Requirements for Canidiacy for Ph.D. Degree

Requirements for Canidiacy for Ph.D. Degree

Credits and Course Load - Doctor of Philosophy (Students Entering with a Bachelors Degree)

To satisfy the requirements for candidacy for Doctor of Philosophy in Criminology and Justice Policy, students entering the program with a Bachelors degree are required to complete sixty-four (64) semester hours of coursework as well as pass the three qualifying examinations. 

Required Core Courses - Doctor of Philosophy (Bachelors)

All students entering with a Bachelors degree must take thirty-seven (37) semester hours of required course work as part of the core curriculum.  The required core courses are:

Required Courses:

Semester Credit-Hours Earned

HCJG200 Criminology

3 shs

HCJG202 Criminal Justice Process

3 shs

One Law-Related Course

3 shs

HCJG204 Research Methods and HCJG205 Lab

4 shs

HCJG206 Statistical Analysis and HCJG207 Lab

4 shs

HCJG710 Criminology & Public Policy I

3 shs

HCJG711 Criminology & Public Policy II

3 shs

HCJG713 Advanced Res & Eval Methods

3 shs

HCJG715 Multivariate Analysis I

3 shs

HCJG716 Multivariate Analysis II

3 shs

HCJG718 Advanced Data Analysis or Qualitative Methods

3 shs

HCJG700 Teaching Practicum or HCJG702 Policy Practicum

1 sh

HCJG704 Practicum in Research

1 sh

Total Semester Credit Earned

37 shs

Elective Courses

Beyond the thirty-seven (37) semester hours of required course work in the core curriculum, the PhD student is expected to take elective courses to fulfill the requirements for candidacy.  A total of twenty-seven (27) semester hours of elective credit is needed in order to complete this requirement.  Elective courses generally meet once a week for two and one half (2.5) hours on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday in the afternoon or evening.  Students should be aware that while the program attempts to accommodate part time students as much as possible not all courses will be able to be taught in the evening requiring all students to take courses in the afternoon on occasion. Elective courses are worth three semester hours of credit unless otherwise noted.

The student may also pursue specialized interests by electing courses in other graduate schools at Northeastern.  The student is permitted to take no more than six semester hours of credit or two courses, whichever is greater, from other graduate programs at Northeastern.  As with all courses, both the Graduate Director and the department offering the course prior to registration must approve these selections.

Sample Program for students entering PhD program with a Bachelor's Degree

Fall Semester Year 1

Spring Semester Year 1

HCJG200 Criminology

HCJG206 Statistical Analysis

HCJG202 Criminal Justice Process

HCJG207 Statistical Analysis Lab

HCJG204 Research Methods

Elective

HCJG205 Research Methods Lab

Elective

10 semester hours

10 semester hours

 

Summer Semester Year 1

Fall Semester Year 2

Elective

Law related course

 

HCJG710 Criminology & Public Policy I

 

HCJG715 Multivariate Analysis I

3 semester hours

9 semester hours

 

** Students that wish to receive their Master's degree must complete the required 32 credit hours (above) and pass the Master's comprehensive exam in order to do so. 

 

Spring Semester Year 2

Summer Semester Year 2

HCJG711 Criminology and Public Policy II

Elective

HCJG716 Multivariate Analysis II

 

HCJG713 Advanced Research & Evaluation Methods

 

9 semester hours

3 semester hours

 

Fall Semester Year 3

Spring Semester Year 3

HCJG704 Research Practicum

HCJG700 Teaching Practicum or HCJG702 Policy Practicum

HCJG718 Advanced Data Analysis or Qualitative Methods

Elective

Elective

Elective

Elective

Elective

10 semester hours

10 semester hours

 

Fall Semester Year 4

Spring Semester Year 4

Qualifying Exam1

Qualifying Exam 2

 

Fall Semester Year 5

Spring Semester Year 5

Qualifying Exam 3 & Dissertation Proposal

 Dissertation

** Part-time students generally enroll in one required course and one elective course per semester.

 

Credits and Course Load - Doctor of Philosophy (students entering with a master's degree)

To satisfy the requirements for candidacy for Doctor of Philosophy in Criminology and Public Policy, students entering the program with a Master's degree are required to complete thirty-two (32) semester hours of coursework and must pass the three qualifying examinations. 

