Sociology

First year MPhil students will normally be expected to spend about 60% of their study time in courses related to methods of social research. Students are required to attend and pass the 'Aims and Methods' assessment for SO500 Research Class for 1st Year MPhil Students. They are also normally expected to attend and pass the assessment for at least one further course unit (or two half units) chosen with their supervisor on the basis of an assessment of their research training needs.

These include the following courses offered by the Methodology Institute (details of these course are available under the entry for the Methodology Institute in this Calendar): MI451 Quantitative Analysis I: Description and Inference (half unit), MI452 Quantitative Analysis 2: The Generalized Linear Model (half unit), MI453 Fundamentals of Research Design (half unit), MI454 Qualitative Social Research (half unit).

Other courses from Sociology Masters programmes, or specialist research courses (eg, SO502 Research Seminar on the Sociology of Crime and Deviance, SO507 Theory and Methods in Qualitative Research: Narrative, SO511 Research Seminar in Political Sociology, SO521 Research Seminar on Cities and Space and SO401 Social Research Methods) may be taken with the agreement of the student's supervisor.

First year students are also strongly advised to follow some non-assessed courses including MI555 Computing Packages for Qualitative Analysis and MI512 Information Literacy sessions.

All students who have satisfactorily passed the first year requirements are required to audit at least one further course in their second year and some may, at the discretion of their supervisor, be required to complete further assessed coursework. All second year students are strongly advised to follow SO501 Research Students Seminar.

Part-time students will be expected to have completed the equivalent of the full-time students first year programme over a two-year period.

In the Summer term of each year the progress of each student registered in the Department is discussed at the MPhil/PhD Board, which is a general meeting of all research student supervisors. This Board will decide whether to recommend to the School that students be permitted to proceed to the next year of study. If progress is unsatisfactory, a course of action to assist students to reach performance standards deemed appropriate by supervisors may be required, or a recommendation may be made that the student not be allowed to re-register.

All full-time research students are expected to have made the transition from the MPhil to PhD (upgrading) within two years of first registration and to have submitted their PhD thesis within four years. Part-time students are expected to be upgraded to PhD by the end of their third year, and to submit their thesis within six years. The decision to upgrade from MPhil to PhD is taken by a panel consisting of two academics from the Department or the School, with the supervisor(s) in attendance and available to be consulted by the panel. For upgrade, students submit three draft chapters of their thesis, plus thesis abstract and outline schedule for completion. This material is then assessed by viva voce and a written report is made by the panel. 

A detailed listing of the departmental regulations for MPhil/PhD students can be found in the MPhil/PhD Sociology Handbook distributed to all incoming MPhil students and available from the departmental office.

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