceiling? Exploring Narratives, Performances, and Audience Reception of Women's Stand-Up Comedy , Sarah Katherine Cooper

An Intersectional Examination of Disability and LGBTQ+ Identities In Virtual Spaces , Justine E. Egner

"I've never had that": An Exploration of how Children Construct Belonging and Inclusion Within a Foodscape , Olivia M. Fleming

Hybridizers and the Hybridized: Orchid Growing as Hybrid "Nature?" , Kellie Petersen

Coloring in the Margins: Understanding the Experiences of Racial/Ethnic and Sexual/Gender Minority Undergraduates in STEM , Jonathan D. Ware

Decreased Visibility: A Narrative Analysis of Episodic Disability and Contested Illness , Melissa Jane Welch

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

“Have a Seat at our Table: Uncovering the Experiences of Black Students Attending a ‘Racially Diverse’ University” , Diamond Briggs

TERF Wars: Narrative Productions of Gender and Essentialism in Radical-Feminist (Cyber)spaces , Jennifer Earles

“Can You Believe They Think I’m Intimidating?” An Exploration of Identity in Tall Women , Elizabeth Joy Fuller

Black Girl Magic?: Negotiating Emotions and Success in College Bridge Programs , Olivia Ann Johnson

"What Are We Doing Here? This Is Not Us": A Critical Discourse Analysis of The Last Of Us Remastered , Toria Kwan

Behind the Curtain: Cultural Cultivation, Immigrant Outsiderness, and Normalized Racism against Indian Families , Pangri G. Mehta

From the Panels to the Margins: Identity, Marginalization, and Subversion in Cosplay , Manuel Andres Ramirez

Examining Forty Years of the Social Organization of Feminisms: Ethnography of Two Women’s Bookstores in the US South , Mary Catherine Whitlock

"There is No Planet B": Frame Disputes within the Environmental Movement over Geoengineering , David Russell Zeller Jr.

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

“You Can Fight Logic…But You Can’t Fight God”: The Duality of Religious Text and Church as Community for White Lesbians in Appalachian and Rural Places , Jessica Mae Altice

Songwriting as Inquiry and Action: Emotion, Narrative Identity, and Authenticity in Folk Music Culture , Maggie Colleen Cobb

Unraveling the Wild: A Cultural Logic of Animal Stories in Contemporary Social Life , Damien Contessa

“It’s Not Like a Movie. It’s Not Hollywood:” Competing Narratives of a Youth Mentoring Organization , Carley Geiss

An Examination of Perspectives on Community Poverty: A Case Study of a Junior Civic Association , Monica Heimos Heimos

"I'm Not Broken": Perspectives of Students with Disabilities on Identity-making and Social Inclusion on a College Campus , Melinda Leigh Maconi

People and Pride: A Qualitative Study of Place Attachment and Professional Placemakers , Wenonah Machdelena Venter

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Mediated Relationships: An Ethnography of Family Law Mediation , Elaina Behounek

The Continuum of Ethno-Racial Socialization: Learning About Culture and Race in Middle-Class Latina/o Families , Maria D. Duenas

Getting Ahead: Socio-economic Mobility, Perceptions of Opportunity for Socio-economic Mobility, and Attitudes Towards Public Assistance in the United States , Alissa Klein

Beauty is Precious, Knowledge is Power, and Innovation is Progress: Widely Held Beliefs in Policy Narratives about Oil Spills , Brenda Gale Mason

Looking at Levels of Medicalization in the Institutional Narrative of Substance Use Disorders in the Military , Chase Landes Mccain

The Experience of Chronic Pain Management: A Multi-Voiced Narrative Analysis , Loren Wilbers

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Resources Matter: The Role of Social Capital and Collective Efficacy in Mediating Gun Violence , Jennifer Lynne Dean

More to Love: Obesity Histories and Romantic Relationships in the Transition to Adulthood , Hilary Morgan Dotson

Dieting, Discrimination, and Bullying: A Contextual Case Study of Framing in the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance , Veronica Kay Doughman

Negotiating Muslim Womanhood: The Adaptation Strategies of International Students at Two American Public Colleges , Amber Michelle Gregory

Checking Out: A Qualitative Study of Supermarket Cashiers' Emotional Response to Customer Mistreatment , Michael E. Lawless

Managing Family Food Consumption: Going Beyond Gender in the Kitchen , Blake Janice Martin

Motherhood Bound by State Supervision: An Exploratory Study of the Experiences of Mothers on Parole and Probation , Kaitlyn Robison

In Search of the Artist: The Influences of Commercial Interest on an Art School - A Narrative Analysis , Michael Leonard Sette

"They're Our Bosses": Representations of Clients, Guardians, and Providers in Caregivers' Narratives , Dina Vdovichenko

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Constructing Legal Meaning in the Supreme Court Oral Arguments: Cultural Codes and Border Disputes , Jeffrey Forest Hilbert

"All Blacks Vote the Same?": Assessing Predictors of Black American Political Participation and Partisanship , Antoine Lennell Jackson

Expectations of Nursing Home Use, Psychosocial Characteristics and Race/Ethnicity: The Latino/a Case , Heidi Ross

Beyond the Door: Disability and the Sibling Experience , Morgan Violeta Sanchez Taylor

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

A Mother's Love: A Narrative Analysis of Food Advertisements in an African American Targeted Women's Magazine , Janine Danielle Beahm

It's a Support Club, Not a Sex Club: Narration Strategies and Discourse Coalitions in High School Gay-Straight Alliance Club Controversies , Skyler Lauderdale

Beyond the Backlash: Muslim and Middle Eastern Immigrants' Experiences in America, Ten Years Post-9/11 , Gregory J. Mills

Competing Narratives: Hero and PTSD Stories Told by Male Veterans Returning Home , Adam Gregory Woolf

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

"Can't Buy Me Wealth": Racial Segregation and Housing Wealth in Hillsborough County, Florida , Natalie Marie Delia Deckard

Friendship Networks, Perceived Reciprocity of Support, and Depression , Ryan Francis Huff

That is Bad! This is Good: Morality as Constructed by Viewers of Television Reality Programs , Joseph Charles Losasso

American Muslim Identities: A Qualitative Study of Two Mosques in South Florida , Azka Mahmood Mahmood

Ethnic Identities among Second-Generation Haitian Young Adults in Tampa Bay, Florida: An Analysis of the Reported Influence of Ethnic Organizational Involvement on Disaster Response after the Earthquake of 2010 , Herrica Telus

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

Feral Cats and the People Who Care for Them , Loretta Sue Humphrey

Utilizing Facebook Application for Disaster Relief: Social Network Analysis of American Red Cross Cause Joiners , Jennie Wan Man Lai

Comparative Study of Intentional Communities , Jessica Merrick

More Than Bows and Arrows: Subversion and Double-Consciousness in Native American Storytelling , Anastacia M. Schulhoff

Between Agency and Accountability: An Ethnographic Study of Volunteers Participating in a Juvenile Diversion Program , Marc R. Settembrino

Predictors of Academic Achievement among Students at Hillsborough Community College: Can School Engagement Close the Racial Gap of Achievement? , Warren T. Smith

Theses/Dissertations from 2009 2009

Latent Newspaper Functions During the Impact Phase of Hurricane Katrina , Christina A. Brown

The Subjective Experience of PMS: A Sociological Analysis of Women’s Narratives , Christiana B. Chekoudjian

Sacred Selves: An Ethnographic Study of Narratives and Community Practices at a Spiritual Center , Sean E. Currie

Digging It: A Participatory Ethnography of the Experiences at a School Garden , Branimir Cvetkovic

Constructions of Narrative Identities of Women Political Candidates , Amy E. Daniels

“The Best We Can With What We Got”: Mediating Social and Cultural Capital in a Title I School , Jarin Rachel Eisenberg

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The Best Sociology Dissertation Topics

Published by Alvin Nicolas at January 10th, 2023 , Revised On June 10, 2024

Sociology is the study of society, social patterns, social relationships, etc. Essentially, it studies how human society functions and operates. Sociology also examines the process of human interaction, how it is preserved, and what causes it to evolve. As a sociology student, you will gain in-depth knowledge and understanding regarding human interactions and social relationships. Still, you will also learn about crime, social classes, religions, cultures, and more.

As part of your degree programme, you may have to submit a dissertation. The topic that you choose for your sociology dissertation should be trending and relevant. It should discuss an issue that is prevailing in society.

To help you get started with brainstorming for sociology topic ideas, we have developed a list of the latest topics that can be used for writing your history dissertation.

These topics have been developed by PhD qualified writers on our team , so you can trust to use them for drafting your dissertation.

You may also want to start your dissertation by requesting  a brief research proposal  from our writers on any of these topics, which includes an  introduction  to the topic,  research question ,  aim and objectives , a literature review  along with the proposed  methodology  of research to be conducted.  Let us know if you need any help getting started.

Check our  dissertation examples  to get an idea of  how to structure your dissertation .

Review the full list of  dissertation topics here.

List of Top Sociology Dissertation Topics

• Current Social Perceptions of the Affirmative Action and Its Effect on Diversity
• The Impact of Socioeconomic Background on Access to Technology 
• An Analysis of Confirmatory Biases on Fake News
• How Changing Demographics Are Reshaping Social Structures
• A Sociological Analysis of the Impact of the Sharing Economy on Consumerism and Social Interaction
• An Analysis of the Changing Face of Work-Life Balance
• The Impact of Applying Sorokin’s Sociology Theory and Religious Activism 
• The Link Between a Teacher’s Motivation and the Academic Performance of Students in Public Schools.
• How the Rise of Social Media Influencers Has Reshaped Social Identity 
• The Role of Marketisation in Reshaping Higher Learning 
• The Evolving Relationship Between Humans and Pets
• The Impact of Education Policy on Social Stratification and Inequality

Sociology Dissertation Topics For Your Research

Topic 1: the sociology of new work from home employment model- an exploratory analysis determining the sociological effects of work from home during covid-19 in the uk.

Research Aim: This research aims to determine the sociological effects of the new work from home (WFH) employment model adopted by organisations during COVID-19 in the UK. It will identify how WFH affected the social and personal lives of employees. Moreover, it will see how these sociological effects translated into their work efficacy. And whether organisations are aware of these effects and what were their human resource (HR) policies to improve their employees’ social lives?

Topic 2: What are the Sociological Determinants of the Gender Pay Gap in Western Society? A Case Study of Multinational Corporations in the USA, UK, Canada, and Germany

Research Aim: This study will find the sociological determinants of the gender pay gap in Western society. It will assess the individuals working in multinational organisations in the USA, UK, Canada, and Germany to see whether their cultures, norms, and traditions impact gender pay in these countries. Furthermore, how do these organisations address the issue of the gender pay gap and their findings on this issue?

Topic 3: Is it Bad to be a Transgender in South Asia? Impact of Transgender Stigmatisation on the Transgender Suicide Rate in the India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh

Research Aim: This research will analyse the impact of transgender stigmatisation on the transgender suicide rate in South Asia. It will assess India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh as case studies to find out how being a transgender person there and how does it affect their lives and what social factors force them to commit suicide. Moreover, it will identify the steps taken by their local governments to make society more transgender-inclusive and what difference these policies made in the lives of transgender people.

Topic 4: Does Religion Act Differently in Rural and Urban Settings? A Study to Find the Differential Effects of Islam on the Social Fabric of Rural and Urban Societies in Pakistan

Research Aim: This study will find the differential effects of Islam on the social fabric of rural and urban societies in Pakistan. It will determine the factors such as education level, general awareness, usage of technology, etc., that make a difference in how individuals follow religion in Pakistan’s rural and urban settings. Moreover, it will show how these factors play a mediating role between religion and the social fabric of rural and urban societies in Pakistan.

Topic 5: A Critical Examination of Religious Institutions in the UK and their Influence on Social Structure

Research Aim: This research intends to critically examine the role of religious institutions in shaping social structures in the UK. It will identify the channels through which these religious institutions affect individuals, transforming their social networks through changes in their family structures, parenting, religious beliefs, etc. Moreover, it will identify which religion has more effect on the lives of individuals in the UK and whether it is affecting their social and professional lives as well

COVID-19 Sociology Research Topics

Topic 1: the effects of coronavirus on sociology.

Research Aim: The sociological aspects of societies the during coronavirus pandemic. The study will highlight all elements thoroughly.

Topic 2: Sociological opportunities and resources during COVID-19

Research Aim: This study will review the sociological opportunities and resources during COVID-19

Topic 3: Global Sociology and COVID-19

Research Aim: This study will highlight the challenges faced by global sociologist and their contribution to combatting COVID-19.

Topic 4: COVID-19 and the future of society

Research Aim: This study will assess the current situations and damages caused due to COVID-19 and predict society’s future after COVID-19 associating it with social distancing and fears created by the pandemic.

More Sociology Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: impacts of ethnic discrimination.

Research Aim: This research aims to study the impacts of ethnic discrimination on society

Topic 2: Types of discrimination in workplaces

Research Aim: This research aims to study discrimination in workplaces and suggest possible ways to solve it.

Topic 3: Dress codes and their impact on equality

Research Aim: This research aims to address the issues relevant to the imposition of dress codes in workplaces and institutions. It will also identify how far the dress code ensures equality among the staff and what issues and challenges people face due to their religious and cultural backgrounds.

Topic 4: Old-age homes Vs. orphanages

Research Aim: This study will conduct a comparative study on old age homes and orphanages, suggest innovative solutions to improve their conditions and introduce various activities to provide them with a healthy and productive environment.

Trending Sociology Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: the impact of race, real estate markets, and neighbourhood dynamics on evictions..

Research Aim: Using quantitative research techniques, the research looks to examine social stratification and inequality in neighbourhoods of the United States with the highest crime rates. The research will examine how various factors may impact social segregation and social mobility.

Topic 2: Is terrorism a social construct?

Research Aim: The research paper will use document analysis as the research technique to identify the extent to which terrorism is socially constructed. The paper will analyse the varying definitions of terrorism and the difficulties that surround them. It will examine events that are labelled terrorist acts based on traditional, legal, and academic definitions.

Topic 3: Analysing the perceptions and responses to female child sex offenders

Research Aim: The research will use qualitative research techniques to understand and explain the perceptions of female child sex offenders and responses to such in the criminal justice system, the media, the public, and social welfare professionals. The purpose of the research will be to bring to the forefront a different perspective from which to analyse expectations towards gender and its effect on gender’s criminological representations.

Topic 4: Stratification in labour markets of the UK after the Great Recession 2007-2009

Research Aim: Using quantitative techniques as a research method, the study will use theories and techniques used for understanding patterns and sources of income inequality to investigate employment inequality. The Great Recession’s consequences of employment inequality will be analysed using race, ethnicity, and gender.

Topic 5: Athletic Privilege & Lack of Conviction

Research Aim: This research will analyse the arrest and conviction of athletes in sexual assault cases between athletes and non-athletes from 200 to 2017. There is a great lack of study on sexual assault arrest and conviction rates among male collegiate and professional athletes. The study will determine if and why athletes receive privileged treatment by the criminal justice system, specifically when accused of felony sexual assault against women.

Topic 6: Predisposition of America’s law enforcement towards racial stereotyping, discrimination, and profiling.