Required Core Courses -Doctor of Philosophy

All students entering the program with a Master's degree must take twenty (20) semester hours of required course work as part of the core curriculum.  The required core courses are:

Required Courses:

Semester Credit-Hours Earned

HCJG710 Criminology & Public Policy I

3 shs

HCJG711 Criminology & Public Policy II

3 shs

HCJG713 Advanced Res & Eval Methods

3 shs

HCJG715 Multivariate Analysis I

3 shs

HCJG716Multivariate Analysis II

3 shs

HCJG718 Advanced Data Analysis or Qualitative Methods*

3 shs

HCJG700 Teaching Practicum or

HCJG702  Policy Practicum

1 sh

HCJG704 Research Practicum

1 sh

Total Semester Credit Earned

20 shs

*"All PhD students are required to take Evaluation Methods, Multivariate I, and Multivariate II. After completion of the Multivariate sequence, students are required to take one additional stats/methods course. To satisfy that requirement, students must register to take EITHER Qualitative Methods or Advanced Data Analysis. Students planning quantitative dissertations are encouraged to register for Advanced Data Analysis. Students planning qualitative or mixed-method dissertations are encouraged to register for Qualitative Methods. All students are permitted to take both Advanced Data Analysis and Qualitative Methods (one would count as an elective course)."

 

Elective Courses

Beyond the twenty (20) semester hours of required course work in the core curriculum, the PhD student is expected to take elective courses in the College to fulfill the requirements for candidacy.  A total of twelve (12) semester hours of elective credit is needed in order to complete this requirement.  Elective courses are worth three semester hours of credit unless otherwise noted.

 

Students may also pursue specialized interests by electing courses in other graduate schools at Northeastern.  The student is permitted to take no more than six semester hours of credit or two courses, whichever is greater, from other programs at Northeastern.  As with all courses, both the Graduate Director and the department offering the course prior to registration must approve these selections.

 

Students entering the PhD program with a Master's Degree or a Juris Doctorate degree may be required to take a remedial course in one or more of the following areas:  criminology, research methods and or statistics.  Students deemed to be deficient in one or more of these areas will be required to take the equivalent course from the College's Master's Program. This requirement is intended to assist students who may not have the preparation of their peers in these areas. These courses must be taken prior to taking the more advanced PhD level requirements. The credits from any remedial courses will not count towards a student's doctoral degree

 

Sample Program for students entering PhD program with a Master's Degree

 

Fall Semester Year 1

Spring Semester Year 1

HCJG710 Criminology and Public Policy I

HCJG711 Criminology and Public Policy II

HCJG715 Multivariate Analysis I

HCJG716 Multivariate Analysis II

Elective

HCJG713 Advanced Res & Eval Methods

9 semester hours

9 semester hours

 

Summer Semester Year 1

Fall Semester Year 2

Elective

HCJG718 Advanced Data Analysis or Qualitative Methods

 

HCJG704 Research Practicum

 

2 Electives

3 semester hours

10 semester hours

 

Spring Semester Year 2

Summer Semester Year 2

HCJG700 Teaching Practicum or HCJG702 Policy Practicum

Qualifying Examination 1

Qualifying Examination 2

1 semester hour

 

 

Fall Semester Year 3

Spring Semester Year 3

Qualifying Examination 3

Dissertation

 

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY QUALIFYING EXAMINATIONS

In addition to the above-mentioned coursework, all students enrolled in the doctoral program are required to pass two-written comprehensive qualifying examinations (criminology and justice policy and research methods/statistics) and an oral examination (in the area of specialization) in order to be considered a candidate for the doctoral degree. The written comprehensive examinations in the PhD program are designed to ensure that you have mastered foundational knowledge in the realm of criminology and justice policy.  A comprehensive understanding of foundational material is required of all those who will eventually enter the academy.  Almost all of the doctoral programs in criminology and criminal justice across the country require at least two written comprehensive exams covering criminological theory and analytic methodology (some require three).

 

We require two written comprehensive examinations, and each is designed to ensure that you have mastered foundational materials.  To that end we have created comprehensive reading lists to aid in your preparation.   All of the readings on the respective reading lists have been carefully selected because they represent some of the most important and influential work in their respective areas.  Some of these readings will be required or recommended in classes; others will need to be read on your own time.  Although a handful of readings may be added to these lists from time to time, these reading lists are not expected to undergo any substantial revision in the foreseeable future.  The Graduate Committee would like to impress upon all doctoral students the need to regularly read materials outside of the required readings in courses.

 

The written qualifying examinations serve as assessments of the integration and mastery of core issues and are offered twice a year generally in January and August.  The exams will cover core ideas and readings from students' coursework but, importantly, will not be limited to what students have learned in their courses.  The qualifying examinations anticipate that students will have built upon their coursework by completing additional independent readings, and that they will be able to demonstrate on exams that they have the ability to integrate the knowledge gained from both courses and independent readings.

