Certificate in Applied Social Research (CASR)
What is CASR?
The Certificate in Applied Social Research is an elective option within the undergraduate Sociology major designed for students who are interested in research methods and statistics. CASR prepares students for careers in applied social research and/or for graduate study.
CASR students take several courses in research methods and intermediate statistics, social science computing, as well as elective courses. Two integral components of the concentration are an internship in an applied research setting and a research practicum. Both the internship and practicum provide students with a strong set of quantitative research skills. By selecting appropriate electives and internships, students may focus their training on demography, survey research, marketing and communications, criminal justice, health care, education, social services, natural resources, organizations, or personnel and human resources.
Who is CASR for?
CASR is an excellent option for students who:
- are interested in using data to address real-world questions.
- enjoyed their research methods and introductory statistics classes.
- are contemplating going to graduate school in one of the social sciences.
- are contemplating a career in market research or any other kind of applied research.
For more information see the CASR Guide Page.
What is the Internship like?
CASR students typically do their internship in the summer before their senior year or the fall of their senior year. Some start earlier. The internship requirement is a committment of 15-20 hours per week for one semester (summer or fall). Internship experiences vary but the one thing that all students get is hands-on experience working with data. This may include assistance with design of a survey instrument, data collection, data input, data cleaning and consistency checking, and ideally some data analysis and presentation. CASR graduates uniformly report that their internships provided them with skills and experiences of immediate professional relevance. In recent years, students have interned at on-campus institutes such as the Applied Population Laboratory, The UW Survey Center, and the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. Others have interned off-campus at businesses such as CUNA Mutual, Third Wave Research or for state government offices. Most internships are paid.
What kinds of jobs do CASR students enter?
CASR graduates do extremely well on the job market. Their familiarity with data analytic techniques is far greater than most undergraduates. Although enrolling in the CASR program obviously does not guarantee a job, several aspects of the program greatly facilitate the job search process. Most important is the active mailing list of former CASR students. I regularly receive and pass along job postings from former students – many of these lead to jobs. I also provide information about several companies and research institutes that frequently have entry level job openings. Recent graduates have entered jobs at: Systems Seminar Consultants, Third Wave Research, Phillip Morris, Information Resources Inc., University of Wisconsin Survey Center, and The Urban Institute.
What about Graduate School?
Many CASR graduates go on to graduate school either directly or after working for a few years. In recent years, CASR graduates have gone on to graduate programs in Sociology at UCLA, UC-Berkeley, and the University of Wisconsin and urban planning at Columbia.
How do Alumni/ae stay involved in the Program?
CASR alumni/ae are not only very successful, they are also very generous with their time and many work to make sure the program continues to thrive. One way that CASR graduates stay involved is through the CASR graduate mailing list which allows for exchange of information about current job openings in related fields. Another way is through participation in the CASR graduate panel. One session of Soc. 693 (the CASR practicum) is devoted to discussion with three or more former CASR students. They provide valuable insights and suggestions based on their own experiences after graduation and are very open to answering any questions that many current students have, such as: What are employers looking for? What is the hardest part of the transition from student to the “real world?” CASR graduates who participate in this panel emphasize the importance of the training they received as undergraduates and current CASR students uniformly find this session to be one of the most enlightening and beneficial parts of the program.
How do I find out more about CASR?
Contact the faculty director, Christine Schwartz.
Office: 4462 Sewell Social Science Building
Tel: (608) 262-5792
email: cschwart@ssc.wisc.edu
Resources for current CASR students
The CASR Director works with SuccessWorks to facilitate student networking with alumni, developing career plans, resume/CV writing, and other professional development activities. A few key resources from SuccessWorks include:
Career and internship advising
Writing resumes and cover letters
Senior Honors Program & Thesis
Senior Honors Thesis Repository via MINDS@UW
History
The Certificate in Applied Social Research has a long history. It was established in the 1981-1982 academic year under a different name, the Concentration in Analysis and Research, as a concentration within the sociology major. Its first director was Diane Colasanto, who later achieved significant distinction as Chief Methodologist and Senior Vice President at Gallup, and as the 1996-1997 President of the American Association for Public Opinion Research. In the 1983-1984 academic year, Annemette Sørensen assumed leadership and transitioned the program to its current structure, which emphasizes a combination of coursework, internships, and a culminating capstone course. Elizabeth Thomson became the program director in the 1984-1985 academic year and held the position for the next two decades (until 2004). Following Dr. Thomson’s tenure, Jim Raymo served as director for fifteen years (2004-2019).
Christine Schwartz has directed the program since 2019. In 2025, to make the program available to students from all majors at UW–Madison, the concentration was converted into a formal certificate program and renamed the Certificate in Applied Social Research. For more on the history of the CAR program, see pg. 95-96 in Russell Middleton’s History of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, volume 2.
Current Director
Former Directors
