Joint Schools' Social Sciences

MPhil Research Methods Training Courses

• See also: Timetable

This course is designed to fulfil the regulations and examination requirements of one key element of an MPhil research programme.  Formally it has the following assessment requirements:

• one workbook, or set of exercises and small essays.

These assessments are one part of the full requirements of an MPhil, the remainder being governed by the regulations of that MPhil.

Attendance on the course is compulsory for all students registered for an MPhil that embodies the course as part of the regulations for its MPhil degree. Students not formally registered can attend the course if there is space available.

A full handbook is available for students taking the course from Joyce Hilling, Course Administrator.

Incoming research students (MPhil and PhD) are expected to make contact with their departmental dissertation supervisors as soon after arrival as possible,  and to discuss research methods training needs at the earliest opportunity.

If the SSRMC is a requirement of your degree or you wish to follow the programme informally and you need further information or advice on any aspect of the courses listed here, including exactly which modules are essential or useful for your MPhil or PhD, please start by reading the Handbook: next consult your MPhil director or PhD supervisor.

The courses described here have their own Director and Administrator. There are also directors for each main component. Full See Contact [please link this to contact page]  page for details.   Your first point of contact should always be your MPhil director or PhD supervisor, then the Course Administrator [Joyce Hilling].

General Information

Overall Aims of the Course

The Social Science Research Methods Course (SSRMC) is a programme developed and taught by departments within the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, and the Judge Business School.

The programme is a shared platform for providing research students with a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research methods skills that are relevant across the social sciences.

For MPhil students embarking on a research degree the programme provides foundational training in a broad range of quantitative and qualitative social science methods relevant for successful preparation and planning of a PhD project.

For PhD students the programme offers a series of basic and advanced modules that may help them to successfully carry out important steps in their PhD project, such as data collection or data analysis. For further Transferable Skills opportunities in the University see: http://www.cshss.cam.ac.uk/students/skills/postgrads/index.html

To gain the maximum benefits from the course it is important that students do not see this course in isolation from the other MPhil courses or research training they are taking. Responsibility lies with each student (and their supervisor) to think about what research they wish to conduct, what methods might be amenable; their own methodological competency, and therefore which courses to attend.  Ideally this task will be facilitated by integration to the SSRMC with discipline-specific courses in their departments and through reading and discusssion.

Students should take a broad view of this course and the opportunities it offers. Its purpose is to give students an awareness of, and experience in using a wide range of social science research methods and concepts.  This is not solely to support the MPhil thesis and any subsequent development for a PhD. The student is also expected to acquire this broad range of skills in order:

(i) to place their thesis research and choice of methods in a broader context,

(ii) to have a critical awareness of alternative methods and approaches,

(iii) to have developed a broad range of skills transferable to subsequent careers.

Learning Outcomes and Delivery

The outcomes of the course are achieved through development of general research skills and methods. The outcomes of student learning sought are:

• to develop the capacity to frame research questions, to derive appropriate research designs, and develop awareness of the range of alternative approaches likely to be of use in research, particularly in the course of a PhD. This is achieved through a mixture of discipline-specific research training within each MPhil, and through this interdepartmental social science research methods course, as well as the preparation of the thesis. Lectures with discussions form a large part of the formal training, with practical sessions to support the gaining of alternative research methods and design experiences. It is important also to have substantial discussion of research design issues through one-to-one supervisor guidance on the specific topic of the thesis.
  
  
• to develop a competence and confidence in using a range of both qualitative and quantitative methods for gathering, analysing and interpreting evidence. This is achieved through specific lectures, practicals, discussions and seminars in your MPhil courses and through lectures, discussions and practicals in this interdepartmental social science course.

The SSRMC is available to graduate students at both the Masters and PhD level from participating departments.

Some courses in quantitative methods and statistics have limited spaces. Although every effort is made to accommodate all interested students, priority is given to students for whom the completion of the course is a required part of their degree.

Students from other departments are generally not admitted to the course. However, exceptions may be made and students should apply to the programme director.

Course Modules and Open Access Courses

The programme offered by the SSRMC consists of two types of research training courses, Core Modules and Open Access Seminars.

Core modules are courses that have been specifically designed for the SSRMC. They cover themes and research methods that are common across disciplines. Most core modules are timetabled so that they can be attended by all research students from the participating departments.

Open access courses are selected methods training courses that participating departments make available to students from other departments. These courses are part of the teaching provision of the respective department and reflect the specific methodological specialties and orientations of the respective subject.

• In all open access courses departments will give priority to students from their own departments. Availability of places should be negotiated with the respective MPhil director/and or department contact.
• Students interested in attending one of these courses should contact their supervisor beforehand to clarify whether they will be considered part of their methods training provision.

The course programme allows students to choose, in agreement with their department and respective supervisor, from a broad range of modules.

A module consists of a series of three or four sessions, each of which usually combines lectures, practicals, and discussions.

Choosing your Combination of Modules

The modules offered by the SSRMC cover a broad range of research skills which allows students to develop a portfolio of methods training. However, modules differ in the required  level of prior knowledge.  See pre-requisites for each module before booking..