Research Aim: The study will examine law enforcement officers in the United States and the reasons why there is rampant racial bias against African Americans. There has been a surge of police brutality against African American citizens, making it imperative to examine the reasons behind the surge to improve police and community relationships.

Topic 7: The religious perspective of the role and importance of women in modern society: Islam versus Christianity

Research Aim: The main purpose of this study is to identify the roles and importance of women in the modern world while taking a religious perspective. In this study, the researcher will identify the role of women while focusing on the role of women in Islam and how it differs from the role of women in Christianity.

Topic 8: Assessing the impact of cultural differences on organisational communication in MNC’s: a preaching academic and religious knowledge case study of developed countries.

Research Aim: This study will identify the importance of communication in MNCs and the influence of cultural differences that may hinder or increase the level of effective communication within multinational organisations. The researcher will identify major cultural barriers and their relationship with communication within multinational organisations of developed countries.

Topic 9: To explore the significance of having a strong association between religious teaching and academic teaching

Research Aim: The main purpose of the research will be to identify the importance of preaching academic and religious knowledge to students while focusing on the major challenges that teachers can face when combining these two approaches.

Sociology of Gender Dissertation Topics

This has become one of the most prominent areas of sociology in recent times. Over the past five to six decades, an increasing part of public discourse and academic literature has been dedicated to gender equality. However, most of the work in this area of sociology has been done with reference to underdeveloped countries where complex gender issues prevail in societies. Some interesting topics in this area of sociology are suggested below for you to base your dissertation on.

Topic 1: Investigating changing gender roles in society and the effect of media

Research Aim: This research will talk about the changing gender roles in society and evaluate the role of media.

Topic 2: To study the reasons as to why women have been historically excluded from education

Research Aim: This study will talk about the various reasons why women have been excluded from education over the past years.

Topic 3: Studying gender policies in large and diversified multinational companies in the UK with a focus on the role of those policies in eliminating gender discrimination in the workplace

Research Aim: This research will help understand the gender issues in MNCs and will also evaluate the role of gender discrimination policies in workplaces.

Topic 4: To investigate the possible social aspects that could affect societal gender relationships

Research Aim: This research will help evaluate the role of social aspects that impact societal gender relationships.

Topic 5: To study the possible reasons why the role of females in society is influenced by the power politics of a society

Research Aim: This research will help in understanding the reasons why power politics influence females in society.

Topic 6: Do women in developing countries have a greater role to play in income-generating business activities?

Research Aim: This research will focus on women’s work in developing countries. It will evaluate whether they have a more significant role in generating income through different business activities.

Topic 7: The impact of religion in determining the optimum role of females in a society

Research Aim: This research will help evaluate the impact of religion in determining females’ best role in society.

Topic 8: Investigating possible reasons as to why women are discriminated against at work

Research Aim: This research will help investigate the various reasons why women are discriminated against at different workplaces.

Topic 9: To study societal behaviour that shapes gender relations

Research Aim: This research will help study social behaviour, which helps develop gender relations.

Topic 10: Analysing the increasing participation of women in politics and its impact on society

Research Aim: This research will help analyse the increasing participation of women in politics and its impact on society.

How Can ResearchProspect Help?

ResearchProspect writers can send several custom topic ideas to your email address. Once you have chosen a topic that suits your needs and interests, you can order for our dissertation outline service which will include a brief introduction to the topic, research questions , literature review , methodology , expected results , and conclusion . The dissertation outline will enable you to review the quality of our work before placing the order for our full dissertation writing service !

Industrial Sociology Dissertation Topics

Industrial Sociology can be defined as the study of behaviours and motivations of employees in a work environment. Most descriptions in this sociology area are anthropological as if an external observer is commenting on the office’s social environment. Some topics are suggested below if you intend to base your dissertation on this sub-field of sociology .

Topic 1: Studying the most critical aspect of modern industrial societies in the UK

Research Aim: This research will focus on the most essential and critical aspects of modern industrial societies in the UK.

Topic 2: Do societal beliefs and values really influence the role of corporate social responsibility?

Research Aim: This study will talk about various beliefs and values that impact corporate social responsibility.

Topic 3: The sociology of work: From industrial sociology to work, employment and the economy

Research Aim: This research will aim to investigate the sociology of work, i.e. industrial sociology, employment, an+d economy,

Topic 4: Organisational goals or social requirements – what should a worker-supervisor relationship bias be based on?

Research Aim: This research will aim to understand organisational goals or social requirements. The focus of the study will be to study the worker-supervisor relationship.

Topic 5: To investigate the social dimensions of communication in a large and diversified business organisation

Research Aim: This study will investigate the social dimensions of communication in a large and diversified business organisation.

Topic 6: To establish and critically analyse the relationship between work productivity and motivation

Research Aim: This research will talk about the relationship between productivity and motivation. The ties will be critically analysed.

Topic 7: How is society responding to automation in workplaces on workers?

Research Aim: This research will study the impact automation at workplaces has on employees.

Topic 8: To study strategies to ensure the management of cultural diversity and cultural harmony in an organisation

Research Aim: This research will study strategies implemented to manage cultural diversity and harmony in workplaces.

Topic 9: How can fluctuating trends influence employees' social well-being in the role of trade unions?

Research Aim: This research will investigate how employees’ social well-being is impacted by fluctuating trends in the role of trade unions.

Topic 10: To critically analyse the social structure of a multinational firm operating in the UK

Research Aim: This research will analyse the social structure of a multinational operating in the UK.

Economic Sociology Dissertation Topics

Economic sociology can precisely be described as studying the social cause and effect of various economic phenomena. This sub-field of sociology is further divided into a “contemporary” period and a “classical” one.

Economic sociology views the economy as a social institute that deals with the consumption, production, and distribution of products and services. Below are suggested some intriguing economic sociology dissertation topics for you to base your dissertation on:

Topic 1: To investigate the intra-household economic relationships of UK families with a particular focus on ethnic groups

Research Aim: This research will investigate UK families’ intra-household economic relationships. The study will focus on ethnic groups in these families.

Topic 2: To investigate the potentially detrimental effects of the recent economic slump in the social status of members from the secondary labour market

Research Aim: This study will aim to understand the detrimental impacts of the recent economic slump on secondary labourers’ social status.

Topic 3: To identify and study the most prominent sociological dimensions of socio-economic development

Research Aim: This research will identify and study the most prominent sociological dimensions of socio-economic development.

Topic 4: Can socio-economic development be ensured through an informal economy?

Research Aim: This study will explore whether socio-economic development is ensured through the informal economy

Topic 5: To determine whether the communism model can succeed in the UK society

Research Aim: This study will find out whether the communist model in the UK can succeed or not.

Topic 6: To critically review communism and capitalism economic models

Research Aim: This study will critically examine and review the economic models of communism and capitalism.

Topic 7: To study the extent to which international labour migration is affecting the UK’s society

Research Aim: This study will analyse the extent to which international labour migration impacts UK society.

Topic 8: To investigate the economy of the UK in terms of Marx’s criticism of capitalism

Research Aim: This study will investigate the UK economy to view Marx’s capitalism criticism.

Topic 9: Exploring the fundamental principles of economic sociology

Research Aim: This research will explore and examine economic sociology’s fundamental principles.

Topic 10: A critical analysis on the role of gender in the economy of the UK

Research Aim: This research will critically analyse gender roles in the UK economy.

Political Sociology Dissertation Topics

Political sociology primarily deals with the relationship between states and societies. This sub-field of sociology further considers power politics, political conflicts, and micro and macro components of sociology and political science. Here are some intriguing topics about political sociology.

Topic 1: A critical review of the concept of political sociology related to direct democracy

Research Aim: This research will deal with the concept of political sociology concerning direct democracy.

Topic 2: E-governance and the politics of identification: Unique identities, citizenship, and state in contemporary India

Research Aim: This research will discuss a relatively new concept, i.e. e-governance for politics of identification. The main focus of this dissertation will be exploring unique identities, states, and citizenship in India.

Topic 3: Analysing elite theory in political sociology

Research Aim: Elite theory explores power relationships in contemporary society. This research will analyse this critical theory of political sociology.

Topic 4: Evaluating the role of social forces in power politics in the UK

Research Aim: This research will discuss and evaluate social forces’ role in power politics in the United Kingdom.

Topic 5: To determine the extent to which the democratic political model can influence a capitalist society

Research Aim: This research will aim to determine the extent to which a democratic political model can impact a capitalist society.

Topic 6: To study and compare rational-legal and leadership models with respect to the British society

Research Aim: This research will compare relational-legal and various leadership models of British society.

Topic 7: The importance and influence of ethnic minorities in British power politics Ethnic minorities hold huge power in British politics.

Research Aim: This research will explore the importance and influence of all such ethnic minorities in Britain.

Topic 8: Assessing modern politics and the role of globalisation

Research Aim: This research will talk about globalisation and how it impacts and influences modern politics.

Topic 9: Examining the British welfare state system: How does it impact individuals

Research Aim: This research will study and examine the British welfare state system. Furthermore, the study will also learn how this system impacts individuals.

Topic 10: A critical analysis of the Islamic welfare state system

Research Aim: This research will explore the Islamic welfare state system, how it operates, and its impact on society.

Also Read: Psychology Dissertation Topics

Sociology of Culture Dissertation Topics

Cultural sociology is an exciting area of sociology. The cultural norms, beliefs, values, and material and non-material aspects of culture are discussed in detail under this sociology sub-field. Here are some interesting cultural sociology dissertation topics you can choose from:

Topic 1: To study the validity and application of Marx’s conflict theory in British society

Research Aim: This research will discuss the conflict theory presented by Marx and examine its validity and application in British Society.

Topic 2: Investigating how the British native beliefs, norms and values have been influenced by cultural invasion from immigrants

Research Aim: This research will understand how immigrants influence British native beliefs, norms, and values.

Topic 3: Identifying and analysing the scope and dimensions of cultural shock an Asian foreigner can expect to face in the UK

Research Aim: This research will assess and examine how an Asian foreigner can sustain a cultural shock in the UK.

Topic 4: Are there any cultural lags in British society – A literature review from the past 10 years?

Research Aim: This will be an exciting study as it will explore cultural lags in British society—all the evidence from the past ten years assessed under this topic.

Topic 5: Importance of social interactions among cultures – Exploring the good and bad aspects of social interaction among sub-cultures in British society

Research Aim: This research will discuss the various social interactions among different cultures and explore the good and bad social interaction factors among subcultures in British society.

Topic 6: To critically analyse various subcultures in the UK with reference to geography

Research Aim: This research will analyse the different subcultures operating and living in the US regarding geography.

Topic 7: Evaluating the fluctuating principles of counterculture in Britain

Research Aim: This research will help us understand the principles of counterculture in the United States.

Topic 8: Comparing norms and values of modern British society to the culture 20 years ago

Research Aim: This will be a comparative study. The dissertation will compare and contrast the norms and values of modern British society with that of the culture prevalent 20 years ago.

Topic 9: To what extent has the popular culture of the UK transformed over the last few decades?

Research Aim: This research will understand how popular UK culture has changed over the past few years.

Topic 10: Examining culture and globalisation from the perspective of sociology

Research Aim: This research will assess and examine culture and globalisation from the perspective of sociology.

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Education Sociology Dissertation Topics

The sociology of education can be described as how individual experiences and educational institutions can affect education and its outcomes. This sociology area primarily deals with the schooling systems with a focus on adult, higher, and continuing education. Some interesting topics in this field of sociology are suggested below:

Topic 1: Examining the causes of education restriction of females in developing countries

Research Aim: This research will assess and evaluate the underlying causes that restrict females from gaining an education in developing countries.

Topic 2: To investigate the relationship between student performance and teacher behaviour – A study of the hurdles while acquiring education

Research Aim: This research will understand the relationship between student performance and teacher behaviour. The study’s primary focus will be to understand the hurdles that students come across while acquiring education.

Topic 3: A comparison of the facilities provided in private and public sector schools

Research Aim: This research will compare and contrast the facilities provided by private schools to public schools.

Topic 4: A historical review of sociology policies employed by the UK following the Second World War

Research Aim: This research will be a historical review that will study the UK’s policies following the Second World War.

Topic 5: Assessing the extent to which the education structure in the UK has changed due to the social exclusion of youth in educational institutes

Research Aim: This research will study the extent to which the UK’s education structure has changed due to the social exclusion of youth in educational institutes.

Topic 6: Evaluating the importance of social supervision and support in British elementary schools

Research Aim: This research will assess and evaluate the importance of social supervision and support in British elementary schools.

Topic 7: The impact of school background on how children perceive the society

Research Aim: This research will focus on a critical issue, i.e. the impact of school education and background and how it shapes a child’s perception of their society.

Topic 8: The role of British education curriculum in terms of economic and sociological result

Research Aim: This research will understand the British curriculum’s role concerning economic and sociological results.

Topic 9: Investigating the extent to which the UK’s public schools and colleges have been able to establish inter-faith associations among pupils

Research Aim: This research will evaluate the extent to which UK public schools and colleges establish inter-faith associations among students.

Topic 10: Examining the UK’s public school system to identify probable opportunities through which the education gap can be reduced for neglected groups

Research Aim: This research will investigate an important issue, i.e. identify gaps that can be worked on and reduced to include and provide education to neglected groups.

Sociology of Religion Dissertation Topics

The sociology of religion considers religious values and practices concerning sociological theories and methods. Issues covered by this area of sociology include but are not limited to the effect of religion on society and the impact of various social elements such as politics, media, and social interaction on religion.

Contemporary issues such as the role of stereotyping, inequality, and gender in religion will be discussed under the sociology of religion. Here are some interesting topics in this subfield of sociology

Topic 1: To establish the relationship between UK’s educational institutes and religion

Research Aim: This research will discuss the relationship between religion and educational institutes operating in the UK.

Topic 2: The role of religions in marriages in the UK

Research Aim: This research will discuss various religions and their relationship with marriages in the UK.

Topic 3: To determine whether religion plays a role in UK power politics

Research Aim: This research will aim to determine whether religion plays a role in UK power politics or not.

Topic 4: Exploring religious guidelines to help counsel social aspects

Research Aim: This research will outline religious guidelines and regulations that help counsel and direct social aspects in the right direction. Social aspects that will be explored include education, economics and gender.

Topic 5: Limitations that influence society as a single individual or as a whole

Research Aim: This research will aim to discuss the limitations that impact society as a whole as well as individuals.

Topic 6: Assessing the extent to which religious beliefs influence political behaviour in the UK

Research Aim: This research will examine how religious beliefs influence political behaviour in the UK.

Topic 7: Assessing the impact of religious organisations on British social culture

Research Aim: This research will understand how religious organisations impact the British social culture and how culture and religion are interrelated.

Topic 8: Examining the relationship between social change and religion

Research Aim: This research will study the relationship between religion and social change.

Topic 9: Religious diffusion results from social interaction between people from different religions – The case of the UK

Research Aim: This research will assess the various religious diffusion results from social interaction between people belonging to various religions in the UK

Topic 10: Comparing cross-religious values and theories in British society

Research Aim: This will be comparative research based on cross-religious values and theories in British society.

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Comparative Sociology Dissertation Topics

This area of sociology mainly deals with different models of civilisation, including state capitalism, welfare capitalism, socialism, capitalism, and communism. It further incorporates comparisons of social problems such as gender, ethnicity, and race and the comparisons of social institutions such as economy, religion, health, family, and education. Some interesting dissertation topics are suggested below.

