MSc Social Research Methods and Statistics / Course details
Year of entry: 2026
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Course description
My masters degree provides a good foundation of statistical and research methods
and I have really enjoyed the course units on more advanced statistical methods
Emily Buehler / MSc Social Research Methods and Statistics student
Data skills are invaluable across many fields including the social sciences. Critically producing and analysing statistics can help us to study human behaviour in their social environments. With the overwhelming amount of available information in the modern world, this programme provides a skillset to navigating successfully in various future careers.
Our MSc in Social Research Methods and Statistics provides comprehensive training in the practical application of quantitative methods and software. We’ll teach you to use statistical analysis software such as R, SPSS and Stata to ask and answer crucial questions, like:
- How are societies changing ?
- What is the impact of wealth disparities ?
- Is society becoming more tolerant of diversity?
- How do people cope with financial hardship?
Social statistics and quantitative data analysis are key tools for understanding society and how government policies affect different groups of people.
Via mandatory course units, you’ll learn key skills such as statistical analysis and modelling, survey design, research design, and more. We focus on a range of important subject areas including social inequalities, population dynamics and survey methodology. You can deepen your own research interests with a choice of elective units.
Our innovative programme is taught by expert academics, both with practical experience of the research fields and a real passion for enhancing your learning experience.
This course is eligible for the 1+3 studentship offered by the Economic and Social Sciences Research Council (ESRC) North West Social Sciences Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP), offering a unique, fully-funded route into postgraduate research. If your application is successful, you’ll be able to seamlessly transition from master's-level study to a PhD. Find out more on our 1+3 ESRC NWSSDTP webpage .
Because the MSc is designed with a research focus, a successful completion will support PhD applications from many UK and worldwide funding organisations.
My master’s degree provides a good foundation of statistical and research methods, and I have really enjoyed the course units on more advanced statistical methods.
Emily Buehler / MSc Social Research Methods and Statistics student
Special features
An interdisciplinary research environment
This course is linked with our Cathie Marsh Institute for Social Research , a centre of excellence for applying quantitative research to contemporary social science questions.
A prestigious department
Pioneer your own research at a department ranked first in the UK for the percentage of our research outputs being ‘world-leading’, as recognised by the latest Research Excellence Framework (2021).
You will explore the application of quantitative methods to a range of subject areas, such as sociology, public health, geographic differences and statistics.
Teaching and learning
This course is taught by an interdisciplinary team using a variety of delivery methods:
- lectures;
- workshops;
- student-led presentations and debate;
- group work;
- individual research.
Coursework and assessment
Course units are assessed by 1,500-2,500-word essays, exams, online tests or group projects.
Part-time students
Part-time students complete the full-time course over two years. There are no evening or weekend course units available on the part-time course.
Course unit details
A master’s degree is formed of 180 credits.
120 of these credits are made up by a mix of mandatory and optional course units, worth 15 credits each. The availability of individual optional course units may be subject to change. Information that is sent to you in August about registration onto the course will clearly state the course units that are available in the academic year ahead.
Mandatory units include:
- Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods;
- Survey Research Methods;
- Introduction to Statistical Modelling;
- Complex Survey Designs and Analysis;
- Statistical Foundations;
- Methodology and Research Design.
The remaining 60 credits are awarded through a compulsory research component in the form of a 9,000-word dissertation. Your dissertation must be within the area of Social Statistics and use methodologies from at least one of the course units you have taken.
Your dissertation research is supported by bi-weekly workshops designed to improve your academic and l writing skills.
Part-time students
Part-time students take four out of the five compulsory course units in the first year and then take the other one in year two. The remaining 30 credits of optional course units are selected and taken accordingly over the two years.
Other exit awards
Students who do not fulfil the criteria for passing the taught element of the course at the masters' level of 50% will not be permitted to progress to the dissertation element of the course and will leave the course with the highest award that the credits that have been passed will allow.
Course unit list
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
| Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods | SOCY60231 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Survey Research Methods | SOST60421 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Dissertation | SOST65000 | 60 | Mandatory |
| Introduction to Statistical Modelling | SOST70011 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Complex Survey Designs and Analysis | SOST70032 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Statistical Foundations | SOST70151 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Methodology and Research Design | SOST70520 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Topological Data Analysis | DATA70302 | 15 | Optional |
| Privacy, Confidentiality and Disclosure Control | DATA70402 | 15 | Optional |
| Longitudinal Data Analysis | SOST70022 | 15 | Optional |
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