Core modules
Researching Inequality: Race, Class, and Gender in Global Perspective
What is the role of social research in understanding social inequalities? How can social research contribute to reducing social inequalities? This is a foundation module in the study of social inequality, providing an in-depth understanding of contemporary research into global social inequality, and drawing out the relationships between individual, local and global patterning of inequality. It foregrounds race, class and gender, whilst also asking you to think about the causes, intersections and effects of other inequalities that interest them (for example, intergenerational, urban/rural, sexuality, disability, health, education, citizenship status, wealth).
Qualitative Methods in Social Research
It is the aim of this module to provide postgraduate social science training in the area of qualitative research methods and methodologies. The module is concerned with the ways in which social scientists conduct qualitative research and analyse their data. Particular attention is paid to the importance of data analysis, as well as data gathering techniques.
Quantitative Methods in Social Research
This module aims to develop practical quantitative research methods skills, and a critical appreciation of such methods. It covers the secondary analysis of data from large-scale surveys, the collection or generation of survey data, and the use of non-survey sources for quantitative analysis. It also includes considerations of the evaluation and interpretation of existing data sources/published data (including official statistics) and the development of research instruments.
The conceptual and contextual factors determining the meaning and value of survey data are also discussed. The module includes a number of ‘hands-on’ computing sessions (in which statistical software# is used to manipulate and analyse data). The statistical techniques considered (and applied using statistical software) within the module range from basic descriptive and inferential statistics (such as cross-tabulations and chi-square) to multivariate techniques (such as logistic regression). The components of the module assessment relate to quantitative data sources and questionnaire design, sampling and the production of primary data, descriptive and inferential statistics, multivariate analysis, and the interpretation of published statistical analyses.
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.
Optional modules
Optional modules can vary from year to year. Example optional modules may include:
- Politics & Social Theory
- Capitalism, States & Markets
- Postcolonial Theory & Politics
- Feminist Theories and Epistemologies: Debates and Dilemmas
- Indigenous and Global South Feminisms
- Decolonising Ecology: Race, Coloniality and the Climate Crisis
- Key Problems in Criminal Justice
- Feminist & Queer Thinking: Contemporary Challenges
- Gender, Imperialism and International Development
- Gender Analysis and Development Practice
- Market Life: Wealth and Poverty in Global Capitalism
- Social Research for Social Change
- State of the Art of Sociology
- Understanding Social Science
- Feminist & Queer Thinking: Contemporary Challenges
- Queering Sociology
- Sexualities
- Reproductive Justice
- Archival Encounters
- Ethnography and the Anthropological Tradition
- Social Data Science
- Creative Research Methods
- Advanced Quantitative Research
- Fundamentals in Quantitative Research
- Big Data: Hype or Revolution
- Critical Readings in Social Theory
- Transnational Media Ecologies
- Religion and the Planetary Crises
- Sociology of End Times
