MSc Sociological Research / Course details

• The structure and organisation of a dissertation
• Doing a literature review
• Designing surveys
• Doing qualitative interviews
• Analysing quantitative data
• Analysing qualitative data
• Research ethics application
• Project management your dissertation: challenges, contingencies and problems-solving
• Writing the methodology chapter
• Presenting your findings: analyses and findings chapters

• To develop students' ability to design and implement their dissertation research project. 
• To provide students with the opportunity to develop their research projects through group-based learning and discussion and in so doing, to complement the work undertaken through individual supervision meetings under the dissertation programme. 
• To give students awareness of the role of the literature review in research design and how to plan, organise, and write a literature review in relation to their specific research aims. 
• To provide a practical learning forum for students to consolidate and further develop their academic knowledge about research methods and associated methodological debates that they have studied in other specialist modules. 
• To provide students with opportunities to develop their practical skills in conducting social research such as designing methods, data analysis etc. to assist them with their dissertation projects. 
• To provide students with the opportunity to develop their generic skills in written presentation and in group work.

Building on from Research Design 1, by the end of the course students should have: 

• Applied and developed their knowledge of methods and methodology through a focus on preparing their critical literature review for their dissertation and through discussion of their peers' research design. 
• Produced a critical literature review as a basis for the empirical work for their dissertation. 
• Presented and discussed their research design with a small peer group. 
• Developed their skills and experience in the oral presentation of their work (as well as in written presentation for the assessment). 
• Developed their evaluation skills through the discussion of their peers' research designs. 
• Developed practical skills in research design and delivery in preparation for their dissertation projects.

Each week contains a mix lectures and workshops

Provide a critical literature review based upon your chosen dissertation topic 100% (3000 words +/- 10%)

Mini-literature review 0% (750 words +/- 10%)

Updated research plan 0% (750 words +/- 10%)