SRA is a semester-long program that pairs undergraduates with either Emory Sociology Faculty or Graduate Students who need research assistance. (If an undergraduate is paired with a graduate student, then a faculty member will oversee that pairing.) 

SRA projects vary by semester (not all faculty need assistance every semester). Thus, the Sociology Department will pair students and researchers each semester, taking interests into account.

Undergraduate students receive course credit for their research assistant work in SRA. There are two options:

• For 3 credits (as SOC 497R: Directed Research) students will work 9 hours per week.
• For 4 credits (as SOC 497R: Directed Research) students will work 12 hours per week.
  
  

The type of research work required for an SRA project will vary by a faculty member or graduate student. 

Examples of SRA work include survey pilot testing assistance, data entry, interview transcription, literature summaries, archival research, data visualization, and study participant recruitment. 

Faculty and graduate student projects vary each semester. Sociological research is "real world" research, with more variability in the process than other disciplines. Thus, we will not know the specifics of available research projects until after students apply to the program. We are not able to give students information (or a choice) in projects before they apply. 

Remember that this is a competitive program (there are more student applicants than available projects). When we accept students, we make an effort to pair them with a faculty project that matches their interests, whenever possible. However, because we have limited projects each semester, we cannot guarantee that students will be assigned research in their area of interest. Students who are open to a wide variety of interests will do best in this program. NOTE: we will give students the opportunity to review the project that they are assigned, and, if they do not wish to participate on that project, then they may decline SRA. 

We encourage all interested Sociology majors and minors to apply.

Decisions about projects will vary by semester, depending on how many (and the type) of faculty and grad student SRA projects are available for a given semester. 

We balance a number of factors when selecting students, but here are the main criteria we use:

• Sociology majors have higher priority than do minors
• Higher class years have higher priority (e.g., Seniors and Juniors) than do lower-class years
• Completion of SOC 355 is helpful but not required
• High GPA in Sociology classes
• Good research skills
• Flexible research interests

1. Complete the SRA Application Form.

• The application form will be attached to the SRA Semester Announcement email sent prior to each semester.
• Click on the application form, which can also be downloaded at any time from the Sociology website.

2. Secure a copy of your Unofficial Transcript. 

3. Submit your completed SRA Application Form AND Unofficial Transcript. 

• Email the form AND transcript to BOTH Amber Churchwell (amber.churchwell@emory.edu) and Arlo Pittman (arlo.pittman@emory.edu)

Deadlines for applications will be announced in the SRA Semester Announcement sent prior to each semester. In general, the deadline for the Fall semester will be June 1 and the deadline for the Spring 2023 semester will be November 15. 

Emory Sociology Faculty/Graduate Students will review applications and may request further information from the undergraduate applicants.

Notification of Acceptance will occur in 

• June 1 for the Fall semester
• December 15 for the Spring semester

If accepted, you will meet with your SRA Research Partner and register for the course during the first week of the semester.

Enrollment in SRA may be repeated, but any credit hours over the initial 4 will be graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

That being said, the first 3-4 credit hours may be taken for a grade or S/US.