Hello everyone,

I am in the last year of my PhD and are getting together applications to some research/post-doc positions. My pre-doctoral background is a BA in Journalism and an MA in Communication and Media Studies, while my current programme is awarded as a 'PhD in Social Sciences' by my institution. I would say that during my BA/MA studies I have engaged with a wide range of theories and methods from across the social sciences (including sociology), while my doctoral research is firmly within the remit of sociology, and heavily engages with theory and literature from cultural sociology in particular; my supervisor is also active in that area. Naturally, a lot of interesting work relating to my research is going on in sociology as well as media/journalism departments so I would aspire to apply to both of those.

However, I have been baffled by whether my background 'entitles' me to call myself a sociologist on CVs and relevant applications; my supervisor reassures me that it would be appropriate but I am weary that some (most?) sociology departments may scoff at the idea of somebody presenting themselves as a sociologist without a 'pure' sociology background at the BA/MA level or indeed with a PhD bearing the same title.

Any advice on this ideally from people that have some research experience withing sociology/social science departments would be much appreaciated!

Thanks