MSc — 2025 entry Social Research

Qualitative research approaches remain one of the fundamental ways for researchers to access the insights, understandings, and experiences of social groups, as well as to explore their social interactions. This highly practical module provides students with a systematic methodological basis for conducting various forms of qualitative analysis and the opportunity to gain practical experience. The main techniques covered are observation and interviewing, although the module also explores documentary and visual approaches. Observational fieldnotes, interview transcripts, and visual images are collected, analyzed and reported throughout the course of the module. In addition to learning core qualitative research skills the students gain experience of developing a small scale research project and present their findings in a professional way. These skills will equip students to undertake their dissertation research and research projects in their future career.

Quantitative data analysis is one of the key methodological approaches available to social researchers, enabling them to identify and explain important patterns in the social structure of society.   In this module, students will learn how quantitative research approaches can be used to describe and explore the social world. Students will learn how to ask questions with quantitative data, will be introduced to the fundamental statistical principles required for making robust and generalisable claims, and will consider theoretical, methodological, and practical issues which have an impact on quantitative research design. Students will also learn how to collect and analyse quantitative data, covering issues of sampling and descriptive statistics, as well as being introduced to general regression approaches.   Emphasis throughout the module will be on intuitive understanding and practical considerations, rather than rigorous derivation, and on hands-on practical experience with R, the world’s leading statistical software package.

Successful development as a social researcher requires a range of skills beyond the technical aspects of research methods alone. Students on the MSc Social Research programme will need to develop skills in accessing and organizing information and will require an awareness of the broader context in which social research operates, including how social research is governed and communicated. The content of this module is both important to underpin success on the programme and atudents¿ future research careers. This module offers students the opportunity to explore an important set of skills and awareness to support their research and to reflect on how to deploy these skills in the context of their own. The module is strongly focused on personal development, with assessment comprising a personal development portfolio of entries responding to each of the skills and awareness topics.

Social researchers need to understand the assumptions that underpin the methods that they use. From this module students will develop an in-depth understanding of the role and importance of conceptual and methodological issues in research design. Students will be exploring some of the philosophical concepts and assumptions that underpin the practice of research, and some aspects of the relationship between theoretical frameworks and different methodological approaches to empirical research. The module will help students to understand the theoretical underpinnings of different approaches to research methods including, positivism, empiricism, realism and interpretivism and debates over the relations between structure and agency, knowledge and research technique. The primary purpose of Methodological Issues in Research Design is to equip students to make informed choices with respect to their research. We will explore the research process from different points of view and students will come out of the course with both a better understanding of some of the choices open to them as researchers and with an informed perspective from which to make those choices.

Social researchers work in a variety of settings to produce robust, reliable and timely information about the social world. Some of this research is designed to fill a gap in knowledge or respond to a social challenge with actionable insights into the nature of the challenge or underlying mechanisms. Other forms of social research aim to provide an evaluation of an existing policy or practice, judge value for money of an investment or explore the effectiveness of an intervention. This module enables students to appreciate the variety of ways in which social research interfaces with problems in real world policy and practice, to develop the necessary skills to communicate in this territory and to learn about the specific techniques that are used in evaluation research.

The dissertation is an extended piece of writing (10,000-15,000 words) which allows the student to work on a topic independently in depth, with appropriate guidance from a supervisor. It enables students to use the social research methodologies developed during the taught programme to explore a criminological or sociological topic of particular interest and to synthesise the skills and knowledge which they have acquired.  

Qualitative research approaches remain one of the fundamental ways for researchers to access the insights, understandings, and experiences of social groups, as well as to explore their social interactions. This highly practical module provides students with a systematic methodological basis for conducting various forms of qualitative analysis and the opportunity to gain practical experience. The main techniques covered are observation and interviewing, although the module also explores documentary and visual approaches. Observational fieldnotes, interview transcripts, and visual images are collected, analyzed and reported throughout the course of the module. In addition to learning core qualitative research skills the students gain experience of developing a small scale research project and present their findings in a professional way. These skills will equip students to undertake their dissertation research and research projects in their future career.

Successful development as a social researcher requires a range of skills beyond the technical aspects of research methods alone. Students on the MSc Social Research programme will need to develop skills in accessing and organizing information and will require an awareness of the broader context in which social research operates, including how social research is governed and communicated. The content of this module is both important to underpin success on the programme and atudents¿ future research careers. This module offers students the opportunity to explore an important set of skills and awareness to support their research and to reflect on how to deploy these skills in the context of their own. The module is strongly focused on personal development, with assessment comprising a personal development portfolio of entries responding to each of the skills and awareness topics.

Social researchers work in a variety of settings to produce robust, reliable and timely information about the social world. Some of this research is designed to fill a gap in knowledge or respond to a social challenge with actionable insights into the nature of the challenge or underlying mechanisms. Other forms of social research aim to provide an evaluation of an existing policy or practice, judge value for money of an investment or explore the effectiveness of an intervention. This module enables students to appreciate the variety of ways in which social research interfaces with problems in real world policy and practice, to develop the necessary skills to communicate in this territory and to learn about the specific techniques that are used in evaluation research.

Quantitative data analysis is one of the key methodological approaches available to social researchers, enabling them to identify and explain important patterns in the social structure of society.   In this module, students will learn how quantitative research approaches can be used to describe and explore the social world. Students will learn how to ask questions with quantitative data, will be introduced to the fundamental statistical principles required for making robust and generalisable claims, and will consider theoretical, methodological, and practical issues which have an impact on quantitative research design. Students will also learn how to collect and analyse quantitative data, covering issues of sampling and descriptive statistics, as well as being introduced to general regression approaches.   Emphasis throughout the module will be on intuitive understanding and practical considerations, rather than rigorous derivation, and on hands-on practical experience with R, the world’s leading statistical software package.

Social researchers need to understand the assumptions that underpin the methods that they use. From this module students will develop an in-depth understanding of the role and importance of conceptual and methodological issues in research design. Students will be exploring some of the philosophical concepts and assumptions that underpin the practice of research, and some aspects of the relationship between theoretical frameworks and different methodological approaches to empirical research. The module will help students to understand the theoretical underpinnings of different approaches to research methods including, positivism, empiricism, realism and interpretivism and debates over the relations between structure and agency, knowledge and research technique. The primary purpose of Methodological Issues in Research Design is to equip students to make informed choices with respect to their research. We will explore the research process from different points of view and students will come out of the course with both a better understanding of some of the choices open to them as researchers and with an informed perspective from which to make those choices.

The dissertation is an extended piece of writing (10,000-15,000 words) which allows the student to work on a topic independently in depth, with appropriate guidance from a supervisor. It enables students to use the social research methodologies developed during the taught programme to explore a criminological or sociological topic of particular interest and to synthesise the skills and knowledge which they have acquired.