Social Science Research Methods (Social-Legal) (Law) (MSc)

at Cardiff University

Advanced training in research methods preparing you for PhD study.
 

Specialised pathways

Choose a pathway that is suited to your key area of interest.
 

Engage with new research

Engage with and learn from leading scholars in socio-legal research.
 

Informed by current research

We have close links with law research centres at Cardiff University.
 

Independent research

Engage in independent research underpinned by first-class methods training as part of your final dissertation.
 

The MSc Social Science Research Methods will provide you with advanced training in research methods across the full range of the social sciences. All course pathways have ESRC recognition and meet the training requirements for ESRC PhD funding.
 

This programme offers extensive opportunities for interdisciplinary study, the application of social research expertise for occupational career development, and the pursuit of substantive area of interest at postgraduate level.
 

You’ll be provided with a thorough theoretical and practical knowledge of how to construct effective research studies, of the variety of data collection methods available to the social scientist and of the principal methods of analysing social scientific data. You’ll also be introduced to the political and ethical frameworks within which social science research is conducted, and to some of the ways in which the results of social science research are disseminated.
 

Socio-legal pathway

The School of Law and Politics has a well-established reputation for outstanding research across the range of legal studies that makes a vital contribution to scholarship and the development of the law. The 2014 Research Excellence Framework recognised the School as a leading legal research institution, with most activity classed as world leading or internationally excellent.
 

This pathway builds on that reputation for scholarship in the area of socio-legal studies and is supported by academics in the Centre for Law and Society, which in turn is supported by the Journal of Law, and Society. The research environment is enriched by extensive collaboration with the Department of Politics and International Relations, as well as other schools in the University and beyond.