The University of Birmingham is a public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham, and Mason Science College, making it the first English civic or 'red brick' university to receive its own royal charter. The University have a long and proud history of firsts, at the University of Birmingham; they were the first – and are now one of the largest - civic universities in the UK.

At Birmingham, the institution teach and research across the full breadth of academic disciplines, creating a vibrant community with multi-disciplinary opportunities for research and education. The University is a truly international community consisting of more than thousands of staff, students, and alumni. The student community is not only one of the largest of any UK university, it is highly diverse, with 82 per cent of home undergraduate students from state schools, 32 per cent from a BAME background, and 35 per cent in the first generation of their family to attend university.

Core modules
You will study five core modules:

Research Skills and Methods in African Studies
This module provides a practical introduction to research methods which takes you through the process of conducting research in Africa by covering such topics as defining a research topic; identifying and accessing sources, including archival and electronic sources; compiling a bibliography; producing an overview of existing work on the topic; designing a project; establishing a timetable; gaining research permission; the ethics of research; planning and executing fieldwork; using interviews and surveys; using photography, sound and video recording; keeping field notes; conducting archival research; assessing and analysing findings; and writing up.

Through talks by invited speakers on research in progress, the module also offers a broader perspective on research and raises questions about interdisciplinary approaches to it.

Assessment: Written assignments

Philosophy of Social Science Research
The module considers fundamental philosophical debates about what counts as ‘knowledge’ across the social sciences and applies those discussions to your own disciplines and fields of study. Teaching addresses (natural) science as a method of obtaining knowledge and the interpretative tradition in the social sciences.
Assessment: 4,000-word assignment

Research Design, Practice and Ethics
This module introduces you to social science research designs and ethical issues in research practice. Learning supports you to be able to make strategic choices when developing your own projects, and to assess the design and research ethics decision making in others’ published research work.
Assessment: 4,000-word assignment

Fundamentals in Quantitative Research Methods
Concepts, methods and skills central to quantitative research, including data collection approaches and concept operationalisation, are core throughout this module. Building on a grounding in ideas relating to probability sampling, sampling error and statistical inference, coverage of techniques extends from comparisons of means and simple cross-tabular analyses to a discussion of multivariate analysis approaches, focusing on linear and logistic regression.
Assessment: 4,000-word assignment

Foundations in Qualitative Research
Qualitative research is examined across a range of topics, from different approaches and methods including ethnographic and observational research, discourse and conversation analysis, documentary and archival analysis, participatory research and the use of interviews. Ethics in qualitative research is specifically considered, as is the evaluation of qualitative research.

Assessment: 4,000-word assignment

You will study a core module in African Studies: Research Skills and Methods in African Studies

Optional Modules
You will choose one optional module within African Studies from a range which may include:

Contemporary Gender Issues in Africa
Independent Study
Letting them Speak: Ethnographies of Marginalisation
Livelihoods and Development in Africa
African Media and Popular Culture
Modern Ghana
Urban Africa
For further information on these options, please see our African Studies module descriptions.

Dissertation
In addition to your taught modules, you will conduct a piece of independent research with the support of a supervisor, culminating in a 15,000-word dissertation.

Please note that the optional module information listed on the website for this programme is intended to be indicative, and the availability of optional modules may vary from year to year. Where a module is no longer available we will let you know as soon as we can and help you to make other choices.

You will need to book the accommodation after you have been accepted.

You can choose to live on campus or off campus in private accommodation.

• Make a booking online after you have been accepted (in this case please let us know your choice when you apply).
• Register when you arrive - its not possible to reserve a room before arriving. You can arrive a few days before and book it