School of Sociology and Social Policy

MA Social Research has ESRC 1+3 recognition.

Compulsory Modules

Research Strategy and Design focuses on the design of social research, and will help you navigate the difficult task of linking often abstract theoretical and methodological perspectives with practical research strategies. Thorough weekly workshops, the module concentrates on the key issues that researchers need to recognise, confront and resolve in the design of social research. Such issues include the principles of sampling and selection in research design, how to choose appropriate methods for generating and collecting data, the principles of data analysis, the ethics, politics and practicalities of research design and the creation of research proposals.

Quantitative Research Methods introduces you to the skills required for the generation, analysis and management of quantitative data. Using concrete research problems, the module investigates a wide range of quantitative research issues and gives you the opportunity to develop a critical understanding of the discipline. Practicalities covered include survey design, computer-based 'hands-on' workshops with SPSS for Windows, using data from one or more large scale data sets, creative data analysis linked to theory development, data modelling using regression techniques, effective use of secondary data sets and ways of linking data, including the scope for linking quantitative and qualitative data.

Qualitative Research Methods examines qualitative research design, practice and analysis and features a series of practical workshops on qualitative data analysis, using software packages such as QSR NUD*IST or NVivo. The module will also develop your skills for generating qualitative research data, such as interview technique, biographical and narrative approaches, focus group approaches, ethnography and observation, non-verbal and visual methods, and give you a critical appreciation of the appropriateness of particular methods to different research scenarios. The module also explores the relationship between qualitative and quantitative research, and between qualitative research and policy.

Research Dissertation extends the formal training you have developed in other modules into a fieldwork, or practical empirical research setting, and provides 'hands-on' training of the relevant methods and approaches. In consultation with a member of staff drawn from the department's MA/PhD supervisory panel, you will develop a research problem or substantive topic for your dissertation, and test it out through your repertoire of methodological skills and techniques. Where relevant, your dissertation may become the substantive focus of a PhD in the ESRC 1+3 model, as this module satisfies ESRC requirements for research training in the new 1+3 regime.