Social Research (African Studies) MA

You will study six taught modules and complete a 15,000-word dissertation on a topic of your choice.

You will study five core modules:

This module is a practical hands-on introduction to research methods which takes you through the process of: defining a research topic; identifying and accessing sources, including archival and electronic sources; compiling a bibliography; producing an overview of existing work on the topic; designing a project; establishing a timetable; gaining research permission; the ethics of research; planning and executing fieldwork; using interviews and surveys; using photography, sound and video recording; keeping field notes; archival research; assessing and analysing findings; and writing up.

You will have the opportunity to present work in progress at different stages of your project, gaining feedback and advice from staff and fellow students. Through the talks by invited speakers on research in progress, the module also offers a broader perspective on research and raises questions about interdisciplinary approaches to it.

Assessment: Presentation and written assignments

The module considers fundamental philosophical debates about what counts as ‘knowledge’ across the social sciences and applies those discussions to your own disciplines and fields of study. Teaching addresses (natural) science as a method of obtaining knowledge and the interpretative tradition in the social sciences.
Assessment: 4,000-word assignment

This module introduces you to social science research designs and ethical issues in research practice. Learning supports you to be able to make strategic choices when developing your own projects, and to assess the design and research ethics decision making in others’ published research work.
Assessment: 4,000-word assignment

Concepts, methods and skills central to quantitative research, including data collection approaches and concept operationalisation, are core throughout this module. Building on a grounding in ideas relating to probability sampling, sampling error and statistical inference, coverage of techniques extends from comparisons of means and simple cross-tabular analyses to a discussion of multivariate analysis approaches, focusing on linear and logistic regression.
Assessment: 4,000-word assignment

Qualitative research is examined across a range of topics, from different approaches and methods including ethnographic and observational research, discourse and conversation analysis, documentary and archival analysis, participatory research and the use of interviews. Ethics in qualitative research is specifically considered, as is the evaluation of qualitative research.

Assessment: 4,000-word assignment

You will study a core module in African Studies: Research Skills and Methods in African Studies

You will choose one optional module within African Studies from a range which may include:

• Advanced Perspectives on Africa
• African Fiction and its Critics
• Contemporary Gender Issues in Africa
• Independent Study
• Letting them Speak: Ethnographies of Marginalisation
• Livelihoods and Development in Africa
• Slavery and Freedom in Twentieth Century Africa

For further information on these options, please see our African Studies module descriptions.

In addition to your taught modules, you will conduct a piece of independent research with the support of a supervisor, culminating in a 15,000-word dissertation.

Please note that the optional module information listed on the website for this programme is intended to be indicative, and the availability of optional modules may vary from year to year. Where a module is no longer available we will let you know as soon as we can and help you to make other choices.