Social Research
Study programme
Master qualitative and quantitative modes of inquiry
This programme, offered by the VU Graduate School of Social Sciences, trains you to take up a social research position at a university or elsewhere. It is the ideal preparation for a PhD, although the emphasis on practical research skills enables students to pursue professional work in research without continuing in academia.
Important skills include the ability to interpret social problems as explanatory questions that can be investigated using generally applicable models for explaining human behaviour in social contexts, such as game theory and evolutionary theory. Students will learn how to formulate coherent and focused research designs; how to put theoretical models to the test using extensive empirical data both of a qualitative and quantitative nature; and how to analyse data in a way that yields meaningful conclusions.
The research Master’s programme aims at attracting students who are exceptional in their academic abilities and attitudes. You need to be strongly motivated to pursue a career as a researcher, and to be broad-minded and creative in your approach to a research problem. You should also be willing to expose yourself to a variety of research styles and eager to acquire the technical skills required to conduct both qualitative and a quantitative research.
The programme
The two-year Master’s programme in Social Research offers you a theoretically and methodologically advanced research curriculum in the field of social sciences. In addition to a strong focus on key and discipline-specific social theories, the programme is enriched with a comprehensive curriculum in research designs. Although the programme will furnish you with a wide range of opportunities, its main aim is to teach you how to carry out scientific research at a university or at advanced national or international research institutes.
The programme consists of the following courses:
Year 1:
- Social Theory
- Interdisciplinary seminars: Welfare & Security and Network, Media & Culture
- International Tutorial
- MSR Classes: Current Issues in Social Research
- Research Designs in Social Sciences
- Methods for Data Analysis
- International Summerschool
Year 2:
- Proposal Design
- Selected Methods Course
- Proposal Writing
- Fieldwork/ Internship
- MSR Clas: Engaged Scholarship
- Masters' Thesis