 

Doctoral students must pass the criminology and justice policy and research methods/statistics qualifying exams before taking the remaining qualifying exam and/or formally beginning the dissertation process. 

Enrolling for Qualifying Examinations:

Students intending to take a written qualifying exam should notify the Assistant to the Dean of the Graduate Program 30 days prior to the examination date. The Assistant to the Dean will verify eligibility and confirm registration.   Students will not be eligible to take an examination if they have a grade of Incomplete in any required coursework.

Criminology & Justice Policy Examination

The qualifying examination in criminology and justice policy is intended to ensure that students who advance to candidacy for the PhD in Criminology and Justice Policy will have achieved a high level of mastery with respect to criminological theory and justice policy. .  Students are expected to be familiar with multiple theoretical frameworks at both the micro and macro-level.  They should be prepared to demonstrate their ability to explicate epistemological and ontological assumptions, key concepts, major propositions, and normative implications (value judgments and policy implications) that follow logically from and distinguish different theories.  In other words, students are expected to be able to discuss theories at a high level of critical scholarly analysis.   Beyond the mastery of theory itself, students are expected to have an appreciation for the empirical status of different perspectives.  This entails an appreciation of the current status of research with respect to each theory.  Students are expected to have kept up with the major journals in the field so that they are able to assess the empirical validity of theories covered on the reading list.  This means that they must do additional reading beyond that which is listed on the reading list.  They must keep up with empirical tests of theories that are published in the major journals in the field during the previous five years (i.e., Criminology, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Justice Quarterly, Criminology & Public Policy, American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, Social Problems, Social Forces, Crime & Delinquency). 

 

A suggested reading list for the Criminology and Justice Policy Examination can be found in Appendix B.

Eligibility:

Students must meet the following criteria to be considered eligible to take the Criminology and Justice Policy qualifying exam:

*Students who previously failed the initial exam will also be eligible to reserve a subsequent exam date as long as it falls within the appropriate timeframe (see "Exam Failure" below) and they continue to meet the requirements identified above.

 

It should be noted that the requirements listed above are the minimum requirements needed to take the Criminology and Justice Policy qualifying examination.  Some faculty highly recommend that students complete additional coursework before taking the examination so as to further their understanding of theoretical frameworks and research.

Research Methods Statistics Examination

All students should be familiar with materials in the books and articles assigned in the specific research methods and statistics courses they have taken in the College.  In addition, they should be familiar with the current state of criminological and criminal justice research and statistical analysis. It is suggested that you read current empirical articles in the leading journals in the field--Criminology, Justice Quarterly, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Criminology & Public Policy, Crime and Delinquency. Journals in sociology (American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, Social Problems) will also be helpful to students preparing for this exam.

 

A suggested reading list for the Research Methods/Statistics Examination can be found in Appendix C.

Eligibility:

Students must meet the following criteria to be considered eligible to take the Research Methods/Statistics qualifying exam:

*Students who previously failed the initial exam will also be eligible to reserve a subsequent exam date as long as it falls within the appropriate timeframe (see "Exam Failure" below) and they continue to meet the requirements identified above.

 

It should be noted that the requirements listed above are the minimum requirements needed to take the Research Methods/Statistics qualifying examination.  Some faculty highly recommend that students complete additional coursework before taking the examination so as to further their understanding of research methods and statistical analysis.

Grading-Theory & Research Methods/Statistics Examinations

Three members of the faculty will read each exam.  Students may receive one of the following grades:

Students must receive passing grades from two faculty members in order to pass the exam.

Exam Failure:

Repeated Failure of A Qualifying Examination:

Successful completion of the qualifying exams is necessary criteria for graduation. Students who fail to complete the qualifying exams successfully will not be awarded a degree, regardless of their level of performance in other requirements for the degree.

Appeal of Failing Grades:

Students who are judged to have failed a qualifying exam may appeal the grade to the full Graduate Committee.  It should be noted that appeals should be justified based on substantive grounds relating to problems with the administration of exam itself or related concerns.

Specialized Qualifying Examination (Third Qualifying Examination)

The third qualifying examination has been designed to serve as a bridge between coursework/written qualifying examination phase and the dissertation phase of the student's work in the doctoral program.

In the first two written examinations, the student demonstrates that he/she has mastered the foundational knowledge required of all those seeking a doctorate in criminology and justice policy. During the third qualifying exam, the student demonstrates that he/she has mastered a specialization within the field and has successfully identified a viable dissertation topic within that specialization.

