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Sample Personal Statement for Sociopsychology
Growing up in pace with China’s reform and opening up, I have
experienced drastic changes brought about by the country’s economic
and social developments. The unprecedented impacts produced by foreign
literary works, commodities, science and technology, management,
civilizations and cultures sensitized me to the value of
sociopsychology in interpreting the complicated mental reactions of
the contemporary Chinese people. Sociopsychology, a discipline western
in origin, was only introduced into Chinese academia in the early
1980s after a decade-long social upheavals and cultural breaks known
as “the Great Cultural Revolution”. However, the speed at which this
science has made its headway in China, a socialist country with an
ancient historical and cultural heritage, is totally unexpected. On
one hand, the special historical period that the country is in, its
unique social system and its distinctive cultural characteristics have
made it possible for China to present rich and diversified materials
for sociopsychological studies, arousing the concern and interest of
worldwide sociopsychologists. On the other hand, China’s social
development under the background of increasing globalization calls for
the guidance from the findings of sociopsychology more than ever.
Therefore, I am determined to pursue sociopsychology as my future
career objective under the hope that, by conducting penetrating
researches on preeminent social phenomena, I can discover possible
answers to some interesting social issues with which our society can
examine itself with self-awareness and self-knowledge.
Sociology is a science aimed at studying how an individual’s
personality and behavior are influenced by the social milieu of which
he or she is a part by means of systematic and scientific
methodologies. No other social sciences can parallel sociology in
terms of the breadth of research and the multiplicity of perspectives.
In the course of my undergraduate program at the Department of
Sociology at Fudan University, I refused to be dominated like most of
my classmates by the prevailing Marxist ideology that informs much of
sociological education and research in China. I was only ready to
acknowledge Marxism as one of numerous schools of sociological
thought, with its inherent strengths as well as weaknesses. By
learning such important and enlightening courses as Western Sociology
and Social Psychology and immersing in technical literature as well as
soliciting rewarding instructions from knowledgeable professors, I
came to develop a comprehensive understanding of most schools of
sociology, their research paradigms, and their perspectives. My
education in sociology has armed me with unique visions which, to my
pleasant surprise, enable me to examine diverse social phenomena from
wholly novel angles and to interpret their underlying significance. In
this process, my speculative faculty is considerably enhanced.
As an undergraduate, I have made conscious attempts to strengthen and
improve my sociological thinking and research capability. Drawing
guidelines from the course The Practice of Social Research, I did some
scholarship in which I completed a series of research reports. The
first social research project that I launched was a university-wide
survey study regarding students’ views on love, marriage and
procreation. In analyzing the statistics gleaned from questionnaires,
I developed some insights into genuine scholarly procedures. My B.A.
thesis, entitled Hiding the Kiss—A Research in Nanjing City on a
Parental Folkway, presents a comprehensive analysis concerning the
reasons for most Chinese parents’ refusal to kiss in the presence of
their children by offering explanations based on Chinese historical
tradition, moral and ethical values, as well as cultural taboos. My
thesis is a venture into a little-studied realm and my focus on
parents (independent variable) instead of on children as frame of
reference is a wholly novel practice. The thesis received highly
positive ratings from my advisor for its forceful argumentation and
well-reasoned conclusion. My research is valuable not so much
academically as empirically in that those activities involved me in
searching for and applying right tools and methodologies of
sociological study, an experience which will produce beneficial
effects on my more ambitious academic efforts in the future.
My 4-year undergraduate program must be described as very successful.
Scholastically, I achieved an almost unparalleled GPA between 3.7 and
3.8, winning scholarships for four consecutive years. My
extracurricular performance is equally impressive. My English
proficiency has enabled me to pass Grade 4 and Grade 6 National
English Tests, the most difficult tests for non-English majors, and to
obtain 3rd prize in a nationwide English contest for college students.
My composition The Piano was collected in Excellent English Essays by
Students from Key Universities. As a student of sociology, I realize
the importance of knowing the society and I chose to do my internships
as a journalist for Nanjing metropolitan newspaper Weekend, a position
which allowed me to cover extensively on major social issues in
present-day China. At The First International Chinese Media Forum held
in Nanjing in 2000, I served as a volunteer and organized a
gather-together between The Forum Newspaper from Taiwan and Nanjin
University, allowing alumni across Taiwan Straits to meet. A girl with
a strong sense of social obligation, I am a member of our university’s
Red Cross Association and have registered for potential marrow
donation.
Based on considerations of my personal belief and my strong interest
in sociological study, I file this Personal Statement in an effort to
apply for a Ph.D. program in sociopsychology from your prestigious
university to receive professional trainings necessary for making me
into a well-trained potential sociopsychologist. The massive social
and economic transformations of the contemporary Chinese society have
posed serious challenges to traditional moral values. Torn between
conflicting values and faced with new social problems, a large number
of Chinese people display unprecedented anxieties, sense of
displacement (or misplacement) and rootlessness, bewilderment and
major confusions. Amid such an overwhelming chaotic condition,
sociology in general and sociopsychology in particular promise to
furnish them with a sense of order and orientation. Unfortunately,
disproportionate to the complexity of the sociological issues,
sociology as a formal discipline is one of the last to develop in
contemporary China. This immaturity, plus the ideological constraints
within Chinese political context, have prevented the research findings
and research methodologies of Chinese sociologists from being
generally recognized by the mainstream sociological profession in the
West. By contrast, the United States, with its maximum sociocultural
pluralism and inclusiveness, constitutes an ideal environment for
acquiring first-rate education and carrying out advanced researches by
making full advantage of its academic resources. Another advantage for
doing sociological research in the United States is that in this
melting pot I will be exposed to people from different countries and
to their distinctive cultures. It can be predicted that, in its sharp
contrast with the Oriental culture, the modern and pluralistic social
backgrounds of the United Stated will sensitize me to some of the
matters that would be otherwise inconspicuous to me, thereby deepening
my understanding of my home country. Most importantly, I can develop
an international perspective in my future scholarship, a unique
perspective which will permit me to penetrate into some important
aspects underlying Chinese social problems and make unique
contributions to the development of China’s sociopsychological
enterprise.
An additional motivation underlying my application is my desire to
overcome the fatal flaws I have encountered in my past education. In
consulting relevant technical literature for doing my current project
The Changing Patterns of Marriage and Family amid the Conflicts
between Traditional Chinese Culture and Modern Western Civilization, I
find that the extant scholarship in sociology is rather narrow-ranged,
lacking theoretical profundity and insufficient in comparative and
cross-disciplinary studies. In terms of methodology, the existing
researches are more static than dynamic, more short-term than
long-term, more qualitative than quantitative, more general than
specific, scanty in evidence and imprecise in analysis. In your Ph.D.
program, I will first of all immerse myself in standard literature and
then assist my prospective supervisor in his or her research projects,
acquiring standardized research methods and trying to apply advanced
research models and paradigms. Under the guidance of my supervisor, I
will choose a topic that pertains to both Chinese and American
sociological contexts and conduct a comparative study over it, with
the hope of unraveling the deep implications of a specific
sociological issue on psychological levels. This will make for my
Ph.D. dissertation.
Stanford University enjoys a top three overall ranking in the United
States and top ranking in the field of sociopsychology. With such an
unparalleled academic reputation, Stanford University justifiably
attracts me as the top priority in my selection. Its
research-intensive program, closely integrated with case studies and
internship, will endow me with all the requisite professional
qualities for a well-educated sociopsychologist. I am convinced that
such a program will enable me to set sail into an entirely new
academic horizon. |