Topic 1: Similarities and differences between a welfare state and a capitalist state

Research Aim: This research will explore the differences and similarities between a capitalist and a welfare state.

Topic 2: A comparison of the totalitarian system vs democracy in terms of social progress

Research Aim: This will be a comparative study between the totalitarian system and democracy concerning social progress.

Topic 3: To compare the education systems of America and Britain – How are these systems playing a key role in influencing societal standards?

Research Aim: This research will compare Britain’s and America’s educational systems and assess how they are influencing societal standards.

Topic 4: To identify and discuss the similarities and differences between the British and American labour markets

Research Aim: This research will assess the similarities and differences between the American and British labour markets.

Topic 5: Cultural diffusion and immigration – Has the UK been able to preserve its culture over the last few decades?

Research Aim: This research will discuss whether or not the UK has preserved its culture despite immigration and cultural diffusion.

Topic 6: A Comparison of the family structure in Indian and UK societies

Research Aim: This research will compare the family structure of India with that of the UK.

Topic 7: Comparison of the effect of religion in determining Muslim society and Jewish society in the UK

Research Aim: This research will compare religion’s impact to help determine the Muslim and Jewish society in the UK.

Topic 8: Social inequalities associated with communism and capitalism

Research Aim: This research will examine the social inequalities that are associated with capitalism and communism.

Topic 9: To identify and critically analyse the pivotal gender issues in Chinese society and Russian society

Research Aim: This research will assess the various religious diffusion results from social interaction between people belonging to different religions in the UK

Topic 10: To compare marriage as a social institution in Britain and India

Research Aim: This study will compare marriage as a social institution in the UK and India

Also Read: Science Dissertation Topics

Sociology of Family and Marriage Dissertation Topics

Family and marriage systems of society are significant aspects of this type of sociology. The most prominent topics of discussion within the field of sociology of family and marriage systems include post-marriage social interactions, classes, and dynamics of marriage and associated rituals, marriage system, the impact of social change on families, external and internal social interaction of family, gender dynamics within a family and parent-child relationships. Here are some interesting dissertation topics related to this area:

Topic 1: Analysing the basic structure and size of the UK family from a historical perspective

Research Aim: This research will understand the basic size and structure of a UK family.

Topic 2: The Evolution of UK family structure over the years – A study of the periodic social change

Research Aim: This research will study the evolution of the UK family structure and examine periodic social change.

Topic 3: Examining the extent to which domestic violence in Britain has affected children

Research Aim: This study will assess the extent to which domestic violence in Britain has impacted children.

Topic 4: To determine the causes of increasing domestic violence in UK’s society

Research Aim: This research will help determine the underlying reasons for increasing domestic violence in the UK.

Topic 5: The impact of changing UK’s residential trends on the practices and beliefs of society

Research Aim: This study will examine the impact of changing UK residential trends based on society’s beliefs and practices.

Topic 6: Examining the causes of the increasing divorce rate in the UK

Research Aim: This research will understand the reasons for the increasing divorce rate in the UK.

Topic 7: Assessing the different parenting types and the impact it has on children

Research Aim : This research will discuss and understand the different types of parenting and the impact it has on children

Topic 8: To compare marriages in different subcultures of British society

Research Aim: This research will compare marriages in different sub-cultures of British society.

Topic 9: Assessing the gender roles in a family – Have they changed over the past five years?

Research Aim: This research will aim to understand why they have caused a change in the gender roles in a family.

Topic 10: Analysing the pros and cons of an extended family system and a nuclear family system

Research Aim: This research will aim to understand the benefits and drawbacks of an extended family system and a nuclear family system.

Sociology of Crimes Dissertation Topics

Sociology of criminology or crimes is another exciting area of sociology that investigates the causes, extent, and nature of crimes, focusing on control strategies at societal and individual levels. It should be noted that the term “Crime” is defined as any act that is a direct violation of state law.

Topic 1: Determining the probable causes of increasing street crimes in London

Research Aim: This research aims to understand why they have caused an increase in street crimes in London.

Topic 2: To establish the relationship between increasing domestic violence and alcohol consumption

Research Aim: This research will assess the relationship between increasing domestic violence and alcohol consumption.

Topic 3: Determining the reasons as to why stabbing crime in the UK has steadily increased and its implications for British society

Research Aim: This research will help understand the reasons behind the increasing rate of stabbings in the UK.

Topic 4: Is the UK government providing accurate crime statistics – A review of the crime data collection techniques employed in the UK?

Research Aim: This research will examine the data collection techniques employed by the UK government and will assess whether accurate crime statistics are provided or not.

Topic 5: Is there a link between street crimes and alcohol consumption?

Research Aim: This research will determine whether street crimes and alcohol consumption are related or not.

Topic 6: A Critical analysis of the evolution of criminological theories

Research Aim: This research will critically analyse the evolution of criminological theories.

Topic 7: To establish the relationship between criminal behaviour and personality type

Research Aim: This research will assess whether a relationship exists between criminal behaviour or different personality types.

Topic 8: The role of social inequality in increasing street crimes in the UK

Research Aim: This research will help us understand the role of social inequality concerning increasing street crimes in the UK.

Topic 9: To present avenues of crime prevention with a focus on alternatives to physical punishment

Research Aim: This research will discuss crime prevention with a particular focus on physical punishment alternatives.

Topic 10: A critical review of the UK government’s crime prevention strategies and policies – Are they delivering the desired outcomes?

Research Aim: This research will present a critical review of the various crime prevention strategies and whether they are delivering desirable results or not.

Important Notes:

As a student of sociology dissertation looking to get good grades, it is essential to develop new ideas and experiment with existing sociology dissertation theories – i.e., to add value and interest to your research topic.

The sociology dissertation field is vast and interrelated to so many other academic disciplines like human rights , philosophy , religion & theology and more. That is why it is imperative to create a sociology dissertation topic that is articular, sound, and solves a practical problem that may be rampant in the field.

We can’t stress how important it is to develop a logical research topic based on your fundamental research. There are several significant downfalls to getting your case wrong: your supervisor may not be interested in working on it, the topic has no academic creditability, the research may not make logical sense, and there is a possibility that the study is not viable.

This impacts your time and efforts in writing your dissertation as you may end up in a cycle of rejection at the very initial stage of the dissertation. That is why we recommend reviewing existing research to develop a topic, taking advice from your supervisor, and even asking for help in this particular stage of your dissertation.

Keeping our advice in mind while developing a research topic will allow you to pick one of the best sociology dissertation topics that fulfill your requirement of writing a research paper and add to the body of knowledge.

Therefore, it is recommended that when finalising your dissertation topic, you read recently published literature to identify gaps in the research that you may help fill.

Remember- dissertation topics need to be unique, solve an identified problem, be logical, and be practically implemented. Please look at some of our sample sociology dissertation topics to get an idea for your dissertation.

How to Structure Your Sociology Dissertation

A well-structured dissertation can help students to achieve a high overall academic grade.

• A Title Page
• Acknowledgements
• Declaration
• Abstract: A summary of the research completed
• Table of Contents
• Introduction : This chapter includes the project rationale, research background, key research aims and objectives, and the research problems. An outline of the structure of a dissertation can also be added to this chapter.
• Literature Review : This chapter presents relevant theories and frameworks by analysing published and unpublished literature available on the chosen research topic to address research questions . The purpose is to highlight and discuss the selected research area’s relative weaknesses and strengths whilst identifying any research gaps. Break down the topic, and binding terms can positively impact your dissertation and your tutor.
• Methodology : The data collection and analysis methods and techniques employed by the researcher are presented in the Methodology chapter which usually includes research design , research philosophy, research limitations, code of conduct, ethical consideration, data collection methods, and data analysis strategy .
• Findings and Analysis : Findings of the research are analysed in detail under the Findings and Analysis chapter. All key findings/results are outlined in this chapter without interpreting the data or drawing any conclusions. It can be useful to include graphs , charts , and tables in this chapter to identify meaningful trends and relationships.
• Discussion and Conclusion : The researcher presents his interpretation of results in this chapter and states whether the research hypothesis has been verified or not. An essential aspect of this section of the paper is to draw a linkage between the results and evidence from the literature. Recommendations with regard to the implications of the findings and directions for the future may also be provided. Finally, a summary of the overall research, along with final judgments, opinions, and comments, must be included in the form of suggestions for improvement.
• References : This should be completed following your University’s requirements
• Bibliography
• Appendices : Any additional information, diagrams, and graphs used to complete the dissertation but not part of the dissertation should be included in the Appendices chapter. Essentially, the purpose is to expand the information/data.

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How to choose a dissertation topic sociology.

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Medical Sociology

Content tagged with medical sociology, malcolm williams.

Dissertation Title： "Individual, Clinical, and Contextual Factors Affecting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care Quality"Current research indicates that there are significant racial and ethnic disparities in the risk factors, incidence, and...

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Annie Steffenson

Dissertation Title： "Toward a Better Understanding of HIV Risk among Young South Africans: Risk Perceptions and the Risk of Concurrent Sexual Partnerships"South Africa is in the midst of a severe HIV epidemic and prevention efforts to date have had only...

Emily Shortridge

Dissertation Title：  "Gender and Health: The Influence of Psychosocial Factors on Health"

The medical literature presents many examples of differences in health care use by men and women. The roots of these differences include biological, social, and...

Cleo Samuel-Ryals

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Team approaches to care are increasingly being considered critical to improving...

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Jessica Perkins

Dissertation Title： "Conducting Social Network and Social Norm Research in Low-Resource Settings: Food Insecutiry, Depression, and HIV Testing in Rural Uganda"

This dissertation examines the role of social networks and social norms in health outcomes and...

Jessica Mittler

Dissertation Title ："Medicare Beneficiaries and Market Variations in Service Use, Quality of Care, and Plan Choice"Paper 1 examined relationships between an area’s intensity of service use and patient experiences, complementing research that showed...

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Infertility is a common problem in the US, affecting approximately 1 in 8 couples of childbearing age, or over 7 million women nationwide. But...

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Taking “The Promise” Seriously: Medical Sociology’s Role in Health, Illness, and Healing in a Time of Social Change

Bernice a. pescosolido.

Department of Sociology, Indiana University, 1022 E. Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47405 USA

In 1959, C.W. Mills published his now famous treatise on what sociology uniquely brings to understanding the world and the people in it. Every sociologist, of whatever ilk, has had at least a brush with the “sociological imagination,” and nearly everyone who has taken a sociology course has encountered some version of it. As Mills argued, the link between the individual and society, between personal troubles and social issues, between biography and history, or between individual crises and institutional contradictions represents the core vision of the discipline of sociology. While reminding ourselves of the “promise” may be a bit trite, its mention raises the critical question: Why do we have to continually remind ourselves of the unique contribution that we, as sociologists, bring to understanding health, illness, and healing?

Introduction: Taking Stock of the Intellectual and Societal Landscape of Medical Sociology

Perhaps, we remind ourselves because the sociological imagination is so complex – a multilayered perspective that ties together dynamics processes, social structures, and individual variation. While Mills ( 1959 , p. 4) himself argued that “ordinary men…do not possess the quality of mind essential to grasp the interplay,” this seems a bit overplayed. There have always been people – in the academy, in the workroom, or in the home – who have heard and understood the deafening voice of oppressive social norms drowning out opportunity. There have always been people who have noted, described, and taken advantage of changes in opportunity structures to improve their fate. And, despite modern medicine’s reductionist and mechanical view of the body, which may or may not be changing, there have always been the Rudolph Virchows, the Milton and Ruth Roemers, the George Readers, and the Howard Waitzkins, alongside the majority. While the sociological perspective may find a particular challenge in the United States with its strong strain of individualism, there have always been those who have captured the hearts, sparked the intelligence, and harnessed the energy of the group as a way to overcome the existing limits of their surroundings. From the rise [and fall] of unions; to the improvement of working conditions in toxic factory work; to the formation of professional associations in medicine, nursing and their specialties; to women’s health cooperatives designed to counter the insensitivity of regular medicine, instances of confronting the status quo through affiliation and association stand as exemplars of the tacit, “on-the-ground” understanding of the sociological imagination.

I would argue, rather, that we need to be reminded of the central premises of sociology and what we bring to table precisely because we have been successful, even if quietly so. In essence, the major dilemma that we confront at present is that the “promise” is obvious, not only to ourselves, but to others. The idea that context matters has taken hold across the sociomedical sciences, the bio-medical sciences, and even the basic sciences like genetics and cognitive science (see Pescosolido 2006 for a review). Ideas of health and health care disparities (which we have called inequalities for over 100 years in sociology, and for over 50 years in the subfield of medical sociology); fundamental causes (as Link and Phelan, 1995 , so eloquently labeled sociologists’ baseline concern with power, stratification and social differentiation); and social networks as vectors of social and organizational influence (now renamed “Network Science”) stand front and center in the concerns of the National Institutes of Health and other major scientific organizations. Whether our arguments and research findings have been persistent, robust and convincing, or whether these insights coincide with the recognition by the more reductionist sciences that even their most sophisticated approaches cannot solve the problems of the body and the mind alone, is of little consequence. When the newly appointed director of the NIH, Dr. Francis Collins, who led the Human Genome Project, announces the launching of a special program to increase attention and resources to basic behavioral and social science (November 18, 2009, www.oppnet.nih.gov ) using phrases like “synergy,” “vital component,” and “complex factors that affect individuals, our communities and our environment,” the crack in the door of mainstream biomedical science becomes just a little wider, and the seat at the table becomes just a little more possible.

Sometimes, the role of sociologists is obvious in these new declarations of important directions in science and medicine; other times, they appear as “discoveries” without much, if any, attribution. But to belabor the historical debt that contemporary health and health care researchers and policymakers may owe us is a waste of both time and energy. Sociology has a history of conceptualizing social life, making that view understandable, and having its insights and even its language absorbed as “common sense” into both academic and civil life (e.g., clique, identity, self-fulfilling prophecy, social class, disparities, networks). More to the point, Mills argued that the sociological imagination is a “task” as well as a “promise.” He described that task – “to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society” ( 1959 , p. 6) – through the work of major sociologists of his time as “comprehensive,” “graceful,” “intricate,” “subtle,” and “ironic.” With “many-sided constructions,” a focus on meaning, and a willingness to look across social institutions like polity, the economy, and the domestic sphere (1959, p. 6), Auguste Comte and others came to define sociology’s aspiration as the “Queen of the Social Sciences,” a phrase more commonly used now by economists or political scientists to describe their discipline. Similarly, Mills ( 1959 ) sees sociology as holding “the best statements of the full promise of the social sciences as a whole” ( 1959 , p. 24), and I have argued elsewhere that taking sociology’s view of social interactions in networks represents one promising approach to integrating the health sciences (Pescosolido 2006 ).

