PhD in Sociology and Social Research

• Sociological theory and research methodology
• Urban sociology, tourism and migratory processes
• Sociology of cultural and communicative processes
• Digital Sociology
• Sociology of family and generations
• Sociology of education and socialization processes
• Sociology of deviance, criminology and victimology
• Sociology of Health
• Sociology of well-being
• Sociology of Social Policy
• Sociology of economic processes, organization and work
• Sociology of Consumption
• Social communication and participatory processes
• Sociology of web society
• Sociology of Social Innovation

Appointed by RD n. 709/2023 Prot n. 149534 on Jun 02, 2023

* The following shall take part in the work of the Examination Board as expert members for positions linked to specific research topics:

• Giuseppe Tesei - Trenitalia Tper Scarl

The main aims are the the formation and improvement of highly qualified professionals with a strong and solid attitude for the elaboration, organization and direction of empirical and theoretical research. The Phd is organized to educate scholars who will be able to manage:

• theoretical and sociological reflections along with the most important and innovative emerging social issues;
• field-work with qualitative and quantitative methodologies, also in the digital realm.

To achieve these goals the students are invited, in the first year, to participate to several methodological seminars, designed to improve their quantitative and qualitative techniques of sociological research. Along the whole period of study the students are invited to participate to regular methodological laboratories, organized to make them able to utilize statistical programms for the social sciences, as SPSS and Stata.

During the PhD program the students will analyze critically the main theoretical sociological paradigms and its methodological consequences. More specifically, the students will carry out the following activities:

• theoretical research
• fieldwork, that is:

a) how to plan a sociological research
b) operationalization
c) selection of the best methodology and research techniques
d) data collection by qualitative and quantitative
e) data analysis and data interpretation
f) how to write the research paper

• tutoring and teaching assistance in classes and group work with junior students
• writing reviews and working papers
• research activities carried out abroad for 6 months in a university.

Research training activities are structured as follows:

Year 1

• at least five seminars for all doctoral students (from all cycles)
• lectures by outstanding national and international scholars
• specialized seminars for research topics
• standardized methodological and theoretical training courses with a total duration of 120 hours consisting of an introductory module, a qualitative analysis module, and advanced modules on the introduction to data processing (quantitative, qualitative, visual); sociological theory; digital sociology; and creative methods of social research.
• three ad hoc courses with lectures devoted to research design, use of databases for social research, and "scientometrics."

Year 2

For the second year, in addition to departmental lectures, specialized seminars, and international lectures, individual thesis work under the supervisor's guidance to specify the thesis's scope and submit a paper introducing the topic and summarizing the work completed.

Year 3

The educational activity in the third year is individual work under the supervisor's guidance, specifically aimed at completing the doctoral thesis.

• Information about the Phd Program are sent by an institutional e-mail to a large number of sociological department in several foreign countries. Moreover, information about the Ph. D Program are sent to international sociological networks (International Sociological Association, European Sociological Association, British Sociological Association) and then spread to their members.
• The Ph.D students are obliged to spend six months of their research period abroad, in foreign universities, to follow classes and/or to work on their dissertation. They are strongly invited to partecipate at international conferences and summer schools.
• The PhD Program hosts every year several international guests from foreign universities.
• The PhD Program offers classes in order to learn out to write an article for international journals and how to write abstracts in order to be accepted at international conferences
• At the moment, a PhD student (Laura Tanzini XXXV Cicle) is achieving a "internal" joint-PhD (with Barcelona Pompeo Fabra University).
• in 2020 a joint-Phd was achievied with a KU Leuven (Giulia Ganugi XXXI Cicle)
• Agreements have been signed with Ghent University and University of Bielefeld
• A PhD student from Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, is achieving an "external" joint-PhD in our Programme

On the basis of the deep learning of the main sociological paradigms and their connection with the methodological outomes, the students are expected to acquire a personal and original research style. Moreover, the students should write:

• at least one scientific article in a sociological journal during the 3 years of PhD Program
• an innovative thesis
• the publication of a paper with the results of the thesis or a second article, within 2 years after the end of the PhD Program. The Board will help the student to connect with publisher and journals

Moreover, the Board of PhD Program encourage the students to work on emerging social issues that can help solving social problems on local, national or international basis. Therefore, the Board will help to spread students research results towards the main institutions that could be affected and through the most appropriate channels. Students research is timely monitored by the Board.