Course Summary

The MA in Research Methods (Education) provides broad learning in research design methodologies. The course is designed for students interested in theoretical and empirical understanding of research in social science and as well as those who plan to pursue doctoral level studies in the field of Education. The course is recognised by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as providing suitable training for this purpose, and the course is one of the named routes on the MA in Research Methods. It is a Social Sciences faculty degree that involves other departments within the University.

This course delivers high-quality research methods for learning in education. The focus is on understanding research designs for conducting and evaluating rigorous research. The course includes training in the use of research tools for analysing and interpreting research data with detailed discussion on formulating research questions, innovative research designs, and developing theoretical understanding of concepts in social science research.

The course is conducted at a cross-faculty level and modules are taught within the School of Education, the Department of Sociology, the Department of Psychology, the School of Government and International Affairs (SGIA), and the Department of Anthropology. This provides you with the opportunity to come into contact not only with researchers from different disciplines but also with other students studying research methods in different disciplines across the Social Sciences.

Course Learning and Teaching

Teaching is offered through lectures, seminars and tutorials. You will take part in a range of learning activities, including reading, discussion, presentations, criticising existing research, analysing and interpreting data, designing experiments, search literature and synthesising the results of multiple studies. Each module is assessed with an assignment (3,000) words for a 15-credit module and a dissertation of 12,000 words.

Career Opportunities

Career opportunities in education are wide and include classroom teaching, educational leadership and management, administration and policy development.