📖Program Curriculum
Given the nature of an MRes programme particular emphasis is put on research: with a high component of dedicated research support and training modules.
A central feature of Keele's MRes Social Science Research Methods is its flexible structure. This course can be studied as either a one-year full-time or two-year part-time course with a September start date. It is also possible to study more flexibly part-time on a modular basis accumulating degree credits by taking individual modules over a period of maximum of five years.
The taught component of the course includes seven compulsory core modules and one optional module. Much of this content is designed to equip you with additional skills in research ensuring that ESRC guidelines on postgraduate training and development are met and that benchmark criteria set out within the Vitae framework are attained.
This purposefully seeks to develop your ability to think independently and address problem-solving in a systematic and disciplined way equipping you with key transferable skills in project management communication analysis and reasoning. You’ll develop your ability to analyse complex information and present your arguments clearly and coherently.
Throughout you will be preparing for the Dissertation (60 credits) which you will conduct and then write up in the later stages of the course.
Core Modules
The schedule below is indicative of one year of full-time study. If you study over two years part-time course content will be the same but the taught elements will be split over the two years.
GRT-40023 Approaches to Research Design and Process (15 credits Semester 1)
Further preparing you to conduct a major piece of research you'll be introduced to the main issues surrounding research questions research design and evidence gathering across a range of social science disciplines. You will explore the differences between various types of research design - for example experimental cross-sectional and longitudinal research - and the consequences of these designs for the development of different methodologies including interviews and focus groups questionnaires and ethnography.
GRT-40028: Researcher Skills (15 credits Semester 1)
You will gain a solid introduction to the knowledge behaviour and attributes of successful researchers according to the Vitae Researcher Development Framework (RDF). This internationally-respected guidance covers the wide-ranging knowledge intellectual abilities techniques and professional standards including ethics expected to do research as well as the personal qualities knowledge and skills to work with others and ensure the wider impact of research.
SOC-40014 Philosophy of the Social Sciences (15 credits Semester 1)
You will study the philosophy of the social sciences together with philosophical debates around different methodological approaches to social science research. This module features the work of a range of key thinkers including Durkheim Popper Kuhn Weber Adorno and Foucault who have informed the ways in which researchers consider knowledge in the social sciences. We start with the enlightenment idea of the search for science and the nineteenth century beginnings of social science. Topics covered include: naturalism the relationship between the individual and society falsificationism paradigm shifts the interpretive tradition critical theory structuralism and post-structuralism. The overall intention is for students to be able to apply different philosophical positions to their own research interests.
ETH-40051 Ethics in Research (15 credits Semester 1)
You'll develop a critical understanding of key ethical issues in research across academic and professional disciplines in social science humanities and health. The focus of the module is on ethical analysis of such issues from a multidisciplinary perspective rather than on specific regulatory and governance processes.
GRT-40026: Using Theory in Social Science Research (15 credits Semester 2
This module offers advanced instruction in a range of theoretical perspectives - for example symbolic interactionism phenomenology and post-humanism - within social science research. Providing you with the tools to confidently apply theory to your research it critically unpacks the relationship between methodology and theory. You will consider the differences between grand theory and general theory and learn to select the most suitable for our research in order to build a critical account of the field of study.
GRT-40020 Quantitative Research and Data Analysis (15 credits Semester 2)
The module provides a comprehensive introduction to the principles and practices of quantitative social science research. You’ll become familiar with the different ways in which statistical mathematical or numerical data is collected and evaluated through polls questionnaires and surveys or by manipulating pre-existing statistical data using computational techniques. You’ll also learn to evaluate and appraise these methods to assess their suitability in relation to the question of causality for example or in addressing problems of operationalisation and theories of sampling. Practical work will include questionnaire design data analysis and the writing of a quantitative research design. You’ll also gain hands-on experience of SPSS software which is widely used in the analysis of quantitative data sets.
GRT-40021 Qualitative Research Methods (15 credits Semester 2)
Through discussion of the principles and practices of qualitative social research this module provides a solid overview of the wide range of qualitative methods used in social science research. You will examine how qualitative methodologies inform research design and learn to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different forms of investigation such as in-depth interviews focus groups participant observation or visual (artistic) research. You’ll be introduced to associated methods of data capture including field notes audio and/or video recordings and transcripts gaining practical experience of the same NVivo software used by qualitative researchers in the management and analysis of qualitative data.
GRT-40017: Dissertation (60 credits Semester 12 & 3)
Representing the culmination of your studies the dissertation is the final piece of assessment on the programme. This is your chance to apply the skills and knowledge gained throughout the course and show your enthusiasm for the specific social and cultural questions that interest you. It provides an exciting opportunity to work under the supervision of an expert in your chosen field of interest demonstrating a level of knowledge and understanding far beyond what you have learned in class. You will design and conduct an independent social science research project including some form of primary social research. You will then produce a 15000-word dissertation to report your findings. One previous dissertation for example Wild Ospreys: grit grace and one's own headspace considered how reflections on non-human wild animals can support mental wellbeing and reveal new understandings of psychological resilience.
Elective Modules
In Semester 2 you will choose one 15-credit optional module. In 2021/22 this included the following modules by way of example.
GRT-40018 Advanced Qualitative Research Methods (15 credits)
Building on your existing knowledge this module delivers comprehensive advanced level training in the principles and practices of qualitative social science research investigation and data analysis. You will learn how to develop a qualitative research design plan your methods of investigation and analyse the data with the aid of qualitative data analysis software receiving advanced IT training in NVivo a leading tool for qualitative and mixed-methods data analysis.
GRT-40019 Ethnographic Research (15 credits)
Ethnography is an approach to researching social life and culture that is traditionally found in the fields of anthropology and symbolic interactionism. Today ethnographic methods are used in a broader spectrum of social science fields in order to unpack the nuance of everyday interactions. A combination of participation and observation in particular cultural settings makes ethnographic research distinct from other qualitative methods of inquiry when seeking to understand cultural processes and individuals' roles as participants. This module has been designed to offer greater understanding of the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of ethnographic research as well as providing the opportunity to gain practical experience in conducting observational work.
GRT-40016: Independent Subject-Specific Research (15 credits) Full-time students only
If you choose to study full-time and wish to pursue advanced quantitative research and data analysis this module will help you think through the different statistical approaches to data analysis. Supported by a subject specialist you will develop a tailored learning plan to investigate research traditions current theories methods and research questions within your own subject of interest within the social sciences.
HLT-40002: Advanced Quantitative Data Analysis (15 credits) Part-time/modular students only
For those studying part-time or on a modular route basis this module provides advanced training in quantitative methods and covers analytic methods such as extensions of the regression model and analysis of variance. It also provides an introduction to multivariate data reduction techniques such as factor analysis and some specialist techniques (e.g. structural equation modelling). The material is predominately taught using SPSS and although the module encourages a sound understanding of statistical principles the primary emphasis is on practical data analysis.
