The Sociology Program supports basic research on all forms of human social organization—societies, institutions, groups and demography—and processes of individual and institutional change. The program encourages theoretically focused empirical investigations aimed at improving the explanation of fundamental social processes. Included is research on organizations and organizational behavior, population dynamics, social movements, social groups, labor force participation, stratification and mobility, family, social networks, socialization, gender, race, and the sociology of science and technology. The program supports both the collection of original data and secondary data analysis and is open to the full range of quantitative and qualitative methodological tools. Theoretically grounded projects that offer methodological innovations and improvements for data collection and analysis are also welcomed.

The Sociology Program funds doctoral dissertation research to defray direct costs associated with conducting research, for example, dataset acquisition, additional statistical or methodological training, meeting with scholars associated with original datasets, and fieldwork away from the student’s home campus. Projects are evaluated using the two foundation-wide criteria, intellectual merit and broader impacts. Four components are key to securing support from the Sociology Program: The issues investigated must be theoretically grounded, the research should be based on empirical observation or be subject to empirical validation or illustration, the research design must be appropriate to the questions asked, and the proposed research must advance understanding of social processes, structures, and methods.

Proposals are due on Monday, October 29, 2018.

If you are interested in applying for this funding opportunity, please contact OSRP. Completed proposals are due in OSRP at least two business days prior to the deadline set by the sponsor.