Sociological Research MSc

Year of entry: 2025

Course length: 12 months Full-time | 24 months Part-time

About the course

This course aims to educate and train you to give you the requisite skills and knowledge to become an effective, professional sociological researcher. Teaching areas include:

The philosophical underpinnings of sociology
Issues and questions in sociology
Key sociological theories
Issues in selected substantive areas of sociology (students are offered a range of options of such substantive areas)
Principles of research design
Techniques and principles of quantitative analysis
Techniques and principles of qualitative analysis.

This is a recognised 1+3 entry route for ESRC PhD training. We revise our fees each academic year. For up-to-date fees information for 2025 entry, please visit our website.

Join one of the UK's Top 3 universities for Sociology research

(Research Excellence Framework 2021)

Be part of a Sociology department ranked Top 5 in the UK and Top 30 worldwide

(Times Higher Education Rankings 2024)

Our graduates are among the most targeted by top UK employers

(High Fliers 2024)

Compulsory Units

Social Theory: Structure, Relations and Interaction (SRI)
Research Strategy and Project Management
Philosophical and Methodological Foundations of Social Research
Qualitative Research Methods
MSc Dissertation

Optional Units

Critical Theory
Social Network Analysis: Concepts and Measures
Social Capital and Social Change
Cultural Criticism: Sources for a Public Sociology
Sociology of Consumption

These are examples of units offered in 2023/24 and are subject to change.

See the full list of units and find out more on the full course profile >

Where will your degree take you?

Students who complete the MSc Sociological Research course are suitably placed to pursue PhD study.

However, you will develop a considerable range of transferable skills as part of the course enabling you to keep open a wide range of career options.

Our Sociology graduates can be found on every continent, working across sectors as diverse as education, NGO management, medicine and healthcare or government services.

Recent Sociology graduates have are employed in positions such as Research Fellow, Lecturer, Consultant, and Project Manager.

Hannah Wilson

Sociological Research MSc

“One of the best things about the course is the opportunity to carry out smaller research projects within the QRM (Research Methods) units. This means that I will graduate having already had experience of carrying out qualitative and quantitative research.“