Anyone done a masters in social research? Q about quantitative methods

[Molesworth]

A bit of a long shot, this, but thought it was worth asking anyway. I'm looking at my options for postgrad study and wondered if anyone who has done an ESRC-recognised social research Masters can advise about the quantitative research methods component. At undergrad I've focused on the 'artier' end of sociology (apart from about 10 minutes of SPSS training in 2006) and I struggle with all things mathematical, therefore I'm not sure if I could cope with the quantitative side of things. This is making me think that perhaps I should go down the Humanities road (eg cultural studies/history/philosophy). I'm wondering what level of mathematical ability is required: anyone happen to know?

Hi there again,
this just came in today and I thought might be of interest to either of you. 1+3 funding means a funded masters course (one year)leading on to a funded PhD programme (3 years). +3 is the PhD only, for if you already hold a masters degree.

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AAQ564/esrc-phd-studentships/

Thanks for that info Meita.

I won't be applying for anything until later this year and, in the meantime, I'm going to seek advice from my university about postgrad options.

One thing that is going to influence my decision is the impact of ELQ. Ideally I would like to do a taught Masters to extend my subject knowledge, but then, if I wanted to do a PhD later, presumably I'd need to do an ESRC-recognised Masters to be eligible for funding. As far as I can tell, the ELQ rules mean that I'd pay a higher rate for the second Masters. This makes me think that I might be better off just doing an ESRC-recognised Masters in the first place. That way I'd at least have the option to apply for +3 funding. I ask myself if I need to do a taught Masters to deepen/broaden my subject knowledge when I can (and do) do this all the time simply by reading widely.

Then another voice chimes in with the observation that I haven't got a chance in hell of getting funding anyway, so I might as well go for whatever interests me most.

Then yet another voice chimes in saying that I should be sensible and do something strictly vocational instead.

Etc etc

is the taught course you are looking at not esrc-recognised then moley?

i tried sensible/ vocational once. i lasted two terms and then changed course as i was bored beyond belief. (i still have a couple of truly random (first class) credits as proof lol. my tutors were aghast.) don't do sensible!

fortunately mine is fine, so i'm trawling for +3s. it's finding an institution and a supervisor with the right background really. i've got a couple on my shortlist now . i keep going over and over the ou list. there's just no-one on it that jumps out and grabs me by the throat...

but i've written to my gatekeeper to try and get an agreement in principle for access to back up my application.

Glad to hear you have a couple of promising sups on your shortlist madwoman!

No, the course I'm looking at isn't ESRC-recognised (it's the MA in Social and Political Thought at Sussex). At least I don't think it is. To be honest, I'm confused about the ESRC recognition factor. I was under the impression that the "1" in the 1+3 had to be a Masters in Social Research (hence this thread and the worry about handling the quantitative side of things). Yet Birkbeck offer a similar course (MSc/MRes Social and Political Theory) which is ESRC-recognised - "The course is recognised for tenure of Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) studentships for full-time students. For UK or EU applicants intending to pursue research, ESRC studentships (one year for the Master?s programme followed by three years of funding for research) may be available for candidates with a strong academic background." - but perhaps this only applies to the MRes version.

Anyway, I'll stop wittering on and seek advice from my own university, plus I'm planning to go to some open days later in the year.

The sensible/vocational options are librarianship or FE teaching (preferably the former). I don't know what the career prospects are in those fields in this climate of cuts, cuts, cuts

i think it has to do with how much of the course content is research methodology tbh. so it might be called something else, but if there are a certain number of credits gained by research modules rather than the primary focus, then it slides into the esrc end zone.

there must be a content difference between the bbk and sussex courses. open days are always interesting, either really good value or a total wash out. i turned up once for an open day and was supposed to be interviewed in the (prospective) department in the afternoon. when i turned up at the appropriate time, the interviewer was nowhere to be found. (they assumed she had forgotten and just gone home). cue unedified scrabbling around the department whilst they tried to find someone who could interview me (i had flown from germany for the open day lol) - so i think i got in by default because they were so really...

well, you could still go for FE teaching at the end of the day if all else fails... no need to plan it that way..?

Yes, you're right and it has taken me a shamefully long time to cotton on to the fact that a taught Masters can be ESRC-recognised even if doesn't don't have "research" in the title.

Your open day experience can't have filled you with confidence about the university in question! Hope it wasn't Sussex or Birkbeck

nope. roehampton before it became an outpost of the university of surrey, and then a uni itself...

it was the only place that i could find that would allow me to do the weird business/ english combination that i wanted lol. the combination that lasted two terms anyway. could've gone anywhere...

is sussex the one on the outskirts of brighton? tis a lovely campus. almost ended up researching there at the archives a couple of times, but kept having to cancel at the last minute (blooming kids/ cars/ nonsense) will get there one day

Yes, Sussex is the one on the outskirts of Brighton: I spent a week there at an OU summer school, so I got to know the campus a little bit. The course looks fantastic and I just like the whole 'vibe' of Sussex, but it would mean commuting from London, which might make it bit restricting socially. It would be more practical to study in London really, so doing that short course at Birkbeck this year (the one I'm dithering about) would be a good idea to get a feeling for the place. Also some excellent staff at Goldsmiths. I went to a lecture there once just so I could breathe the same air as Bev Skeggs I can't afford to consider LSE. There's a superb course/staff with juicy research interests at Warwick, but that's even harder to get to and it's expensive (not as expensive as LSE though).

Still, it might help if I actually got some studying done or I'll never get into any of them

lol, i started at warwick and lasted two terms (i was 18 and had some crazy notion of being a teacher... that lasted until the second school placement...)

i have a friend that commuted the other way lol, she lives in brighton and travels into london. she stays over one night a week, but doesn't have kids etc so it's a bit easier.

do the short course at bbk - you know you want to... think of it as reconnaissance...