Explore our Sociology taught Master's degree.

P-L3PD

MA

1 year full-time;
2 years part-time

30 September 2024

Sociology

University of Warwick

Sociology MA is a lively and engaging programme for students interested in how social life shapes individuals' experiences of the world around us. Warwick's Sociology Department, ranked 4th in the UK, will help you develop the skills needed to progress into your career.

Why are ‘private troubles’ also ‘public issues’? This course enables you to explore and answer questions just like this. The course will appeal if you are interested in how social life shapes individuals’ experiences of the world around us.

From across sociology and allied social sciences, you will gain a thorough understanding of theories and methodologies that explore the social world. Then you will have the opportunity to tailor your programme to your own specific interests through our wide range of options.

Your period of study will involve you examining individuals’ experiences, and encounters with structures and institutions; reading new empirical research; exploring social theories; and assessing innovative methodologies.

Skills from this degree

• Ability to analyse and evaluate complex intellectual ideas
• Ability to analyse and evaluate competing approaches to understanding the contemporary world
• Ability to build sophisticated and persuasive arguments from an array of sources
• Ability to gather and analyse data using a range of techniques
• Ability to carry out independent research
• Ability to write about complex ideas in a clear way

Each of our MA courses has specified core modules which will be studied alongside a range of optional modules. You will be required to choose four optional modules from our departmental list.

All our MA courses follow a consistent structure meaning that you will follow a programme of taught modules, followed by a 15,000-word dissertation.

Class sizes can range from 6 to 30 students, dependent on each module.

Each module consists of at least 20 hours of teaching. You will also have contact hours available at your own disposal for dissertation supervisor, etc.

Taught modules are assessed through written assignments. You will focus on your 15-000 word dissertation after the end of Spring Term.

If you study part-time then you will study your taught modules over two years: with teaching taking place during the academic terms. The order in which you study your modules will be agreed following discussion with your course convenor. You will also begin planning your dissertation in year one.

Your timetable

Your personalised timetable will be complete when you are registered for all modules, compulsory and optional, and you have been allocated to your lectures, seminars and other small group classes. Your compulsory modules will be registered for you and you will be able to choose your optional modules when you join us.

2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in a related subject.

• Band B
• IELTS overall score of 7.0, minimum component scores of two at 6.0/6.5 and the rest at 7.0 or above.

Read our department advice on applying to ensure your application has the best chance for success.

State of Art of Sociology

This module seeks to introduce you to some of the major debates about how theorising and empirical research should be done, through examples of how it is being done. It seeks to situate this against the background of the sociological tradition and to give students a sense of where there is continuity, discontinuity, progress and/or decline.

Understanding Social Science

This module introduces you to some of the standard methodological and theoretical problems posed by social inquiry. It is divided into two parts with the first part being structured around problems in social science and the second part around the problem(s) of objectivity. Many of the issues to be discussed relate to one key question: are the methods of the social sciences essentially the same or essentially different from those of the natural sciences?

Dissertation

The dissertation module gives you the opportunity to complete an independent piece of research on a topic of your own choice with the support of your dissertation supervisor, plenary teaching, and other online resources. The aim is for you to creatively use the substantive and methodological training acquired in the earlier part of your course to critically analyse a research topic of sociological relevance.

• Qualitative Methods in Social Research
• Quantitative Methods in Social Research
• Gender, Imperialism and International Development
• Gender Analysis and Development Practice
• Cultures of Life, Authority and Power in Modernity
• Market Life: Wealth and Poverty in Global Capitalism
• Social Research for Social Change
• State of the Art of Sociology
• Understanding Social Science
• The Sociology of Urban Life
• Postcolonial Theory and Practice
• Transnational Media Ecologies
• Feminist Pedagogy/Feminist Activism
• Queering Sociology
• Key Problems in Criminal Justice
• Creative Research Methods
• Feminist Theory and Epistemology
• Feminist and Queer Thinking: Contemporary Challenges
• Ethnography and the Anthropological Tradition
• Sociology of End Times
• Social Data Science
• Researching Inequality: Race, Class, Gender in Global Perspective

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