The third comprehensive is a two-part oral examination in which the student (1) demonstrates mastery of the literature in the area from which his/her dissertation will be drawn and (2) defends a fully developed dissertation proposal. The examination is taken in two parts; with part one occurring no more than one week prior to part two.

The subject of the exam will depend upon the area of specialization and is decided in consultation with the student's advisory committee. Examples of potential areas of specialization include, but are not limited to, Juvenile Delinquency, Policing, Ecology of Crime, Race and Crime, Punishment and Corrections, etc. A student interested in writing a dissertation on some aspect of racial profiling might choose to specialize in policing or in race and crime but would, of course, include literature from both areas in both the bibliography and the proposal. It is essential that the student consult with his/her advisory committee when making these decisions.

Successful completion of the third examination requires that the student demonstrate mastery of the literature in the area of specialization and develop/defend a viable dissertation proposal from within this area. It is likely that the student will discover a dissertation topic in the course of mastering the literature in the area of specialization.

The Examination Committee

The Examination Committee for the third qualifying exam is made up of the faculty members that will ultimately serve as the dissertation committee and, as such, the committee members are selected by the student. The committee should include a minimum of THREE tenured or tenure-track faculty or full time terminally prepared research faculty - two of whom MUST be faculty from within the College of Criminal Justice. A student may opt to have a 4th committee member who is not tenured or tenure track faculty and who may come from outside of the college/university. All students must file an Examination/Dissertation Committee Approval Form signed by all committee members and the Graduate Director with the Graduate Office as soon as the committee has been selected. Any changes in the make-up of the committee must result in a new form being approved and filed in the Graduate office. No third exams or proposal defenses may be scheduled without a current Examination/Dissertation form being on file in the Graduate office.

Scheduling the Examination

The third examination will be scheduled by the Chair of the Dissertation Committee once the student has a fully developed bibliography and dissertation proposal. Only the chair of the committee can initiate the scheduling of the third exam. Although taken up to one week apart, both parts of the examination must be scheduled at the same time. It is expected that each part of the exam will last between one and two hours; therefore, two hours will be set aside for each part of the examination. Only the committee may attend part one of the examination; part two - the proposal defense - is open to the broader community (faculty and doctoral students). It is further expected that students will take the third examination within one year of completion of the written comprehensive examinations.

IMPORTANT: All doctoral students must obtain Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval (or an exemption) for their proposed dissertation research. Successfully defending a dissertation proposal that might fail to receive IRB approval/exemption is futile.  It is recommended that all students obtained IRB approval PRIOR to the scheduling of the third examination.  If this is not possible, all students must meet with the Director of Northeastern's Division of Research Integrity and file all required forms prior to scheduling the defense.

Part One: Mastery of the Literature

Part one of the examination involves an assessment of the student's mastery of the literature within the specialization. This is a rigorous test of the student's knowledge of the scholarship in the area of proposed study.

With the input of his/her committee, the student develops a bibliography for this part of the examination. The bibliography within the area of specialization will be far more extensive, and will draw upon a broader base of literature, than the dissertation proposal will include. The bibliography should cover all important classic and contemporary theoretical, empirical, and policy based publications relevant to the area of specialization and must be approved by all members of the examination committee prior to the examination. The student should prepare the first draft of the bibliography and then give each member of his/her committee the opportunity to review the list and make additions well in advance of the examination.

The first part of the examination is an oral examination to assess the student's mastery of the literature. Only the student and her/his committee are present at the Mastery of Literature examination. The committee members are each given an opportunity to ask the student questions designed to assess the student's ability to recall and synthesize the literature in the area of specialization.

At the end of the first part of the examination, the student leaves the room so that the committee may discuss the student's performance in part one of the examination. Once a consensus has been reached, the student will be invited to rejoin the committee and hear her results.

There are two potential outcomes for Part One of the Second Examination:

Pass: A student who demonstrates comprehensive mastery of the literature will pass the examination. Suggestions for further reading may be included in the advice given to the student at the end of the examination.

Fail: If the student fails to demonstrate satisfactory mastery of the literature, the committee notifies the student, identifies the deficiencies, and the second part of the examination does not go forward.

If the candidate successfully completes the first part of the examination, the second part (scheduled for the following week) goes forward. Failure to demonstrate mastery of the literature will result in the cancellation of the second part of the examination until such time as the candidate can demonstrate sufficient mastery of the literature. In other words, part two of the examination (the proposal defense) only takes place once the candidate successfully completed part one. In no instance will part two precede part one.

