StudyQA — Master: Social and Cultural Research

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Description Contents Requirements

* What does it mean to become a researcher?
* How do we learn the "craft" of social research?
* In what ways might social and cultural research be evaluated?

Recent years have been characterised by a significant expansion of opportunities to undertake social and cultural research. Such an expansion has contributed to the call for improved research education and training. The aim of the degree is to provide a strong theoretical and practical introduction to the world of sociological, social and cultural research. You will be exposed to the range of general academic research skills and expertise expected of the professional researcher in the social sciences.

The degree is a valuable preparation and qualification for a career in social research. It is also an excellent primer for those candidates planning to undertake a PhD in Sociology, Cultural Studies and cognate disciplines.

Typical Modules (subject to change)

Core

Qualitative Methods in Social and Cultural Research

Main topics of study: developing research questions; research philosophies (positivism, phenomenology, reflexivity); ethnography; internet research; interviews; biographical methods; focus groups; surveys and sampling; qualitative data analysis; politics and ethics of research.

Quantitative Data Analysis

Main topics of study: Collecting data, data forms, data entry and data management; univariate statistical measures and tests; basic bivariate analysis correlation, association and statistical significance; basic regression i.e. linear regression; multiple regression and data-modelling; logistic regression, life-tables and hazard modelling.

Graduate Research Skills and Professional Development

Main topics of study: reviewing research aims and objectives; choosing research methods; study design, sampling, and analytical issues in the use of such methods; appropriate resources for such studies; using information technologies; managing a research project, presenting research information.

Dissertation

Recent examples of dissertations by students taking this course include:

* Facebook and the mediated presentation of self.

* The cultural contingency of lay understandings of happiness.

* Veiling: second generation Muslim women and the crisis of multiculturism.

Elective (three from)

Issues and Controversies in Media and Communications

Main topics of study: media ethics, media and moral panics, media power, media effects.

Media and Globalisation

Main topics of study: theorists of globalisation; globalisation and media; critics of globalisation; intellectual property and global media/culture industries; global Internet regulation; globalisation and media culture.

Creative Industries

Main topics of study: the rise of the creative class, the symbolic economy, immaterial labour, gentrification of cities, and advertising and branding.

Making Web Cultures

Main topics of study: The politics and social characteristics of online social networks; analysis of social media such as Facebook, Twitter and blogging culture; impact and use of web technologies for collaboration, e.g. wikis; problems of surveillance and privacy in the internet age.

Media Audiences

Main topics of study: television audiences and contemporary public issues (news and political communication, health and illness, sexual violence); youth audiences and politics; audiences as citizens, consumers, producers. These case studies are explored in the context of wider debates concerning media effects/ influences; active audience theory.

Principles of Media Research

Main topics of study: key principles and ethics of media and communications research; focus groups in research practice; design and conduct of semi-structured interviews; analysing media content; analysing media discourses, audience surveys.

Popular Culture

Main topics of study: distributed power, global networks and cultural resistance; global internet culture critical; celebrity culture; psychological and social consequences of celebrity; mediation and social memory.

A UK first or 2:1 Honours degree or equivalent internationally recognised qualification. Applicants should demonstrate some knowledge of Social research methods. Applicants with 2.2 degrees will be will be considered on an individual basis. Applicants with other degrees together with relevant work experience will be considered on an individual basis. English Language Requirements * IELTS: 6.5 (min 6 in all areas) * Pearson: 58 (51 in all subscores) * BrunELT: 65% (min 60% in all areas) English Language Requirements IELTS band: 6.5 CAE score: (read more) Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) is part of the Cambridge English suite and is targeted at a high level (IETLS 6.5-8.0). It is an international English language exam set at the right level for academic and professional success. Developed by Cambridge English Language Assessment - part of the University of Cambridge - it helps you stand out from the crowd as a high achiever. 60 (Grade C) IMPORTANT NOTE: Since April 2014 the ETS tests (including TOEFL and TOEIC) are no longer accepted for Tier 4 visa applications to the United Kingdom. The university might still accept these tests to admit you to the university, but if you require a Tier 4 visa to enter the UK and begin your degree programme, these tests will not be sufficient to obtain your Visa. The IELTS test is most widely accepted by universities and is also accepted for Tier 4 visas to the UK- learn more.