The complexities in topic, theory and methods, sometimes the object of divisions in sociology and sometimes a detriment in the “sound bite” approach to modern society, continue to be our strength, and are not always obvious to others who adopt the mantra of “context.” Our research focuses on how individuals, organizations, and nations are “selected and formed, liberated and repressed, made sensitive and blunted” (Mills 1959 , p. 7). We accept the unexpected, we expect latent functions of policies and actions of even those who are trying to do good, we understand that being an outsider has its advantages in understanding the world, and we embrace the notion of comparison and reject a “provincial narrowing to the interest to the Western societies” ( 1959 , p. 12). Whenever we look at a life, a “disease,” a health care system, or a nation’s epidemiological profile, examining which “values are cherished yet threatened” ( 1959 , p. 11) is inevitable. As Hung ( 2004 ) has recently documented for the SARS virus and Epstein ( 1996 ) for HIV/AIDS, the societal ­reactions to viral pandemics are deeply rooted in social cleavages rather than biological fact, whether this reaction unearthed the racist view of the “Yellow peril” or the homophobic view of the “Gay plague.”

In sum, at this point in time, it may be more important than ever to recall our mission and accept the uneasiness which is endemic (and according to Mills, necessary) to it. The sociological imagination requires “the capacity to shift from one perspective to another – from the political to the psychological….to range from the most impersonal and remote transformations to the most intimate features of the human self – and to see the relations between the two” ( 1959 , p. 7). Our training emphasizes this, our theories conceptualize it, and the wide variety of our research methods reflect it. We bring this self-consciousness to the problems of health, illness, and healing, and hopefully to their solutions. Which subfield of sociology, more than the sociology of health, illness, and healing, provides a critical window into making “clear the elements of contemporary uneasiness and indifference” that Mills sees as “the social scientists’ foremost political and intellectual task” ( 1959 , p. 13)? While Mills may have been premature, or flat out wrong, in his prediction that the social sciences would overthrow the dominance of the physical and biological sciences, his view was prescient regarding the rising importance of “context” in biomedical sciences ( 1959 , p. 13) and increasing doubts about the inevitable and pristine nature of science. As those inside the “House of Medicine” itself dare to question the utility of the “gold standard” (RCT, the randomized clinical trial) versus observational studies (Concato et al. 2000 ), the validity of the placebo as a “control” (Leuchter et al. 2002 ), and the robustness of “established” genetic links (Gelernter et al. 1991 ), the radical critiques of the objectivity of science and the inevitability of linear progress in science have come from inside as well as outside (Gieryn 1983 ; Latour 1999 ). It is naïve to assume or even expect a reconstruction of the prestige hierarchy of the sciences, as Mills does to some extent. He forgets that institutional supports undergird that dominance, as any of us who have served on interdisciplinary review panels will attest. Yet, the idea that there may be occasional openings for concerns and approaches by social scientists was prophetic. This may be one of those unique times to work together to push not only our understandings forward, but to foster institutional social change. At the least, it is a time when social scientists, especially sociologists, need to have their voices heard; that is, to have a place at the table to guard against a crass, out-of-date, and generally poor appropriation of the social sciences’ basic ideas and tools. Those of us who witnessed a wider acceptance of (even called for) social science methods such as ethnography in the 1980s and 1990s in the mental health research agenda, also witnessed the dumping of the term into one sentence of a traditional research proposal without any idea of its complexity, rigor, or even utility to expand the limited insights of clinical research. Bearman ( 2008 , p. vi) downplays concerns that this kind of scientific diffusion may “distort the sociological project” because “the beauty of sociology as a discipline rests in its hybridity with respect to method and data” and new research concerns can become a potential “lever” for sociology to escape some of its own “hegemonic” foci.

The Task Ahead: Mapping the Landscape of Health, Illness, and Healing for the Next Decades

As Mills reminds us, the insights of sociology are both “a terrible lesson and a magnificent one.” Perhaps, this is more true in medical sociology than in other areas of the discipline; maybe not. Yet, the historical and contemporary landscape of health, illness, and healing challenges medical sociologists to think about both the issues/topics that have drawn and continue to draw our attention, as well as new ones on the horizon.

The Metaphor of Cartography

Recently, Sigrun Olafsdottir and I ( 2009 , 2010) drew from the “cultural turn” in sociology to reframe key theoretical and methodological issues in health care utilization research. We considered whether some individuals map a larger set of choices, examined if and how they differentiate between different sources of formal treatment, and questioned whether the way we ask those in our research about their experiences shapes the responses they give. This imagery of cultural landscapes and boundaries (Gieryn 1983 , 1999 ) seems to fit the multifaceted, complex nature of health, illness, and healing in the current era. Individuals use cultural maps to make sense of the world, affecting information availability and personal understandings, as well as signaling possible appropriate action. While Gieryn’s work focuses on professions, primarily scientists and the rhetorical strategies they use to establish, extend, and protect their societal authority, these ideas have broader relevance, not only for other professionals like physicians, but for the public. In particular, the concept of “boundary-work” becomes central as individuals, whatever their position, confront illness, define disease, and react to treatment options. The term “cultural mapping,” targeting the terrain of choices, as well as individuals’ recognition, acceptance, or rejection of them, informs us about the boundaries of their experience, and values shaping action, whether their own (as in rational choice theory) or that of others (as in labeling, social influence, and social control theories).

In essence, cultural landscapes shape individuals’ everyday decisions and actions, including those of medical sociologists. The metaphor of cultural cartography allows us not only to organize our topical research agendas but also our challenges for the next generation of medical sociology. In essence, two different maps require our attention. One is a map of topographical changes in health and health care that mark out new or continued areas of inquiry; the second maps the boundaries of discipline, the joint jurisdiction of sociology with the subfield of medical sociology, and how these two symbiotically share intellectual territory.

Contextualizing and Researching Health, Medicine, Health Care, and the Biomedical Sciences: Time of Change from the Outside

There is little doubt that the essential questions of sociology and medical sociology – more specifically, of the importance of Weber’s link between lifestyle (i.e., social psychological as well as social organization) and life chances – remain paramount and require our continued attention. Causes (epidemiology) and consequences (outcomes, health services research) continue to crudely, and increasingly inaccurately, define research agendas as we emphasize more dynamic processes which connect the two. Medical sociologists continue to more broadly conceive the landscape of epidemiology than do our sister subfields of medicine and public health. That is, with regard to issues of mortality and morbidity, the distribution and the determinants of disease must consider issues of professional power, social movements, contested meaning, and social construction (or its cousin specific to medical sociology, medicalization) as well as traditional risk and protective factors like genetics, biological markers, psychological trauma, or even individuals lifestyles (Brown 1995 ; McKinlay 1996 ). To understand utilization, adherence, health care system, and outcomes, we need to incorporate dynamic views, describe different response pathways, and confront changing boundaries of legitimacy regarding potential patients, healers, and formal structures of care (Pescosolido 1991 , 1992 ).

In addition to these classic, general prescriptions, three newer but deep-seated developments call for sociological theorizing and research. Necessarily, some of these are intertwined with our classic concerns but, nevertheless, they raise new challenges.

Human Genome Project and the Larger Push for Understanding Context

Not all that new, the first phase of the project, designed to determine the sequence of base pairs in the entire human genome, began in 1990 and continued for 13 years. Yet, as Francis Collins and others have noted, we are only beginning to understand what we have and can learn both in a positive and negative sense. Sociologists have tread into that territory lightly, now starting to work their way toward the profound implications of this massive project and the larger cultural institutions that created and continue to nurture it (e.g., Phelan 2005 ). Perhaps, the most obvious is the potential for collaborative projects on epigenetics and on gene-environment interactions (g x e) (i.e., how environmental conditions which include society not only trigger or suppress genetic predispositions but, in fact, change the genome itself; Szyf 2009 ). While complicated, this may not be the most challenging. It was a recent special issue of the American Journal of Sociology (Bearman 2008 , p. vi) that turned an obvious research question on its head: “What can we learn about social structure and social processes, and what can we learn about our accounts about social structure and social processes, by ‘thinking about genetics’?” Fleshing this out even a little raises classic sociological questions. How is the genetics agenda constructed by medicine, by insurance companies, by the public, and by science itself, to name just a few? What does this mean for the definition and behavioral implications of human health, legitimate constructions of illness by the public and the profession, shifting definitions of vulnerability, and changes in the nature and targets of prejudice and discrimination? While bioethicists and philosophers have asked and deliberated on these questions, medical sociologists bring evidence to bear on the creation, maintenance, and effects of this now dominant weltanschauung in medicine, science, and society. We have the tools to ensure that the powerful forces of society are understood, elaborated, and included in our understandings of the onset of what becomes labeled disease and disorder. We have the tools to uncover the unexpected, latent functions of this direction which, in themselves, will raise new challenges for the very institutions that placed their hopes in “the language of God” (Collins 2006 ).

The Mess that Is “Translational Science” and the Need for Sociological Clarity

Of the new “medical speak” that dominates discussions of future directions, the current ubiquitous term is “translation.” Unfortunately, while critically targeting the lack of effective transfer across stakeholder communities, this term has confounded discussions and attempts to provide solutions. Even in a quick survey of existing documents that call for “translation,” at least three meanings are evident. The first translation dilemma, which can be referred to as a dissemination problem, suggests a need for more effective ways to communicate information between scientists and “end-users.” The second translation dilemma, an implementation problem (also the efficacy–effectiveness gap), suggests a need to understand how to translate science into services that result in meaningful clinical care (National Advisory Mental Health Council 2000 ). Finally, the third translation dilemma, referred to as a problem of integration , suggests that the insights and potential contributions of different branches of science have not been fully incorporated in efforts to either establish research agendas or to provide high quality effective care in the formal treatment sector.

Each of these suggests complicated problems, all recast as problems of “translation,” for a diverse array of stakeholder communities and, to date, traditional research approaches have not offered good answers. Each calls for sociological research on a series of basic questions. First, why do providers and consumers fail to take advantage of cutting-edge science? A frequent complaint expressed by research scientists, payers, and policy makers is that cutting-edge interventions are neither adopted in day-to-day clinical work nor accepted by individuals with health problems who might benefit. Second, why do treatments that have been “proven” to work in randomized clinical trials fail to work in real world settings? A continual frustration of providers is that clinical research fails to take into account the challenges of day-to-day clinical work and does not offer a realistic understanding of the complexities and limitations of providing care. A similar frustration of consumers and advocates is that clinical research fails to take into account the complex realities of the lives of persons who fall ill, especially those with chronic and stigmatized problems. Third, why has health services research not been able to bridge the gap to allow proven clinical interventions to find application to the “real world” needs of consumers, practitioners, payers, and policy makers (Pellmar and Eisenberg 2000 )? Each of these requires an understanding of “cultures” – the culture of the public, the culture of the clinic, the culture of community, and of organizations. Sociological research holds the potential to understand how cultures are shaped; how they are enacted; how they clash or coincide with one another; and how, in the end, cultural scripts facilitate, retard, or even prohibit institutional social change. Sometimes, these discussions have the reductionist tone of lack of motivation without understanding the power of institution and resource as well as the social network structures that cripple innovation. More importantly, these challenges call for a holistic approach to research in which different levels of change, as well as the individuals in them, are conceptualized as linked and intertwined, with outcomes measured through innovative quantitative approaches and mechanisms observed through in-depth qualitative observations. In no way would such studies exclude the expertise of other scientists; indeed they call for it. However, the multilayered, multimethod and connected approach inherent in medical sociology provides an overarching organizing framework that can facilitate the integration of different interdisciplinary insights (Pescosolido 2006 ).

The “Hundred Year’s War” of American Medicine and Mechanic’s Continued Call for Sociological Understandings

Ironically, exactly 100 years ago, the Flexner Report “closed the books” on the blueprint for the primary structure and power of medicine in America. The 1910 document, crafted by middle-class men with middle-class values building the new institutions of industrial society, called for the active and specific funneling of large amounts of money from the new industrial tycoons who, themselves, had other ideas about what the US health care system should look like (Pescosolido and Martin 2004 ). However, drawing from the recent “successes” of the “new” scientific medical schools of Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, the Flexner Report set a trajectory and the Rockefeller Foundation fiscally supported a process of mimetic isomorphism for other emergent medical institutions. America’s health care system was built primarily with private funds, dominated by the allopathic physician, and supported though a fee-for-service economy (Freidson 1970 ; Starr 1982 ). The era from the Flexner report until President Nixon’s proclamation of a “Health Care Crisis” in 1970 has been described by McKinlay and Marceau ( 2002 ) as the “Golden Age of Doctoring,” by Clarke and her colleagues as the “Medicalization Era” (Clarke and Shim 2010 ), and by us, using Eliot Freidson’s ( 1970 ) terms, as “The Era of Professional Dominance” (Pescosolido and Boyer 2001 ). Working in a primarily private health care system, physicians determined both the nature of medical care and the arrangements under which it was provided. Even with the introduction of private (and later public) insurance, the American system remained an anomaly on the global landscape. The richest country in the world, which spent more on research, technology, and care than any other, also was home to the greatest number and proportion of uninsured citizens and to standard indicators of population health that fell way below those of countries with fewer resources and less of them devoted to health.

The year 2010, 100 years after the Flexner Report, saw the initial passage of President Obama’s Health Care Plan. What will result from this shift in the U.S. position on health care as right and as privilege? Will it be dramatic and devastating as some claim? Dramatic and good as others claim? Given the early capitulation to (or some would say, inclusion) of key opponents of earlier reforms, will this plan result in more patching of an essentially private system in the stranglehold of insurance and pharmaceutical companies? Will reform suffer the fate of what many of us thought/hoped would be the “second great transformation” (Stone 1999 ) or “construction of the second social contract” between American medicine and society (Pescosolido and Kronenfeld 1995 ) in the Clinton Health Reform of 1990? Or, will this “accommodation,” as was the case with high physician reimbursement levels during the Medicaid/Medicare deliberations, mean that something will actually change?

The failed federal effort of the 1990s nevertheless ushered in the “Era of Managed Care” which both supporters and critics of the existing health care system feared (Pescosolido and Boyer 2001 ). But as Mechanic et al. ( 2001 ) documented, the introduction of managed care did little to change the amount of time that physicians and patients spent together in the examining room before that event. In fact, the amount of time that physicians spent in interaction with their patients was already minimal, reflecting a typical romantization of past social institutions rather than data on its actual operation. By 1999, health care scholars talked about the “backlash” against managed care which began as early as the mid-1990s and resulted in the weakening of many of its proposed strategies to limit choice of physicians, access to specialists, and cut costs. This “managed care lite” (Mechanic 2004 ) did provide a short-term control of costs which soon gave way to escalating fiscal pressure and further increases in the number of uninsured Americans. By the end of the decade, Swartz ( 1999 ) proclaimed the “death of managed care” and Vladeck ( 1999 ) announced that managed care had had its “Fifteen Minutes of Fame,” warning that “Big Fix” political solutions oversell, inevitably producing negative overreactions.

What will medicine, the health care system, and population health look like as a result of reform? At what point, and how, will we see the landscape of the US as truly different? Carol Boyer and I (2001) agree that the 1970s began the “end of unquestioned dominance,” but are we still “drifting” as Freidson ( 1970 ) warned, or are we reconstructing the American social contract between civil society and the “medical-industrial complex” (McKinlay 1974 )? How much of our view of “change” can or cannot be backed up by real data? After all, given larger claims of the “consumer backlash” or “consumer revolution” that would change the power balance, we find little significant decrease in the public’s view of the authority or expertise of physicians (Pescosolido et al. 2001 ). If there is a decrease in the confidence in American medicine, as Schlesinger ( 2002 ) claims, how much of this disillusionment is not exclusive to modern medicine, but rather reflects a generalized reaction to social institutions, developed in the modern, industrial era, to larger changes in contemporary society (Pescosolido and Rubin 2000 ). Rubin ( 1996 ) argued that the social and economic bases of modern society were “tarnished” in the early 1970s, marking a general turning point for social institutions in the face of diminished growth that had accompanied the post World War II era. To simply look at trends in the response to medicine and health care may miss the point of our general prescription to understand social life in context.