Part Two: Proposal Defense

The second part of this examination considers the specific study the student wishes to pursue in his/her dissertation. The dissertation proposal is developed in consultation with the dissertation committee. To ensure that all examiners have the same version of the proposal, copies of the final proposal must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the scheduled examination.  Committees have the right to require additional lead time if they find that to be necessary.  Failure to distribute copies of the proposal to all committee members and the graduate program office on or before the date of part one of the examinations will result in the cancellation of part two.

Preparing the Dissertation Proposal

The first part of the third examination assesses the student's mastery of the literature in the area of specialization and, therefore, a comprehensive literature review is not necessary in the dissertation proposal itself. The literature review in the proposal should be designed to justify the importance of (and need for) the proposed study and it therefore will be quite narrow and tailored to a discussion of the problem at hand.

The proposal which must be developed in conjunction with the student's chair should have the following components:

 

This section must include a discussion of how the data will be gathered, their adequacy and limitations and why these methods of collection are superior to others should be included. Data analysis should describe what means will be used to analyze the data, available software, analytic coding, philosophical-critical analysis, statistics to be used and the format for presentation of findings should be outlined.

How will the author decide if the findings are evidence or not of the arguments addressed- statistical significance, logical persuasive argument, etc. should be addressed directly and concretely.

The length of the dissertation proposal will vary based on a number of factors. That said, a long proposal is not necessarily better than a shorter one. It is expected that proposals will likely range from 25 - 50 double-spaced pages in length. A succinct, well argued document is preferable

As the student works on their dissertation proposal, they should seek regular feedback from the mentor. Although the student's mentor will serve as the primary source of feedback in the proposal development stage, prior to scheduling the third examination, the student should make sure that they have received feedback from each of the members of their committee.

The student's proposal defense will be scheduled by the chair of their committee and will be open to all faculty and graduate students. Each proposal defense will be announced on the College's graduate program web page.  

Students should prepare a 15-20 minute presentation to be given at the start of the second half of the exam. During this presentation, the student will concisely present the purpose, methodology, and analytic strategy for their study to the committee. During the remainder of the exam, the student orally defends the proposal addressing any question or concern that a member of the examining committee or the audience may raise.

At the conclusion of the second examination, the student and all non-committee participants leave the room, and the examination committee discusses the student's proposal and oral presentation. Once a consensus has been reached, the student is invited back into the room to hear his/her results. Where deficiencies are identified, the committee will summarize those deficiencies - and the steps required to remedy them - in written feedback to the student. The written feedback is the responsibility of the chair of the committee.

There are three potential outcomes for the second part of the exam. After deliberation, the committee can vote to:

Pass: If the committee decides that the proposal needs no revision (or only minor revisions), the student works with the Chair of the committee to complete those revisions prior to proceeding. The Chair of the committee must certify that the revisions are complete and the final proposal must be deposited before the student is advanced to candidacy.

Pass with Revisions: If the committee concludes that the revisions needed are fairly substantial, the student must complete the revisions and the entire committee must certify that the revisions are satisfactory before any data collection can begin. The candidate will only be advanced to candidacy once the final approved proposal signed by all the committee members has been filed in the graduate program office.

Fail: The committee can vote to fail the proposal when the revisions needed are so substantial that the student will need to rethink or restructure the proposal.

A student is "Advanced to Candidacy" once all coursework is complete, the first, second, and third examinations are completed and the final IRB and committee approved proposal has been submitted to the graduate program office. (A student is considered to have passed the second examination upon completion of any required proposal revisions, and therefore, the student will not be advanced to candidacy until the final approved proposal has been submitted to the graduate program office). A copy of the IRB approval must be filed with the proposal.

 

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

A doctoral dissertation is a fully executed research project that makes a significant and original contribution to the field of study. A dissertation is required of all candidates in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the granting of the doctoral degree. Doctoral dissertations are formal, written theses that represent the culmination of the candidate's doctoral work. Dissertations differ from the traditional graduate research paper (that one might complete for a course) because the candidate must do more than summarize the existing literature and the empirical findings of others. In a dissertation, the doctoral student demonstrates his/her ability to contribute substantively to the accumulation and advancement of knowledge. Although the typical model in the social sciences is an original empirical research project, students may propose other types of dissertations (theoretical, historical, etc.). Care should be taken in the selection of a dissertation topic as the project must make an independent and original contribution. It is the responsibility of the student to thoroughly search existing literature and previously completed doctoral dissertations to ensure that the proposed dissertation research meets these criteria. ProQuest has a searchable Dissertations and Theses (PQDT) database, available through Northeastern University's library.

 

Guide to Preparation and Submission of Theses and Dissertations.pdf