Department Research

Facts and Stats

The Department of Sociology at Ohio State University, housed in the College of Arts and Sciences, supports a PhD program in sociology, undergraduate majors in sociology and criminology, and an undergraduate specialization in public health sociology.

We are a large department, with 36 faculty, 10 staff members, and almost 70 graduate students.

Our department covers virtually all domains of the discipline, methodological approaches, and interdisciplinary research.

Our department offices are in Townshend Hall, in the center of the Columbus campus, making it easy to access all of the resources available at Ohio State.

In 2020, our faculty jointly earned almost $2 million in external research funds. These grants are used to collect/create novel data, produce cutting edge research, and fund graduate students.

This is just a snapshot of what OSU Sociology can offer you as an incoming PhD student.

In the most recent U.S. News and World Reports rankings, our Sociology doctoral program ranked 18th overall and 10th in the specialties of stratification and population among all programs in the U.S.

We are among the elite public schools, ranking 8th among public university Sociology graduate programs in the U.S.

Our faculty research productivity, as measured by peer-reviewed articles and scholarly books, is in the top 2% among all sociology departments.

Sample research projects

Dr. Rachel Dwyer is leading a National Institutes of Health-funded study on “Improving Data Collection of Debt and Financial Strain to Assess Health Impacts of Economic Insecurity.”

This project uses multi-pronged data collection and analysis to build a stronger data infrastructure, more adequate and accurate measures of indebtedness, and best practices for analyzing various forms of indebtedness and their relation to economic hardship and financial strain for low-income families.

Rachel is a former Director of Graduate Studies and very active with graduate students in the department.

Check out a paper she co-authored with Dr. Elizabeth Martin, former OSU Sociology Graduate Student: “Financial Stress, Race, and Student Debt During the Great Recession” in Social Currents.

2022-23 Publications

Agbai, Chinyere O. “The Structure of Pandemic Vulnerability: Housing Wealth, Residential Segregation, and COVID-19 Mortality.” Population Research and Policy Review 42, no. 5 (October 9, 2023): 83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-023-09826-7.

Bellair, Paul E., Steven Lopez, Eric LaPlant, Mike Vuolo, and Robert Apel. “Is Work Associated With More or Less Criminal Involvement in the Short-Term? New Evidence of the Former Among a Justice-Involved Sample?” Crime & Delinquency, January 3, 2023, 00111287221140838. https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287221140838.

Colen, Cynthia G., Kelsey J. Drotning, Liana C. Sayer, and Bruce Link. “A Matter of Time: Racialized Time and the Production of Health Disparities.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior, June 28, 2023, 00221465231182377. https://doi.org/10.1177/00221465231182377.

Dugan, Laura, and Daren Fisher. “Far-Right and Jihadi Terrorism Within the United States: From September 11th to January 6th.” Annual Review of Criminology 6, no. 1 (2023): 131–53. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-030521-102553.

Reczek, Rin, Lawrence Stacey, and Mieke Beth Thomeer. “Parent–Adult Child Estrangement in the United States by Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Sexuality.” Journal of Marriage and Family 85, no. 2 (2023): 494–517. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12898.

Schmeer, Kammi K., Paola Andrea Echave, and Hollie Nyseth Nzitatira. “Exposure to Armed Conflict and HIV Risk Among Rwandan Women.” Demography 60, no. 4 (August 1, 2023): 1181–1205. https://doi.org/10.1215/00703370-10890357.

Vuolo, Mike, Lesley E. Schneider, and Eric G. LaPlant. “Employment Application Criminal Record Questions and Willingness to Apply: A Mixed Method Study of Self-Selection.” American Journal of Sociology 128, no. 2 (September 2022): 552–92. https://doi.org/10.1086/722293.

Zheng, Hui, Yoonyoung Choi, Jonathan Dirlam, and Linda George. “Rising Childhood Income Inequality and Declining Americans’ Health.” Social Science & Medicine 303 (June 2022): 115016. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115016.

Recent Book Publications

Families We Keep: LGBTQ People and their Enduring Bonds with Parents

Drawing on interviews with over seventy-five LGBTQ people and their parents, Families We Keep (2022) explores the powerful ties that bind families together, for better or worse.

Dr. Rin Reczek and Dr. Emma Bosley-Smith (former OSU Sociology Graduate Student) challenge deep-rooted convictions that family—and specifically, relationships with parents—should be maintained at any cost.

Families We Keep shines a light on the shifting importance of family in America, and how LGBTQ people navigate its complexities as adults.

Dr. Townsand Price-Spratlen’s recent book, Addiction Recovery and Resilience (2022) was developed from a yearslong ethnographic case study of a faith-based health organization with a focus on long-term recovery. It explores the organization's triumphs and missteps as it has worked to respond to the opioid crisis and improve the health of affiliates and the neighborhood for nearly twenty years.

Addiction Recovery and Resilience concludes with best practices for individual, organizational, and community health and public policy at a time when nontraditional health care providers are increasingly important.