Community, professional, and the health care systems are in a state of constant change, in big and small ways, and claims of improvement or deterioration pale in comparison to actual research that contextualizes and documents societal level change (Pescosolido et al. 2010, on contentions and data on the dissipating stigma of mental illness in U.S. society). Such claims are important because they often come to have a life of their own, shaping priorities for research and treatment. But claims are research questions subject to empirical examination with social science data. Have we taken up Mills’ task to bring the “comprehensive,” “graceful,” “intricate,” and “many sided constructions” of sociology to changes in health, illness, and healing? Mechanic ( 1993 ) has repeatedly pointed out that sociologists are not well represented, doing the research on the organization of care that can provide both the subtle and dramatic, expected and ironic, impacts on the profession, the public, and health institutions. A sociological perspective, alone or integrated with others, is critical in marking and analyzing the impact on individuals, organizations, and groups of reform.

Putting Our Own House in Order: Time of Change from the Inside

There are, of course, many more important questions. At this historical moment of structural reform and reconsideration of research agendas, these appear to loom large. If medical sociologists are to attend to these or other critical issues in health, illness, and healing, a reflection on where we stand is essential. In fact, the logic of this volume was designed around the reflections of the editors, the contributors, and those who attended some of our early planning events.

Sociologists have regularly, if only occasionally, lamented our basic and internal barriers to progress – whether Lester Ward ( 1907 ) arguing that sociologists do not know enough biology to reject it or Alvin Gouldner ( 1970 ) alerting us to a brewing crisis in “Western sociology” because of a blind reliance on “objective” data (more below). Sociology weathered these critiques, changing sometimes in small ways and other times in large ways, but most often, noting the critique, integrating it in some way and to some extent in some corner of the discipline, and moving on. Sociology has survived functionalism and its dominant status attainment theory in the 1960s and 1970s, Marxism and the 1980s dominating return to historical sociology, and postmodernism’s declaration that everything is virtually unknowable except through one’s own personal experiences (in which Anthropology did not fare so well as a discipline; Pescosolido and Rubin 2000 ). Sociology is likely to both encounter and survive many more of these critiques; perhaps ironically because of the embedded Catholicism in its theory and method. While our richness lies in the breadth and inclusion, as noted above, this is also the source of confusion regarding sociology’s “brand.”

Decoding the Discipline and the Subfield: The Three Medical Sociologies

The looseness of our boundaries of inquiry and methods of intellectual mining is not without its costs. Recently, Pace and Middendorf ( 2004 ) argued that understanding the challenges in learning the heart of a discipline’s contribution requires asking a series of questions. This “decoding of the disciplines” seems just as relevant to reflecting on the research voice we use to address our “publics” (Burawoy 2005 ), whether students, ourselves, our colleagues in other disciplines, providers, policy makers, or the general population. While this approach places disciplines at the center of discussions, Pace and Middendorf ( 2004 , p. 4) note the critical but paradoxical requirement to consider the boundaries that we cross with other disciplines. Decoding first relies on the identification of “bottlenecks,” those places or issues where the end goals are not being met. They argue that, too often, this part of the process is skipped in favor of trying solutions which, while well meaning, miss the mark.

Following these directions, two often simultaneous concerns appear to echo through decades of writings on the discipline and the subfield. Mills ( 1959 ) warned of the “lazy safety of specialization” (Mills 1959 , p. 21). Gouldner ( 1970 ), Gans ( 1989 ), Burawoy ( 2005 ), and others have asked sociologists to be more engaged with civil society, more normative and less pristinely and scientifically aloof, and more willing to engage in activities that have a more immediate impact on the world. Bringing the two concerns of relevance and specialization to the same point on the intellectual map, Collins took up the concern of whether sociology “has lost its public impact or even its impulse to public action” ( 1986 , p. 1336), pointing to the proliferation of specialties as the source of internal, disciplinary boundary disputes, including pushing to the fringes those sociologists who took a more applied approach. While our subfields have allowed us to make the increasingly large professional association and annual meetings feel smaller, more personal and relevant, building up an “espirit de corps” ( 1986 , p. 1341) that facilitates the socialization of our new colleague, Collins sees the result that we “scarcely recognize the names of eminent practitioners in specialties other than our own…having become congeries of outsiders to each other” ( 1986 , p. 1340).

Medical sociology has not been immune to these centrifugal forces, arguing to the ASA that even if not formally the case, we “own” and caretake the Journal of Health and Social Behavior; revel in the realization that it has the third highest impact factor among journals in the discipline following our two flagship journals, the American Sociological Review and the American Journal of Sociology; or boast about our section membership hovering around the thousand mark. From its earliest days, Strauss ( 1957 ) articulated the fuzzy distinction between a sociology OF medicine and a sociology IN medicine which evoked the basic-applied distinction. We reported on concerns among our colleagues in medical sociology (Pescosolido and Kronenfeld 1995 ), with Levine ( 1995 ) suggesting that such territorial disputes trickle down, in part, from the larger discipline.

Not surprisingly, the second step in decoding follows from the identification of bottlenecks. In essence, knowing the landscape is key to traversing it successfully. Because Collins ( 1986 , p. 1355), in the end, finds “a pathological tendency to miss the point of what is happening in areas other than our own,” advocates that we work in two or three specialties, sequentially or simultaneously. Because Burawoy ( 2005 ) sees two dimensions that define our work (instrumental and reflexive), he argues for the legitimacy of four “brands” of sociological work which individuals can embrace simultaneously or sequentially. In medical sociology, Levine’s plea for “creative integration” draws together the insights of “structure seekers” and “meaning seekers” (Pearlin 1992 ). In fact, using a cartological metaphor, he called for us to become more “cognizant of the theoretical and methodological ‘tributaries’ that feed into the subfield that is medical sociology” (Levine 1995 , p. 2). In 1995, we argued for the integration of the mainstream and the subfield (Pescosolido and Kronenfeld 1995 ).

The Boundary Divisions that Matter: The Three Medical Sociologies

The terrain has changed because there have been deep-seated changes in the bedrock underlying medical sociology. The sources of these tectonic shifts lie in three interconnected but altered features of institutional supports. They are: (1) The demise of medical sociology training programs; (2) The growing presence of “other” sociologists in the sociology of health, illness, and healing; and (3) The increased presence of sociologists in medicine, public health, and related fields. Each comes with its own strengths and weakness, and together, they produce major impediments in building a cumulated set of findings from and for sociology in the areas of health, illness, and healing. Two dimensions are critical – training (What do we pass on in research on health, illness, and healing?) and audience (Who do we want to talk to?).

Our House and Corner of the Map: Medical Sociology by and for Medical Sociology

Post-WWII, the NIH, and particularly the NIMH, saw the development of subfields of social science within its purview. Training programs were funded in social psychology, medical sociology, and methodology, to name only a few. The demise of these training programs at sociology departments such as Yale, Wisconsin, and Indiana Universities resulted from narrowing NIH foci away from the broad concerns with stratification, institutions, medical sociology, social psychology to disease-specific problems beginning in the 1990s. But some training programs or major training emphases have survived (Rutgers, UCSF in the School of Nursing, Brandeis, Columbia), some have arisen in their wake (Indiana, Vanderbilt; Maryland), and some have fallen away (Wisconsin, Yale, UCLA).

This does not mean that there are not major medical sociologists elsewhere training individuals, nor does it mean that individuals are not doing medical sociology-relevant dissertations or research. However, it does mean two things. First, medical sociologists trained in these programs sometimes do not have the strong connection to the mainstream of the discipline, which is an aspect of Collins’ concerns. The success of our own journals and lines of research have produced a bit of insularity, pushing forward streams of research that neither draw from nor are engaged in dialog with the mainstream discussions. Whether this reflects a narrowing of the mainstream journals (see Pescosolido et al. 2007 ) or a narrowing of medical sociologists’ interests and reference groups is immaterial. Second, it also means that the findings of medical sociology that have been built over three generations have not become part of the larger stock of knowledge of the discipline and are sometimes absent in mainstream work that would profit from its insights (see below).

The main point is that the interchange between significant, relevant contributions in medical sociology and significant, relevant contributions in the mainstream disciplines and its other subfields is not happening. This decreases the accumulation of tools in the sociological toolbox, whether practitioners of our subfield, other subfields or the mainstream of the discipline.

Our Country: Mainstream Sociology with a Focus on Health, Illness, or Healing

Mills’ link between larger opportunities and challenges and individual behaviors is no less applicable to our research enterprise than it is to the phenomena we research. The availability of funding sources affects how sociologists are able to do their work; with sociology’s broad focus on social institutions, health becomes a focus of those who are concerned with general forces (e.g., inequality, organizations, and communities) than with the social indictors of outcomes. That is, health and health care is only one of a number of life chances affected by larger contextual forces. Dramatic instances of unequal life chances cannot help but draw the interests of sociologists. The increase in interdisciplinary research teams and the relative “wealth” of the NIH (e.g., versus the NSF) has brought more sociologists into research that addresses health, illness, and healing. All of these developments are good for the discipline and the subfield, as well as for the accumulation of social science and insights for the medical sciences.

Again, however, this focused attention by sociologists on areas traditionally defined as medical sociology is not without its costs. Specifically, it leads to a “quibble,” not necessarily an unimportant one, with this brand of research. As Jane McLeod so eloquently put it in her comments on the “Author Meets the Critics” Session at ASA in 2003, such work tends to suffer from “The Fatal Attraction Syndrome.” In other words, the insights of medical sociology research are ignored and “rediscovered.” Declaring the need for a sociological subfield of “social autopsy” disregards medical sociology’s line of research on social epidemiology that pioneered sociology’s focus on how issues of class, race, and gender shape mortality and morbidity (McLeod 2004 ).

This is not misrepresentation, but missed opportunity. Classic works embraced by medical sociology were penned by sociologists who did not appear to consider themselves “medical sociologists” (e.g., Erving Goffman, Everett Hughes). Rather, in contemporary research, the lack of training in and knowledge of medical sociology as a subfield yields a weaker picture of sociology’s contributions to our understanding of the social forces that shape health, illness, and healing. It may suggest to those both inside and outside the subfield that the discipline of sociology is not at the cutting edge.

Abandoning Home and Country for Richer, More Powerful Neighborhoods: Medical Sociologists Packed and Gone to Medicine, Public Health, and Policy

Differences in employment opportunities, either restricted in sociology or open in schools of medicine and public health, and the greater distribution and impact of scientific journals and dissemination outlets in those fields, create a third community on the sociological landscape. These are sociologists who tend to be very well trained in medical sociology and who bring a prominence to sociological ideas in health, illness, and healing. What can be the problem here? In fact, there is no immediate issue, because both sociologists and medical sociologists “find” much of their work. However, not all of their research can be fully integrated into the discipline without their presence, literally and figuratively, in sociology venues. The problem is that, in their geographic positions outside the discipline, they will not likely train the next generation of medical sociologists. In addition, many of these sociologists are precisely the ones who focus on health care organization and policy, a topic about which David Mechanic finds the subfield relatively weak in addressing. With the demise of strong medical sociology training programs in the top ranked departments, the two problems mentioned above are magnified. If the majority of sociologists tackling issues of health care organization and reform are outside our training spheres, this will likely exacerbate the shortage of a new generation of medical sociologists pursuing these topics. Avoiding the “loss” of their expertise to schools of public health, medicine and management alone, without a parallel emphasis in the subfield, requires effort on both sides, with each valuing the contributions and venues of the other.

Triangulating the Community Map to Develop a Blueprint for the Next Decade of Research

Rethinking communities and landscapes.

The analysis of these different locations and communities on the map of the sociology of health, illness, and healing guided our vision for this Handbook. It was meant to suggest, in Durkheimian fashion, that the whole of our contributions is greater than the sum of its parts. The sociology of health, illness, and healing is constituted and enriched by medical sociology, mainstream sociology, and sociological work coming out of public health, medicine, and policy analysis. Of course, the divisions are fuzzy; old divisions have been eliminated: and support for them is waning. Many who do research and teaching in these areas, cross the boundary lines easily and with grace.

For example, as Collins ( 1989 ) pointed out, in some corners of the sociological landscape, the debates over whether sociology is a “science” are futile. With “science” mistakenly equated with quantitative research, Collins contends that sociology, like other sciences, engages in the “formulation of generalized principles, organized into models of the underlying processes that generate the social world” (Collins 1989 , p. 1124). Similarly, to righteously equate medical sociology only with publication in sociological journals, but not publication in the general or medical journals, is equally problematic. The problem is how, in this era of proliferating opportunities for sociologists in diverse employment positions and in a wider range of journals, can we take advantage of all of these contributions and pass them on to the next generation? Sociological knowledge can advance, as Collins ( 1989 ) notes, with a coherence of theoretical conceptions across different areas and methods of research. Critique is good, and something that sociologists are extraordinarily proficient in; but this is useful only to the purpose of moving our understanding of the world forward.

This volume is a first step, we hope, in facilitating that coherence by explicitly bringing together these three different strains of medical sociology, by bringing their authors in contact with one another, with other medical sociologists, and with the next generation of researchers. That is, we have tried to take direct account of the potential contributions from diverse vantage points on the landscape of sociology. Specifically, the editors have sought out contributions from each of the three communities of sociological research on health, illness, and healing, including making an attempt, albeit a preliminary one, to escape the surface of American medical sociology. We ignore where on the intellectual and field/subfield/disciplinary map they come from. In this way, we hope to complement the Handbook of Medical Sociology , now in its 6th edition, which has served since 1963 to represent the cutting edge of the subfield.

Organizing by Elevation

We organize the insights along a vertically integrated map that carries the spirit of C.W. Mills forward in acknowledging individuals and contexts. In fact, in this first section, we step back even from the map of sociology so as not to ignore two facts – other disciplines aim to understand the same phenomena as medical sociology, further complicating our task of surveying existing contributions and gathering “leads;” and the U.S. brand of medical sociology, and sociology in general, tends to take one kind of perspective that may have different contours from the uniquely salient insights brought by medical sociologists in other countries. Thus, Rogers and Pilgrim, from the University of Manchester and University of Central Lancashire, respectively, follow this introduction by demarcating our relationship to other sociomedical disciplines from the UK landscape. Most importantly, taking the case of mental health, psychiatry, and sociology, they examine how these disciplines approach the same problems, how they construct them, and whether their contributions even matter to “science.” They look at boundary disputes and collaborations as they have played out in the UK, arguing that boundaries have been movable historically. Conflicts and separation followed early conversations and collaboration. Yet, they see signs of a return to more congenial shared intellectual space that stems from the movement to an integrated team approach in treatment and new substantive “identities” like health services research which situate individuals of different approaches onto common property.

