Social Policy Sociology MPhil

About This Course

The School of Social Sciences provides a stimulating and supportive environment for postgraduate training. The emphasis is on small groups, close working relationships between students and supervisors, and development towards full professional participation in the subject area. For research students we are able to provide both a full ESRC recognised research training programme and high quality expert supervision across a broad spectrum of subjects.

Research Areas

Social Policy and Sociology with specialisations in:

Comparative Social Policy
The historical sociology of health
Health Policies and devolution
Mental illness and learning disabilities
Ageing and social change
Housing Policy
Ethnographic and ethnomethodological studies of work
Conversation Analysis
Membership categorisation analysis
Schooling and social interaction
Culture and Media
Popular Culture
Language and social interaction
Identity and diversity
Childhood and family

Communities and Social Networks with specialisations in:

Community and locality
Activism and citizenship in rural areas
Lifestyles and environment
Civil society in Wales
Environment and sustainability
Food and farming cultures
Later life, generations and the lifecourse
The shaping of European identities

Minority Languages and Cultures with specialisations in:

Language
Migration
Identity and belonging

Current graduate students are conducting research on:

The social organisation of net-based learning
Migration, ideas of national belonging and policy responses in Wales and Ireland
The economic and social significance of the SARS outbreaks
Wales in a global neighbourhood
Categorisation and special educational needs: implementing the SEN code of practice
The social construction of Welsh identity
The use of the Welsh language in the voluntary sector in Wales
The role of programme evaluation in the public sector organisation.