Study programme

Programme outline

 First semesterSecond semester
First year
  • Sociological Theory Construction and Model Building 7.5 EC
  • Family and Social Inequality 7.5 EC
  • Methods and Statistics 1: Regression
    Analysis and its Generalisations
    7.5 EC
  • Research Practical 1: Work-family issues, organisations and inequality 7.5 EC
  • Social Networks – Theory and Empirics 7.5 EC
  • Starting with your Thesis – Literature Review 7.5 EC
  • Methods and Statistics 2: Structural Equation Modelling and Multilevel Analysis 7.5 EC
  • Research Practical 2: Social Network Analysis 7.5 EC

Second year

 

  • Research Seminar 1: Building a Theory 7.5 EC
  • Research Seminar 2: Analysing, Reporting and Discussing your Findings 7.5 EC
  • Electives and Research Experience 22.5 EC
  • Master’s Thesis: a Publishable Article 22.5 EC

Below, you will find an overview of courses from the current academic year of the Master's. This overview is meant to give you an idea of what to expect. The course offer may change in the coming academic year.

In the first semester we started off with courses on sociological theory and methods & statistics. Then it was time to truly submerge ourselves: we went through an entire research cycle by writing a paper in only 4 weeks.

Year 1

You will spend a substantial part of your first year taking compulsory courses, studying relevant theories and methods and how to integrate them. The two Methodology and Statistics (M&S) courses are based on learning by doing: you will use advanced methods and statistical techniques, while taking the guidelines of academic integrity into account. 

The two research practicals will give you the opportunity to apply what you learned in the courses. You will perform empirical research addressing a theory-driven research question. You will be integrating methodological and theoretical knowledge acquired in the programme.

Year 2

In the second year, your MSc thesis is the central part of your curriculum. You can choose electives, to gain more in-depth knowledge of issues related to your thesis. You can also choose to do an internship, to gain relevant research and/or labour market experience. In the two research seminars you will present your results and discuss them with your fellow students and lecturers.

Master’s thesis

You will write your master’s thesis under individual supervision by a SaSR-lecturer. The master’s thesis will have the shape of a scientific article, which may be published in an international journal. A very sizeable number of our students’ theses are published, for instance in renowned journals like Social Forces, Social Networks, Journal of Marriage and Family and European Union Politics.

Theses titles from previous years:

  • Working from home and career advancement: Longitudinal insights from German workplaces
  • Is there an integration paradox among Asian and Latino immigrants in the U.S.? 
  • Do grandmothers matter? Grandparental effects of occupational status attainment during the 19th and 20th centuries in France
  • Happy online, lonely offline? The influence of using mobile devices at secondary school on experienced feelings of loneliness by students
  • Predicting attitudes using digital behavioral data - a machine learning approach
  • On the interplay between social relationships and self-control in criminal involvement across different types of offences