Whether the world is more complex, as globalization theorists claim, or the world of sociology has embraced greater complexity than it had when Mills wrote, the next chapter outlines the Network Episode Model – Phase III as a set of multiple contexts that are considered simultaneously as we proceed. While sociologists have always acknowledged multiple contexts, the NEM separates out macro-contexts that intersect and now, can be researched simultaneously, whether through team ethnography (Burton 2007 ; Newman et al. 2004 ) or through Hierarchical Linear Modeling (Xie and Hannum 1996 ). We also go to and beneath the micro-foundations of macro-sociology that Collins ( 1981 ) addressed. While our focus may be on the “illness career,” there are levels below the individual which have to be reckoned with if we are to get past the old nature vs. nurture dichotomies. Thus, while macro levels can match the cartographic metaphor more-or-less literally of “place,” the sociological insight of vertical integration also guide us to more micro levels below the surface of the individual (e.g., their genetic inheritance). But at each level, the NEM argues that sociology must explicitly measure contextual factors and the connecting mechanisms of influence, calling for multi-method approaches which maximize the ability of empirical research to match “the promise.”

This section ends with a critical assessment of the theory of fundamental causality and suggests several forward-looking research directions. Freese and Lutfey argue that the SES-health association has to be unpacked in each time and place. Yet, they also see this as insufficient because it fails to tell us why this link transcends time and place. This widespread association has to be confronted with universalities, distinctions, and tensions. Ending with a focus on future research, they point to the potential of looking both in structure and “under the skin” using the interplay of quantitative and qualitative methods and offering three considerations for medical sociology to more strongly influence health policy.

Connecting Communities

This section deals with “places” above the health care system, looking to comparisons across countries (Beckfield and Olafsdottir; Ruggie); organized individuals taking on health and health care issues in the public (Brown and colleagues), policy spheres (Ruggie), or those institutions outside medicine (Aldigé, Medina and McCranie). We start with a look across countries, the area of comparative health systems, where Ruggie argues that there may be those who remain dubious about lessons that can be learned from cross-national analyses. She aims to convince them, admirably so, by pointing to the well-known paradox that was alluded to earlier about the high spending of resources and the low level of return in the U.S. She identifies persistent barriers in aims and means that result in inequitable health care in the U.S. Ruggie outlines and documents eight lessons about health care systems that the U.S. can learn from the experience of other nations. She ends by pointing to the ubiquitous relationship between poverty and poor health, in all countries, and the final lesson which supports the role that efforts outside the health care system have in improving health outcomes. Beckfield and Olafsdottir push this further, arguing that the welfare state offers a window into understanding how societies organize their economic, political, and cultural landscape. In turn, different forms of social organization are critical to understanding the causes of health, illness, and healing, and how these reverberate through the lives of individuals and societies. They lay out types and mechanisms through politics, health institutions, and lay culture, offering a set of propositions and hypotheses that, if examined empirically, will push our understandings of macro-level factors and perhaps unearth new suggestions for social change.

Remaining with the influence of civil society, Brown and his colleagues target the increasing influence of health activists and the health social movements that they populate. Arguing that such efforts have increased in number and broadened medicine’s concern to include issues of justice, poverty, and toxic work conditions, they provide theoretical and analytic concepts on relevant collective actions. The concepts they find to hold the most potential – empowerment, movement-driven medicalization and disempowerment, institutional political economy, and lay-professional relationships – connect to each of the “above the individual” NEM levels. Their ecosocial view connects communities, inequalities and disproportionate exposure to toxic conditions (e.g., environmental hazards and stressors) that translate into health disparities and that set a broader territory for the institution of medicine, as well as for medical sociology.

The final two pieces examine the role of institutions outside of medicine as they work with and against the aims of the profession, its ancillary occupations, and its organizations. Medina and McCranie reopen the classic claim that medicine “won” jurisdiction over deviance, having first “dibs” to define it as a problem of disease, eliminating the power of law or religion over societal response (Freidson 1970 ). Looking to the case of psychopathy, they reconsider the meaning of medicalization and the potential of thinking about “layers” of control as a better fit in the contemporary era. Ending with a call for recognizing and researching the multiplicity of institutional responsibility, this piece provides the perfect lead-in to Alidgé’s summary of the insights from sociology’s long but fairly sparse line of research on the intersection of legal and medical control of mental illness. Focusing on the “collision” that occurred in the wake of the civil rights movement, Aldigé details the complex sociohistorical forces that have shaped and reshaped the points of strain and support between two major institutions of social control of deviance.

Connecting to Medicine: The Profession and Its Organizations

With the dominance of the concept of medicalization (Zola 1972 ; Conrad 2005 ) and its dissemination into scientific and public life, we asked Clarke and Shim, who had offered an extension of the concept (biomedicalization; Clarke et al. 2003 ), to step back, review the current status of different approaches, update us on their own thinking (including addressing the critiques), and craft one possible future agenda. Entering into this assessment from the view of the sociology of science and technology, rather than pure medical sociology per se, they explore the potential for building bridges across the terrains of medical sociology, medical anthropology, medicine, and other neighboring terrains that share a concern with understanding how the boundaries of medical jurisdiction expand.

Hafferty and Castellani push past issues of medicalization and pursue medical sociology’s attention to and then abandonment of interest in the profession of medicine. Ironically, they contend that after medical sociologists documented and debate the rise of the profession to dominance, the subfield (and the larger discipline) has missed the take-up by medicine itself of issues of “professionalism” in light of its acknowledgement of the role of larger contextual factors defining its work. This change reopens the call for a sociological perspective and they provide a roadmap. Part of sociology’s turn away from issues of the institutional situation of medicine meant that there has been little attention to the fate of women as doctors since Lorber and Moore’s ( 2002 ) pioneering 1984 study. Finally, Boulis and Jacobs give us an update on the status of women in medicine. Taking us past even the insights of their comprehensive project ( 2008 ), providing the necessary background to understand where women are in the profession, they elaborate on whether medicine’s early sexist climate has changed, even if only around the edges. In the end, they conclude that progress has been slow at best; and, if and how the profession changes vis-á-vis gender has more to do with structural pressures than changing values.

The final two chapters in this section move to the organization of the health care system itself, with Caronna asking about the socio-historical logics that have shaped and continue to shape medicine in the U.S., while Kronenfeld explores the absence, for the most part, of medical sociologists in research on central policy questions relevant to health and health care. The former, as Caronna herself indicates, can illuminate the past and shape the future. By emphasizing the complex web of trust issues necessary to maintain a health care system, she guides us through the three logics of the past and asks whether we are entering a fourth, calling for more sociological research. Kronenfeld refutes the idea that policy studies belong to political science, staking sociology’s claim by surveying the past meaning and emphases of health care policy-making processes and noting a lacunae of broad system level analyses.

Connecting to the People: The Public as Patient and Powerful Force

This fourth section targets individuals outside the health care system as they interact with and affect it. Figert begins this journey through the community, asking whether or not medicalization theory has underplayed the potential of lay individuals in the medicalization process. The thread of reevaluating our theoretical concepts that revolve around professional power continues, with a reconsideration of Zola, Conrad, Clarke, and Epstein but expanding consideration to a more explicit role of expertise. This includes the expertise of the lay person as well as the expertise of professionals, noting that much current discussion debates the influence of the former. Tying into the earlier chapters by Brown and colleagues, she brings up how social movements may have shifted the landscape of medicine, and she reminds us of the formality of the classic formulations in Parsons’ patient role. This opens the path for May’s reformulation of Parsons’ “vision” of the physician–patient interaction. While recognizing that the organization of health care matters because it penetrates the clinical encounter, May targets the social relationship in the clinic as the place where their effects are mobilized and enacted. The arrival of “disease management” and “self-management” have become a routine part of “mundane medicine,” the care that comes with the greater prominence of chronic illness and disease. Digging further into the encounter, Heritage and Maynard review research from process, discourse, and conversational analyses that reveal in detail how the clinical encounter proceeds, what its key turning points are, and how there has been a clear and gradual movement to greater power balance between physicians and patients. Finally, Wright acknowledges that technological advances have widened the examination room, bringing with them greater expertise but also challenges from the public. With electronic records and publically available health information technology, Wright argues that sociologists should track the ramifications of these changes on trust, confidentiality, authority, and the social dynamics of how information is collected, managed, and used by both providers and their clients.

Connecting Personal and Cultural Systems

Much of the interest in the social sciences of late stems from the concern with health disparities. Alegría and her colleagues take this on in a holistic fashion, offering a larger framework within which to develop hypotheses and measures. Drawing from the notion of cumulative disadvantage across time and levels of organization, the Social Cultural Framework for Health Care Disparities serves to guide further and more integrated studies. They set the stage for more specific concerns. Among these, areas that continue to attract research attention are race and gender. In a review of the black–white differences in health, Jackson and Cummings point to the paradox of the Black middle class. Counterintuitive to the SES-health gradient, they provide evidence that the Black middle class does not fare better in health status than the White lower class, and end by suggesting that accumulated network capital, limited by residential segregation, is ripe for future research. In a similar vein, Read and Gorman turn their attention to gender. They give an overview of what we know about male–female differences in mortality and morbidity, theories used to explain these, and three challenges that remain in the gendered profile of health – immigration, the life course, and co-morbidities between mental and physical health. To assist in future research, the final note in this section involves methods for unraveling the mechanisms that underlie many of the associations that have been documented. Pairing sociologists who come from different methodological corners of the sociological landscape, Watkins, Swidler and Biruk describe and illustrate the use of “hearsay ethnography.” Relying on individuals in the communities they study to hear and record what their social network ties discuss, they show the advantages over traditional survey and ethnographic methods in gathering data on “meaning” in everyday life.

Connecting to Dynamics: The Health and Illness Career

While intimately tied to the directions we take in this volume, much of what comes before this point does not deal directly with the dynamics of health and health care outcomes and the forces that shape them. There is no better way to inject dynamics into the sociology of health, illness, and healing than to draw both inspiration and insight from the life course perspective. Pavalko and Willson do just that by reviewing what has been integrated into our research and what remains less well developed. In particular, they point to two areas that would profit from further attention – individual agency within constraints and how historical and institutional changes intersect with life ­trajectories. Following in this tradition, Carpentier and Bernard take on the developments in health care utilization research that have embraced temporality, social structure, multilevel effects, and culture. Using the network metaphor, they stress complexity in theory and methods that study trajectories and lay out directions to push this approach further.

Connecting the Individual and the Body

Sanders and Rogers connect the chronic illness career to potential improvements in treatment and health care policy. Specifically, they consider how processes of disruption, uncertainty, and adaptation are at work in shaping trajectories in chronic illness and illness management. They make the transition to the individually orientated factors by coupling the forces of motivation, innovation, and social networks with the social and cultural significance of the body. Lively and Smith focus more deeply on issues of identity regarding both the public self and the private self. They explore aspects of social psychological theories of identity that have not been fully utilized in the sociology of health, illness, and healing, particularly the development of positive illness identities. Conley dives deeper into the biological aspects of the body, arguing that social science and genetics can be integrated but must be done with caution. He reviews traditional genetics approaches, expressing apprehension about the endogeneity problem inherent in many studies and the current limits in mapping gene–gene interactions. He suggests that social scientists should pair with genetic researchers in a sequence of studies that use multiple methods to first identify a genetic or social effect as truly exogenous so that we do not follow the “mining” and “fishing” approaches commonly used in genetic and epigenetic research.

Perry ends the volume where we began it – with the call for diverse disciplinary approaches, expressing a central concern for collaboration without cooptation. With an acceptance of the increasing complexity of both social and genetic factors, Perry reviews and dismisses typical approaches like the chain model and provides a primer on basic places where sociologists can start to think about how social life matters in life and death. In particular, taking advantage of “the promise” may come from medical sociologists who use developmental models with an eye to social construction.

Wrapping Up

For those who contributed to this volume, as well as for the editors, this is a start, a beginning to continuing to bring the strengths of medical sociology forward. We have many to thank for their contributions and time spent. The staff at the Indiana Consortium for Mental Health Services Research, particularly Mary Hannah, shepherded this volume through, seeing the project from the beginning to end. Howard Kaplan’s determination to see a volume on Health, Illness and Healing in the Sociology series was steadfast and Teresa Krauss’ patient persistence was welcome.

“…the individual can understand his own experience and gauge his own fate only by locating himself within his period….he can know his own chances in life only by becoming aware of those of all individuals in his circumstances.” C.W. Mills (1959, p. 5)

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Medicalization: Changing Contours, Characteristics, and Contexts

• First Online: 01 January 2013

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Medicalization has become a central analytical theme in medical sociology, a topic in medical sociology courses and the subject of hundreds if not thousands of articles (Conrad P (2007) The medicalization of society: on the transformation of human condition into treatable disorders. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore; Ballard K, Elston MA (2005) Medicalisation: a multi-dimensional concept. Soc Theory Heal 3:228–241; Clarke et al. 2010). Other scholars, including historians (Nye RA (2003) The evolution of the concept of medicalization in the late twentieth century. J Hist Behavioral Sci 39:115–129), anthropologists (Lock M (2001, Press 2006) Medicalization: cultural concerns. In: Smelser N, Baltes P (eds) International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences. Elsevier, New York), medical and public health researchers (Metzl JM, Herzig RM (2007) Medicalisation in the 21st century: an introduction. Lancet 369:697–698; Maloney 2011; Lantz et al. (2007) Health policy approaches to population health: the limits of medicalization. Health Affairs 26:1253–1257), economists (Thorpe KE, Philwaw M (2012) The medicalization of chronic disease and costs. Ann Rev Public Heal 23:409–423), bioethicists (Parens E (2011) On good and bad forms of medicalization. Bioethics doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8519.2011.01885.x ), and even literary scholars (Lane C (2007) Shyness: how normal behavior became a sickness. Yale University Press, New Haven) have also examined medicalization. Medicalization has been the subject of newspaper and magazine commentaries (e.g. Welch 2011) and discussion at (President’s Council on Bioethics (2003) Beyond therapy: biotechnology and the pursuit of happiness. The President’s Council on Bioethics, Washington). It seems clear that medicalization has become a topic of interest beyond sociology. Within medical sociology it is a concept that has moved from the periphery of intellectual interest in the 1970s to a central area of interest in the twenty-first century.

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Conrad, P. (2013). Medicalization: Changing Contours, Characteristics, and Contexts. In: Cockerham, W. (eds) Medical Sociology on the Move. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6193-3_10

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Research Topics & Ideas: Healthcare

F inding and choosing a strong research topic is the critical first step when it comes to crafting a high-quality dissertation, thesis or research project. If you’ve landed on this post, chances are you’re looking for a healthcare-related research topic , but aren’t sure where to start. Here, we’ll explore a variety of healthcare-related research ideas and topic thought-starters across a range of healthcare fields, including allopathic and alternative medicine, dentistry, physical therapy, optometry, pharmacology and public health.

NB – This is just the start…

The topic ideation and evaluation process has multiple steps . In this post, we’ll kickstart the process by sharing some research topic ideas within the healthcare domain. This is the starting point, but to develop a well-defined research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , along with a well-justified plan of action to fill that gap.

If you’re new to the oftentimes perplexing world of research, or if this is your first time undertaking a formal academic research project, be sure to check out our free dissertation mini-course. In it, we cover the process of writing a dissertation or thesis from start to end. Be sure to also sign up for our free webinar that explores how to find a high-quality research topic.

