Our PhD program is notable among social work doctoral programs for the range and depth of its research foundation courses and electives. In addition to coursework, Ph.D. students are exposed to research and teaching experiences, publish with faculty in leading journals, and present research findings with faculty at national conferences.
Curriculum Summary
Each entering cohort should review the PhD toolkit for guidelines for their year or subsequent year.
Required Courses
| Substantive Social Work (6 courses) | 17 hours |
| Research (5 courses) | 15 hours |
| Electives | 9 hours |
| Quantitative Analysis Techniques (2 courses) | 6 hours |
| Qualitative Analysis Techniques | 3 hours |
| Dissertation Research | 18 hours |
| Total | 68 hours |
NOTE:
All of the following courses are 3-hour courses unless noted otherwise.
Substantive Social Work (17 hours)
| SW 600 | Social Welfare Policy |
| SW 601 | Seminar in PhD Social Work Education (1 hour) |
| SW 605 | Social Work Education (4 hours) |
| SW 627 | Systematic Review |
| SW 640 | Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Social Work Research |
| SW 641 | Application of Theory in the Development of Social Work Knowledge |
Research Methods (15 hours)
| SW 620 | Social Work Research: Scientific Process and Methods (To be taken during the student’s first semester in the PhD program) |
| SW 621 | Quantitative Research |
| SW 623 | Qualitative Research |
| SW 626 | Mixed Methods Research |
| SW 628 | Research Practicum |
Electives (19 hours)
Electives should be chosen with advisor input. They may be taken inside the School of Social Work or outside. Electives offered inside the School include:
| SW 622 | Observation and Measurement |
| SW 629 | Special Topics: Research |
| SW 631 | Community-Engaged Research |
| SW 648 | Special Topics (may be repeated) |
| SW 660 | Independent Study (see below) |
Qualitative Analysis Techniques (3 hours)
| SW 624 | Qualitative Data Analysis |
Quantitative Analysis Techniques/Statistics (6 hours)
Statistics proficiency may be demonstrated by successfully completing one of the four approved statistics course sequences:
In the UA College of Education (6 hours):
| BER 540 | Statistical Methods in Education |
AND
| BER 639 | Applied Regression Analysis |
| OR | |
| BER 640 | Multivariate Dependence Methods |
In the UA College of Community Health Sciences (6 hours):
| POPH 522 | Biostatistics |
| CHS 627 | Multivariate Methods in Health Statistics |
In the UA Department of Political Science (6 hours):
| PSC 522 | Quantitative Methods in Political Science I |
| PSC 621 | Quantitative Methods in Political Science II |
In the Department of Biostatistics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB – assistantship tuition benefit will not cover the cost of this sequence) (6 hours):
| BST 611 | Biostatistics I |
| BST 612 | Biostatistics II |
NOTE:
Please refer to the PhD Toolkit for an example of a semester-by-semester course of study.