• Each participating department has its own specifications about the total number of modules and the combination of modules required from their research students. Most departments specify a certain number of required modules while leaving it to students to choose amongst the other modules.
• Consult the programme handbooks of your department and your supervisor about precisely which modules you are expected to attend.   It is your responsibility to make sure that you attend the modules required by your department.

In order to be accredited for attending and completing a module students are required to submit assignments set by the respective course organiser.

The kind of work required varies between the modules of the course. Assignments may consist of a series of workbook exercises or one or several short pieces of written work. For details see 'Assessment' for each module.

Assignments must be handed in no later than noon on Thursday 5th May 2011, to Joyce Hilling, Course Administrator. This is the final deadline. Work can be handed in before this and students are recommended to hand in exercises as they are completed.

All assignments are assessed by the course teachers. Their assessments are passed to the course directors of each degree.

If you are a PhD student or a student who attended a single module and wish to get accreditation for your attendance you should contact the Course Administrator, Joyce Hilling. Attendance is only confirmed for students who have submitted the required coursework.

Research Methods Essay

Most students who attend the SSRMC course as part of a research degree at the Masters level will be required to submit a Research Methods Essay(s) as part of their Research Methods Training.

Responsibility for setting the essay topics and submission dates for the essays lies with the departments. Students should contact their department about essay titles and submission dates.    Essays are to be submitted directly to the respective department.

Timetable, Location of Rooms, and Preparation

Teaching is either in 1.5 hour or 2 hour lectures which are mostly held in the Mill Lane Lecture Theatres.

IT sessions are held in the Titan Training Rooms (TTR1 and 2), Phoenix Room, at Computing Service on the New Museums site or at the Judge Business School.   Sessions include lecture, presentation, practicals, discussion and questions.

(http://www.training.cam.ac.uk/jsss/event-timetable/)

(http://www.cam.ac.uk/map/)

Important information/details on modules and contacts

IT and Statistics Sessions: Access to Workstations

To be able to access IT Workstations in the Titan Teaching Rooms you need the following:

• your user identification
• your password (for the PWF system - not your department or email password)
• your Raven password (available from Computing Service (http://www.cam.ac.uk/cs/docs/faq/n5.htm)

These are given to you through your College at the start of the year. It is essential you know these before the first IT session.

IT and Statistics Sessions: Printing

To print off any material in the Titan Teaching Rooms you need to have a printing account with credits paid in advance. This must be organised by you with the Computing Service [New Museums Site].   You may be able to get your department or college to pay for this, but practices differ. An alternative is to bring with you a floppy disk or USB stick, on to which material for printing can be stored and taken away for printing elsewhere. You may also be able to email yourself with material to print elsewhere.

Electronic Registration

See JSSS webpage  http://www.jsss.group.cam.ac.uk/

and http://www.training.cam.ac.uk/jsss/event-timetable

Follow instructions to book places.

Textbooks

Some modules closely follow a specific textbook. In particular, all basic statistics modules are based on one textbook throughout. Students are strongly recommended to buy the textbook before the start of the course and to follow the recommended reading.

 See  Textbook(s) section for each module.

Camtools

MOST modules use CamTools.   Camtools is collection of online tools for University members to use in their teaching, learning and research [https://camtools.caret.cam.ac.uk].

• in order to access Camtools students need to be registered as a student who attends a module of the SSRMC (through Joyce Hilling)
• to have a Raven password.   (http://www.cam.ac.uk/cs/docs/faq/n5.htm)

In the last session of each module students will be asked to complete an evaluation survey.  The results of this survey yield important information about the quality of the courses and student satisfaction.  All student evalations are anonymised and will only be used to collect statistical information.

Attendance Sheets

Lecturers will required students to fill in their names on an attendance sheet, which assist the management committee to monitor overall attendance at sessions. the various courses and provide departments with information about the modules attended by their students. The records also allow your attendance to be certificated if you require this in your transcript.

Choosing your modules

The core modules are organised so that you can structure your training according to your previous level of experience, and the needs of your research.  For most students registered for an MPhil who are intending to proceed to a PhD you will need to cover a range of quantitative, qualitative and survey methods modules in order to satisfy your MPhil requirements and/or your research funders (such as ESRC).   The structures suggested below provide the foundations expected for most students.  

• discuss actual choices with MPhil Director/PhD supervisor before booking a module
• check obligations to funders
• check requirements of your own degree
• check Timetable: do not book unless you are attend.

Note: It is foolish to attend courses you have already covered elsewhere; this does not advance your skills. It also produces difficulties for the course teachers and yourselves as the introductory courses are most crowded. Therefore please avoid options 1 and 2 below unless you are genuinely a starter in statistics.

1. Students who are complete beginners in statistics.

2. Students with some beginning in statistics (i.e. to the level of simple linear regression

3. Students with prior advanced statistics, special research needs, and PhD students

Students can choose a selection of the modules in any structure approved by their MPhil director/PhD supervisor.   Choices should ensure that the obligations of your degree regulations and research funders are met.