Overview: Healthcare Research Topics

• Allopathic medicine
• Alternative /complementary medicine
• Veterinary medicine
• Physical therapy/ rehab
• Optometry and ophthalmology
• Pharmacy and pharmacology
• Public health
• Examples of healthcare-related dissertations

Allopathic (Conventional) Medicine

• The effectiveness of telemedicine in remote elderly patient care
• The impact of stress on the immune system of cancer patients
• The effects of a plant-based diet on chronic diseases such as diabetes
• The use of AI in early cancer diagnosis and treatment
• The role of the gut microbiome in mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety
• The efficacy of mindfulness meditation in reducing chronic pain: A systematic review
• The benefits and drawbacks of electronic health records in a developing country
• The effects of environmental pollution on breast milk quality
• The use of personalized medicine in treating genetic disorders
• The impact of social determinants of health on chronic diseases in Asia
• The role of high-intensity interval training in improving cardiovascular health
• The efficacy of using probiotics for gut health in pregnant women
• The impact of poor sleep on the treatment of chronic illnesses
• The role of inflammation in the development of chronic diseases such as lupus
• The effectiveness of physiotherapy in pain control post-surgery

Topics & Ideas: Alternative Medicine

• The benefits of herbal medicine in treating young asthma patients
• The use of acupuncture in treating infertility in women over 40 years of age
• The effectiveness of homoeopathy in treating mental health disorders: A systematic review
• The role of aromatherapy in reducing stress and anxiety post-surgery
• The impact of mindfulness meditation on reducing high blood pressure
• The use of chiropractic therapy in treating back pain of pregnant women
• The efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine such as Shun-Qi-Tong-Xie (SQTX) in treating digestive disorders in China
• The impact of yoga on physical and mental health in adolescents
• The benefits of hydrotherapy in treating musculoskeletal disorders such as tendinitis
• The role of Reiki in promoting healing and relaxation post birth
• The effectiveness of naturopathy in treating skin conditions such as eczema
• The use of deep tissue massage therapy in reducing chronic pain in amputees
• The impact of tai chi on the treatment of anxiety and depression
• The benefits of reflexology in treating stress, anxiety and chronic fatigue
• The role of acupuncture in the prophylactic management of headaches and migraines

Topics & Ideas: Dentistry

• The impact of sugar consumption on the oral health of infants
• The use of digital dentistry in improving patient care: A systematic review
• The efficacy of orthodontic treatments in correcting bite problems in adults
• The role of dental hygiene in preventing gum disease in patients with dental bridges
• The impact of smoking on oral health and tobacco cessation support from UK dentists
• The benefits of dental implants in restoring missing teeth in adolescents
• The use of lasers in dental procedures such as root canals
• The efficacy of root canal treatment using high-frequency electric pulses in saving infected teeth
• The role of fluoride in promoting remineralization and slowing down demineralization
• The impact of stress-induced reflux on oral health
• The benefits of dental crowns in restoring damaged teeth in elderly patients
• The use of sedation dentistry in managing dental anxiety in children
• The efficacy of teeth whitening treatments in improving dental aesthetics in patients with braces
• The role of orthodontic appliances in improving well-being
• The impact of periodontal disease on overall health and chronic illnesses

Topics & Ideas: Veterinary Medicine

• The impact of nutrition on broiler chicken production
• The role of vaccines in disease prevention in horses
• The importance of parasite control in animal health in piggeries
• The impact of animal behaviour on welfare in the dairy industry
• The effects of environmental pollution on the health of cattle
• The role of veterinary technology such as MRI in animal care
• The importance of pain management in post-surgery health outcomes
• The impact of genetics on animal health and disease in layer chickens
• The effectiveness of alternative therapies in veterinary medicine: A systematic review
• The role of veterinary medicine in public health: A case study of the COVID-19 pandemic
• The impact of climate change on animal health and infectious diseases in animals
• The importance of animal welfare in veterinary medicine and sustainable agriculture
• The effects of the human-animal bond on canine health
• The role of veterinary medicine in conservation efforts: A case study of Rhinoceros poaching in Africa
• The impact of veterinary research of new vaccines on animal health

Topics & Ideas: Physical Therapy/Rehab

• The efficacy of aquatic therapy in improving joint mobility and strength in polio patients
• The impact of telerehabilitation on patient outcomes in Germany
• The effect of kinesiotaping on reducing knee pain and improving function in individuals with chronic pain
• A comparison of manual therapy and yoga exercise therapy in the management of low back pain
• The use of wearable technology in physical rehabilitation and the impact on patient adherence to a rehabilitation plan
• The impact of mindfulness-based interventions in physical therapy in adolescents
• The effects of resistance training on individuals with Parkinson’s disease
• The role of hydrotherapy in the management of fibromyalgia
• The impact of cognitive-behavioural therapy in physical rehabilitation for individuals with chronic pain
• The use of virtual reality in physical rehabilitation of sports injuries
• The effects of electrical stimulation on muscle function and strength in athletes
• The role of physical therapy in the management of stroke recovery: A systematic review
• The impact of pilates on mental health in individuals with depression
• The use of thermal modalities in physical therapy and its effectiveness in reducing pain and inflammation
• The effect of strength training on balance and gait in elderly patients

Need a helping hand?

Topics & Ideas: Optometry & Opthalmology

• The impact of screen time on the vision and ocular health of children under the age of 5
• The effects of blue light exposure from digital devices on ocular health
• The role of dietary interventions, such as the intake of whole grains, in the management of age-related macular degeneration
• The use of telemedicine in optometry and ophthalmology in the UK
• The impact of myopia control interventions on African American children’s vision
• The use of contact lenses in the management of dry eye syndrome: different treatment options
• The effects of visual rehabilitation in individuals with traumatic brain injury
• The role of low vision rehabilitation in individuals with age-related vision loss: challenges and solutions
• The impact of environmental air pollution on ocular health
• The effectiveness of orthokeratology in myopia control compared to contact lenses
• The role of dietary supplements, such as omega-3 fatty acids, in ocular health
• The effects of ultraviolet radiation exposure from tanning beds on ocular health
• The impact of computer vision syndrome on long-term visual function
• The use of novel diagnostic tools in optometry and ophthalmology in developing countries
• The effects of virtual reality on visual perception and ocular health: an examination of dry eye syndrome and neurologic symptoms

Topics & Ideas: Pharmacy & Pharmacology

• The impact of medication adherence on patient outcomes in cystic fibrosis
• The use of personalized medicine in the management of chronic diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease
• The effects of pharmacogenomics on drug response and toxicity in cancer patients
• The role of pharmacists in the management of chronic pain in primary care
• The impact of drug-drug interactions on patient mental health outcomes
• The use of telepharmacy in healthcare: Present status and future potential
• The effects of herbal and dietary supplements on drug efficacy and toxicity
• The role of pharmacists in the management of type 1 diabetes
• The impact of medication errors on patient outcomes and satisfaction
• The use of technology in medication management in the USA
• The effects of smoking on drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics: A case study of clozapine
• Leveraging the role of pharmacists in preventing and managing opioid use disorder
• The impact of the opioid epidemic on public health in a developing country
• The use of biosimilars in the management of the skin condition psoriasis
• The effects of the Affordable Care Act on medication utilization and patient outcomes in African Americans

Topics & Ideas: Public Health

• The impact of the built environment and urbanisation on physical activity and obesity
• The effects of food insecurity on health outcomes in Zimbabwe
• The role of community-based participatory research in addressing health disparities
• The impact of social determinants of health, such as racism, on population health
• The effects of heat waves on public health
• The role of telehealth in addressing healthcare access and equity in South America
• The impact of gun violence on public health in South Africa
• The effects of chlorofluorocarbons air pollution on respiratory health
• The role of public health interventions in reducing health disparities in the USA
• The impact of the United States Affordable Care Act on access to healthcare and health outcomes
• The effects of water insecurity on health outcomes in the Middle East
• The role of community health workers in addressing healthcare access and equity in low-income countries
• The impact of mass incarceration on public health and behavioural health of a community
• The effects of floods on public health and healthcare systems
• The role of social media in public health communication and behaviour change in adolescents

Examples: Healthcare Dissertation & Theses

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a healthcare-related research topic, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual dissertations and theses to see how this all comes together.

Below, we’ve included a selection of research projects from various healthcare-related degree programs to help refine your thinking. These are actual dissertations and theses, written as part of Master’s and PhD-level programs, so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

• Improving Follow-Up Care for Homeless Populations in North County San Diego (Sanchez, 2021)
• On the Incentives of Medicare’s Hospital Reimbursement and an Examination of Exchangeability (Elzinga, 2016)
• Managing the healthcare crisis: the career narratives of nurses (Krueger, 2021)
• Methods for preventing central line-associated bloodstream infection in pediatric haematology-oncology patients: A systematic literature review (Balkan, 2020)
• Farms in Healthcare: Enhancing Knowledge, Sharing, and Collaboration (Garramone, 2019)
• When machine learning meets healthcare: towards knowledge incorporation in multimodal healthcare analytics (Yuan, 2020)
• Integrated behavioural healthcare: The future of rural mental health (Fox, 2019)
• Healthcare service use patterns among autistic adults: A systematic review with narrative synthesis (Gilmore, 2021)
• Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Combatting Burnout and Compassionate Fatigue among Mental Health Caregivers (Lundquist, 2022)
• Transgender and gender-diverse people’s perceptions of gender-inclusive healthcare access and associated hope for the future (Wille, 2021)
• Efficient Neural Network Synthesis and Its Application in Smart Healthcare (Hassantabar, 2022)
• The Experience of Female Veterans and Health-Seeking Behaviors (Switzer, 2022)
• Machine learning applications towards risk prediction and cost forecasting in healthcare (Singh, 2022)
• Does Variation in the Nursing Home Inspection Process Explain Disparity in Regulatory Outcomes? (Fox, 2020)

Looking at these titles, you can probably pick up that the research topics here are quite specific and narrowly-focused , compared to the generic ones presented earlier. This is an important thing to keep in mind as you develop your own research topic. That is to say, to create a top-notch research topic, you must be precise and target a specific context with specific variables of interest . In other words, you need to identify a clear, well-justified research gap.

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19 Comments

I need topics that will match the Msc program am running in healthcare research please

Hello Mabel,

I can help you with a good topic, kindly provide your email let’s have a good discussion on this.

Can you provide some research topics and ideas on Immunology?

Thank you to create new knowledge on research problem verse research topic

Help on problem statement on teen pregnancy

This post might be useful: https://gradcoach.com/research-problem-statement/

can you give me research titles that i can conduct as a school nurse

can you provide me with a research topic on healthcare related topics to a qqi level 5 student

Please can someone help me with research topics in public health ?

Hello I have requirement of Health related latest research issue/topics for my social media speeches. If possible pls share health issues , diagnosis, treatment.

I would like a topic thought around first-line support for Gender-Based Violence for survivors or one related to prevention of Gender-Based Violence

Please can I be helped with a master’s research topic in either chemical pathology or hematology or immunology? thanks

Can u please provide me with a research topic on occupational health and safety at the health sector

Good day kindly help provide me with Ph.D. Public health topics on Reproductive and Maternal Health, interventional studies on Health Education

may you assist me with a good easy healthcare administration study topic

May you assist me in finding a research topic on nutrition,physical activity and obesity. On the impact on children

I have been racking my brain for a while on what topic will be suitable for my PhD in health informatics. I want a qualitative topic as this is my strong area.

Hi, may I please be assisted with research topics in the medical laboratory sciences

How do i frame a qualitative topic that will be suitable for the use of calibrated drape among midwifes. this is a thesis for my master programme in midwifery education.

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Sociology Dissertation Topics: 60+ Examples and Ideas

by  Antony W

June 28, 2024

Singling out the best sociology topic to explore in your dissertation assignment can be quite a challenge at first. So some ideas can go a long way to give you the inspiration you need to get started the right way.

While there are many ideas you can think of from off the top of your head, there’s a high chance some won’t be a good fit. Ideally, you need to choose a topic that allows you to explore existing studies and add current value in the field of psychology . 

There’s often the temptation to choose a psychology topic on the grounds that it’s a hot debate, but that’s a bad approach that can make the project difficult to complete. The right approach is to pick topic that matches your research aptitude and interest.

If you would like our team to help you with your dissertation, check out our custom dissertation writing service and take advantage of our professional writing help.

Sociology Dissertation Topics

Here are some of the top dissertation topics related to sociology:

Cultural Sociology Dissertation Topics

Cultural sociology is a discipline that analyzes a society’s micro and macro cultures and often focuses on non-material and material culture, values, norms, and beliefs. You’ll have to study ideas and theories of well-known sociologists to understand this area even better. Here are some topics you can explore:

• Recognizing the good and negative elements of inter subcultural social contact
• What are the effects of immigrant cultural invasion on indigenous values, customs, and beliefs in the United Kingdom?
• What are the many subcultures that exist in UK society geographically?
• Analyzing the cultural gaps in British society.
• Considering how Max Weber’s methodological approaches might be used to express notions and principles pertinent to current cultural changes.
• Can Durkheim’s and subsequently the Durkheim school’s views on complete groups in society be utilized to develop a perspective of modern culture?
• Following the evolving components of counterculture in the United Kingdom.
• Analyzing the evolving tendencies in UK high culture throughout time.

Also Read : Social Work Dissertation Topics

Topics in Sociology of Education 

• Analyzing the structure of the education system in public schools as it relates to socially marginalized youth.
• Analyzing the national curriculum’s emphasis on sociological results for pupils as opposed to economic outcomes?
• Do youngsters fail school because of “individual difficulties” or “public issues”: The applicability of C Wright Mills’ theories in today’s UK education system .
• Should Neoliberalism theory be utilized as a guiding paradigm for UK education?
• The organization and impact of social advising and counselling in primary schools are being investigated.
• Examining and determining the methods and changes that a school system may use to close the educational achievement gap for disadvantaged populations.
• Investigating Marx’s Conflict Theory in Education: Is the UK’s public school system upholding the social status quo?
• Examining the relationship between a teacher’s motivation and class performance in a public school.
• The impact of the school environment on children’s perceptions of society at large.
• Examine the public school environment’s readiness to foster interfaith harmony and understanding among youngsters.
• Analyzing higher education fee/scholarship policies in relation to class inequality in UK society.

Topics on the Sociology of Religion

• How have print and electronic media in the United Kingdom shaped public attitudes of various religions?
• Analyzing the shared religious bases for promoting interfaith cooperation in the United Kingdom.
• In the United Kingdom, cross-religious views and ideals are compared.
• Religious ideals and religious standards are binding for members of UK society today in what ways?
• How has religious spread been influenced by social interaction between persons of diverse religious backgrounds?
• Identifying the influence of religion on weddings in the United Kingdom.
• A critical examination of religious organizations in the United Kingdom and their influence on societal structure.
• Investigating the connection between religion and education as a social institution.
• Is there a connection between religion and social change?
• Identifying the relationship between religion and political behavior in the United Kingdom.
• Should the public realm be kept distinct from the private world, especially when the private sphere is religious for some?
• Analyzing the relationship between gender and sexual issues as they pertain to various faiths.

