MRes Social Anthropology (2019 entry)

Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings

Start of programme: September

Mode of Attendance: Full-time or Part-time

The MRes Social Anthropology may be taken either as a free standing MRes or as the first part of a PhD [e.g. as a 1 + 3 research training program]. In either case, the student completes a program of research training that includes the Ethnographic Research Methods, Statistical Analysis and the Research Training Seminar as well as a language option. All MRes students are assigned a supervisor at the start of the year, who will help the student choose other relevant course options. Candidates must also submit a number of research related assignments which, taken together with the dissertation, are equivalent to approximately 30,000 words of assessed work. All students write an MRes dissertation, but for students progressing on to a PhD, the MRes dissertation will take the form of a research report that will constitute the first part of the upgrade document for the PhD programme.

Learn about the modules (courses) for this programme

The MRes is recognised by the ESRC.

Aims and Outcomes

The MRes is designed to train students in research skills to the level prescribed by the ESRC’s research training guidelines. It is intended for students with a good first degree (minimum of a 2.1) in social anthropology and/or a taught Masters degree in social anthropology. Most students would be expected to progress to PhD registration at the end of the degree. By the end of the program students will:

• Have achieved practical competence in a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods and tools;
• Have the ability to understand key issues of method and theory, and to understand the epistemological issues involved in using different methods.

In addition to key issues of research design, students will be introduced to a range of specific research methods and tools including:

• Interviewing, collection and analysis of oral sources, analysis and use of documents, participatory research methods, issues of triangulation research validity and reliability, writing and analysing field notes, and ethnographic writing.
• Social statistics techniques relevant for fieldwork and ethnographic data analysis (including chi-square tests, the T-test, F-test, and the rank correlation test).

Discipline specific training in anthropology includes:

• Ethnographic methods and participant observation;
• Ethical and legal issues in anthropological research;
• The logistics of long-term fieldwork;
• Familiarisation with appropriate regional and theoretical literatures;
• Writing-up (in the field and producing ethnography) and communicating research results; and
  Language training.

Programme Overview

The programme consists of 180 credits: 90 credits of modules and a dissertation of 15,000 words at 90 credits.

All students are expected to take the core and compulsory modules listed below and must participate in the Research Training Seminar. 

All students are required to take 30 credits from the Anthropology and Sociology list.

The remaining credits can be selected the Department of Anthropology and Sociology list or relevant options from other departments or a language module.

Programme Detail

Dissertation

All students are required to take the compulsory dissertation module worth 60 credits.

Taught Component

AND

All students are expected to attend the MPhil Training Seminar. This will not count towards your 180 credits.

AND

Guided Option

Choose a module(s) from the List of Modules below to the value of 30 credits

AND

Choose a module(s) from the List of Modules below to the value of 30 credits

OR

Choose a module(s) from Listed Options from other departments below to the value of 30 credits

OR

Language Component

Choose Postgraduate Language modules to the value of 30 credits

List of Modules (subject to availability)

This is the structure for applicants for the year shown above

Programme Specification

• MRes Social Anthropology Programme Specification 2019/20 (pdf; 87kb)

Important notice

Teaching & Learning

This MRes is designed to be a shortcut into the PhD in that two of its components (the Research Methods Course and the Research Training Seminar, which supports the writing of the dissertation) are part of the taught elements of the MPhil year. Students on this course are also assigned a supervisor with whom they meet fortnightly as do the MPhil students. The other two elements of the course are unique to each student: and might include doing one of the core courses from the other Masters degrees (Social Anthropology, Anthropology of Development, Medical Anthropology, Anthropology of Media, Anthropology of Travel and Tourism, Migration and Diaspora, or Anthropology of Food), as well as any options that will build analytical skills and regional knowledge, including language training. The MRes can also be used to build regional expertise or to fill gaps in particular areas such as migration or development theory.

The dissertation for the MRes will normally be assessed by two readers in October of the following year (that is, after the September 15th due date).  Students who proceed onto the MPhil course from the MRes will then have the first term of the MPhil year to write a supplementary document that reviews the dissertation and provides a full and detailed Fieldwork Proposal. This, along with research report material from the original MRes dissertation, is examined in a viva voce as early as November of the first term of the MPhil year by the same examiners who have read the dissertation. Successful students can then be upgraded to the PhD in term 1 and leave for fieldwork in term 2 of the first year of the MPhil/PhD programme. This programme is currently recognised by the ESRC and therefore interested students who are eligible for ESRC funding can apply under the 1+3 rubric. (ESRC)

Contact Hours

All Masters programmes consist of 180 credits, made up of taught modules of 30 or 15 credits, taught over 10 or 20 weeks, and a dissertation of 90 credits. The programme structure shows which modules are compulsory and which optional.

As a rough guide, 1 credit equals approximately 10 hours of work. Most of this will be independent study, including reading and research, preparing coursework, revising for examinations and so on. It will also include class time, which may include lectures, seminars and other classes. Some subjects, such as learning a language, have more class time than others. At SOAS, most postgraduate modules have a one hour lecture and a one hour seminar every week, but this does vary.

More information is on the page for each module.

Tuition Fees

Full details of postgraduate tuition fees can be found on the Registry's Postgraduate Tuition Fees page.

This is a Band 1 tuition fee.

Fees for 2019/20 entrants. The fees below are per academic year. Please note that fees go up each year. 

Scholarships

For further details and information on external scholarships visit the Scholarships section

Students of the MRes Social Anthropology develop a wide range of transferable skills such as research, analysis, oral and written communication skills.  

The communication skills of anthropologists transfer well to areas such as information and technology, the media and tourism. Other recent SOAS career choices have included commerce and banking, government service, the police and prison service, social services and health service administration. Opportunities for graduates with trained awareness of the socio-cultural norms of minority communities also arise in education, local government, libraries and museums.

For more information about Graduate Destinations from this department, please visit the Careers Service website.

• How to Apply
• Online Application
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• Funding options
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• Tuition Fees
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