You May Also Like: Criminology Dissertation Topics

Topics on the Sociology of Marriage and Family

• Investigating the nature and consequences of residence patterns in UK society.
• Investigating the intra-household dynamics of child-parent interactions in a typical British home.
• Marriages in distinct subcultures of the United Kingdom are compared.
• Historical examination of variations in divorce rates and their underlying factors in UK society.
• Identifying the societal causes of familial domestic violence.
• Investigating the effects of familial violence on children.
• Family variety and stratification: the link to societal inequality
• Examining the effects of periodic societal change on family structure in the United Kingdom.
• Analyzing the trend of fertility rates in the United Kingdom and the causes of any changes.

Topics on Economic Sociology

• Is it possible to apply the communist paradigm to British society? A critical examination.
• Identifying a UK family’s intra-household economic links.
• The ‘Deliveroo effect’: What are the societal consequences of the expanding ‘gig economy’?
• What societal changes resulted from the UK’s economy’s shift from the industrial revolution (capitalism) to the recent informational revolution?
• Can the informal economy help to drive local socioeconomic development?
• A comparison of communism and capitalism as economic paradigms, as well as their effects on social hierarchy.
• An examination of the UK economy in relation to Marx’s criticism of capitalism.
• A comparison of households with one working parent vs families with both working parents. What are the social consequences of dual employment?
• What are the societal consequences of growing international labor migration in the United Kingdom?
• Is there still a social barrier between blue collar and white collar workers in the modern UK economy?
• What are the most important social elements of consumer spending in the United Kingdom?
• Are you thinking about the future? Comparing young people’s spending and saving habits to those of their parents and grandparents.
• What are the consequences of economic downturns on the social standing of secondary labor market members?

Also Read: Economics Dissertation Topics

Sociology of Criminology Topics

• What are the primary socioeconomic causes driving the rise in knife crime in the United Kingdom?
• Historical examination of the sociological reasons of street and gang violence in the United Kingdom.
• Is drinking the primary social and behavioral cause of street crime in the United Kingdom?
• Offenses ‘known’ and documented in police files: The problems with UK crime statistics.
• Is there evidence of abuse in crime reporting?
• How does positivism account for the criminal’s control?
• The state’s intervention and the societal formation of individual criminal behavior
• Is punishment the only way to deter crime? Investigating social approaches to crime prevention.
• What are the primary aspects of deviance in contemporary British society?

Dissertation Topics in Industrial Sociology

• Is there a connection between culturally responsive organizational policy and employee happiness and productivity?
• What is the normal social structure of a large-scale UK organization?
• Has a British firm’s social organization influenced macro-level cultural conventions, values, and social status?
• What are the social dimensions of organizational communication?
• What distinguishes industrial societies such as the United Kingdom?
• What are the evolving trends in trade unions’ role in the social well-being of employees in the United Kingdom?
• What is the relationship between a worker’s motivation and productivity?
• Workplace motivation and the advantages of employee-selected reward packages

Dissertation Topics in Political Sociology

• What kinds of democratic dangers develop in society, and how does the state respond to such threats?
• Is democracy a viable political system in a capitalist society?
• What are the interconnections between religion and politics as significant social institutions?
• Is charismatic leadership or the rational-legal paradigm more appropriate in British society?
• What role and significance do ethnic minorities have in mainstream British power politics?
• In the British political system, what are the gender dimensions of voting?
• Political ideology and political principles are learned through culture in what ways and in what ways?
• How can individuals influence societal social and political events?
• To what degree do social forces shape power politics in the United Kingdom?

Comparative Sociology Topics

• A comparative examination of citizens’ well-being. The United Kingdom as a welfare state against Japan’s State Capitalism?
• Taking care of elderly relatives – Western and Eastern civilizations’ views and approaches compared.
• Marriage is a social institution in the United Kingdom and India.
• A study of family structure in the United Kingdom and Russia.
• Comparative analysis of labor markets and labor market trends in the United Kingdom and China.
• Comparing the educational systems in the United Kingdom and North America as a social institute for establishing cultural norms
• Is the United Kingdom preserving its ‘traditional’ culture? Comparing the diffusion of various civilizations inside modern British society.
• Capitalism vs. Communism: A Comparative Study of Social Inequality
• Gender issues in the UK and the Middle East are studied in comparison.
• Comparing sexual equality concerns in religious and non-religious countries
• A comparison of family units — nations that favor joint paternity/maternity leave vs maternity leave exclusively.

There you have it, a list of 50+ sociology dissertation topics from which you can choose a relevant idea to explore. As always, make sure you get in touch with your instructor for further advice if you ever get stuck.

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How to Choose a Dissertation Topic | 8 Steps to Follow

Published on November 11, 2022 by Shona McCombes and Tegan George. Revised on November 20, 2023.

Choosing your dissertation topic is the first step in making sure your research goes as smoothly as possible. When choosing a topic, it’s important to consider:

• Your institution and department’s requirements
• Your areas of knowledge and interest
• The scientific, social, or practical relevance
• The availability of data and resources
• The timeframe of your dissertation
• The relevance of your topic

You can follow these steps to begin narrowing down your ideas.

Table of contents

Step 1: check the requirements, step 2: choose a broad field of research, step 3: look for books and articles, step 4: find a niche, step 5: consider the type of research, step 6: determine the relevance, step 7: make sure it’s plausible, step 8: get your topic approved, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about dissertation topics.

The very first step is to check your program’s requirements. This determines the scope of what it is possible for you to research.

• Is there a minimum and maximum word count?
• When is the deadline?
• Should the research have an academic or a professional orientation?
• Are there any methodological conditions? Do you have to conduct fieldwork, or use specific types of sources?

Some programs have stricter requirements than others. You might be given nothing more than a word count and a deadline, or you might have a restricted list of topics and approaches to choose from. If in doubt about what is expected of you, always ask your supervisor or department coordinator.

Start by thinking about your areas of interest within the subject you’re studying. Examples of broad ideas include:

• Twentieth-century literature
• Economic history
• Health policy

To get a more specific sense of the current state of research on your potential topic, skim through a few recent issues of the top journals in your field. Be sure to check out their most-cited articles in particular. For inspiration, you can also search Google Scholar , subject-specific databases , and your university library’s resources.

As you read, note down any specific ideas that interest you and make a shortlist of possible topics. If you’ve written other papers, such as a 3rd-year paper or a conference paper, consider how those topics can be broadened into a dissertation.

After doing some initial reading, it’s time to start narrowing down options for your potential topic. This can be a gradual process, and should get more and more specific as you go. For example, from the ideas above, you might narrow it down like this:

• Twentieth-century literature   Twentieth-century Irish literature   Post-war Irish poetry
• Economic history   European economic history   German labor union history
• Health policy   Reproductive health policy   Reproductive rights in South America

All of these topics are still broad enough that you’ll find a huge amount of books and articles about them. Try to find a specific niche where you can make your mark, such as: something not many people have researched yet, a question that’s still being debated, or a very current practical issue.

At this stage, make sure you have a few backup ideas — there’s still time to change your focus. If your topic doesn’t make it through the next few steps, you can try a different one. Later, you will narrow your focus down even more in your problem statement and research questions .

There are many different types of research , so at this stage, it’s a good idea to start thinking about what kind of approach you’ll take to your topic. Will you mainly focus on:

• Collecting original data (e.g., experimental or field research)?
• Analyzing existing data (e.g., national statistics, public records, or archives)?
• Interpreting cultural objects (e.g., novels, films, or paintings)?
• Comparing scholarly approaches (e.g., theories, methods, or interpretations)?

Many dissertations will combine more than one of these. Sometimes the type of research is obvious: if your topic is post-war Irish poetry, you will probably mainly be interpreting poems. But in other cases, there are several possible approaches. If your topic is reproductive rights in South America, you could analyze public policy documents and media coverage, or you could gather original data through interviews and surveys .

You don’t have to finalize your research design and methods yet, but the type of research will influence which aspects of the topic it’s possible to address, so it’s wise to consider this as you narrow down your ideas.

It’s important that your topic is interesting to you, but you’ll also have to make sure it’s academically, socially or practically relevant to your field.

• Academic relevance means that the research can fill a gap in knowledge or contribute to a scholarly debate in your field.
• Social relevance means that the research can advance our understanding of society and inform social change.
• Practical relevance means that the research can be applied to solve concrete problems or improve real-life processes.

The easiest way to make sure your research is relevant is to choose a topic that is clearly connected to current issues or debates, either in society at large or in your academic discipline. The relevance must be clearly stated when you define your research problem .

Before you make a final decision on your topic, consider again the length of your dissertation, the timeframe in which you have to complete it, and the practicalities of conducting the research.

Will you have enough time to read all the most important academic literature on this topic? If there’s too much information to tackle, consider narrowing your focus even more.

Will you be able to find enough sources or gather enough data to fulfil the requirements of the dissertation? If you think you might struggle to find information, consider broadening or shifting your focus.

Do you have to go to a specific location to gather data on the topic? Make sure that you have enough funding and practical access.

Last but not least, will the topic hold your interest for the length of the research process? To stay motivated, it’s important to choose something you’re enthusiastic about!

Most programmes will require you to submit a brief description of your topic, called a research prospectus or proposal .

Remember, if you discover that your topic is not as strong as you thought it was, it’s usually acceptable to change your mind and switch focus early in the dissertation process. Just make sure you have enough time to start on a new topic, and always check with your supervisor or department.

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Methodology

• Sampling methods
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

Formulating a main research question can be a difficult task. Overall, your question should contribute to solving the problem that you have defined in your problem statement .

However, it should also fulfill criteria in three main areas:

• Researchability
• Feasibility and specificity
• Relevance and originality

All research questions should be:

• Focused on a single problem or issue
• Researchable using primary and/or secondary sources
• Feasible to answer within the timeframe and practical constraints
• Specific enough to answer thoroughly
• Complex enough to develop the answer over the space of a paper or thesis
• Relevant to your field of study and/or society more broadly

You can assess information and arguments critically by asking certain questions about the source. You can use the CRAAP test , focusing on the currency , relevance , authority , accuracy , and purpose of a source of information.

Ask questions such as:

• Who is the author? Are they an expert?
• Why did the author publish it? What is their motivation?
• How do they make their argument? Is it backed up by evidence?

A dissertation prospectus or proposal describes what or who you plan to research for your dissertation. It delves into why, when, where, and how you will do your research, as well as helps you choose a type of research to pursue. You should also determine whether you plan to pursue qualitative or quantitative methods and what your research design will look like.

It should outline all of the decisions you have taken about your project, from your dissertation topic to your hypotheses and research objectives , ready to be approved by your supervisor or committee.

Note that some departments require a defense component, where you present your prospectus to your committee orally.

The best way to remember the difference between a research plan and a research proposal is that they have fundamentally different audiences. A research plan helps you, the researcher, organize your thoughts. On the other hand, a dissertation proposal or research proposal aims to convince others (e.g., a supervisor, a funding body, or a dissertation committee) that your research topic is relevant and worthy of being conducted.

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McCombes, S. & George, T. (2023, November 20). How to Choose a Dissertation Topic | 8 Steps to Follow. Scribbr. Retrieved September 16, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/research-process/dissertation-topic/

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70 Amazing Sociology Research Topics – Use Them Today!

We compiled these top sociology research paper topics to give students a comprehensive list of sociology-related issues. Read on for more.

Sociology refers to the study of people and their relationships within society. It delves into a range of subjects such as

• Communities
• Secularization
• Law among others

The internet is awash with a plethora of sociology research topics. Students, therefore, find it challenging to choose the right one(s) for their assignment. However, our experts handpicked 70 of the topmost sociology research topics for college students. All you need to do is scroll down, pick an item that best suits your interests, and get your homework going! No hustle.

Getting Started With Sociology Research Topics

To start with, sociology topics for research should:

Be objective Be coherent such that they do not break cause and effect bonds Have an impetus towards the direction of the research

Therefore, having excellent sociology research proposal topics is an art one needs to master. Are you terrified because you are not good at this yet? Our interesting sociology research topics will help calm your nerves down.

So, what are some good sociology research topics? Keep on reading.

Gender and Sexuality Sociology Research Topics

The following list of sociological topics will help crank up your paper:

• How does society treat women?
• Are men and women the same under the law?
• What are the gender stereotypes in the media?
• Why are male presidents most preferred over women?
• Discuss the rise of the Feminist Revolution and its significance
• Do transgender people have a place in society today?
• Why are most nurses of the female gender?
• Social interactions: Male versus female treatment
• Homosexuality and lesbianism: How does society view these two?
• Is feminism overrated?

Sociology Papers Topics on Religion

Writing about spirituality presents some good sociology research questions such as:

• How people view the phenomenon of a higher spiritual being
• The concept of worship in traditional society
• Why do Hindus hold the cow in high esteem?
• The history of different Christian denominations
• The influence of secularism on religion
• Should women preach in churches, mosques, or temples?
• Who do the pagans believe in as their supreme authority?
• Effects and causes of religious affiliations
• Why are most countries Christian dominated?
• Discussion on how Buddhists worship

Sociology Research Questions on Food

There are endless sociology topics to research on food, including:

• How are vegetarians treated?
• How does genetically modified food to the natural one?
• Are pesticides on farms killing humans instead of pests?
• What is the role of hydroponics on food supply and availability?
• Does the coronavirus virus spread through handling unclean food?
• Are food packaging messages necessary?
• What is the cause of food inequity in the world?
• Is obesity a result of the food we eat?
• How have eating habits changed over time?
• Why do people prefer fast food joints over dine in restaurants?

Medical Sociology Research Topics

Use these medical ideas to write a winning sociology research paper:

• Who caused the coronavirus? Man or nature?
• The relationship between modern lifestyle public health
• Discuss professional diseases and their effects
• How aging changes the physical and mental state
• How long does it take to discover a vaccine, and why?
• Is society to blame for the spread of contagious diseases?
• What is the role of Humanitarian missions in healthcare?
• How the treatment of pregnant women is different from others
• Are genetic engineering and cloning ethical?
• How does society look at HIV/AIDS patients?

Environmental Sociology Research Topics

• What is the place of agro-food systems today?
• Exploring how environmentalism is a social movement
• How does society perceive environmental problems?
• What is the origin of human-induced ecological decline?
• How population dynamics relates to health and the environment
• The role of elites in ecological pollution
• Dealing with the inequitable social distribution of environmental hazards
• How do socially disadvantaged populations come to experience higher exposures?
• Is man to blame for global warming?
• The economic impact of environmental pollution

Sociology of the Family Research Topics

• How do single parents manage their families?
• Why do children emulate their parent’s behaviors?
• Why most children prefer their mothers over fathers
• Marriage among different races
• The rise of teenage mothers and its implication
• How does divorce affect the children?
• How families with soldiers, doctors, or marines survive without them
• The conventional family structure
• Discuss the uniqueness of LGBT families
• The role of nannies in parenting children

Easy Sociology Research Topics

• Impact of social media on individuals
• How the media portrays women and why
• Living with transgender individuals in the neighborhood
• The evolving social stratification
• How social activity leads to the development of scientific knowledge.
• Is it possible to achieve social stability?
• Discuss the forces that influence individual behavior in society
• The influence of face to face interactions
• Human factors influencing site selection
• How to improve social and living conditions

With these and more samples, you can be sure of good sociology research topics for your paper. Of course, the crucial end goal is tip-top grades. A carefully thought out sociological research question can make you stand out from your peers.

On top of the numerous examples, we also offer professional writing help for sociology research papers. Get one at an affordable rate now!

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