MPhil/PhD Social Research Methods

Through this programme, you'll expand your expertise and creativity in developing and applying rigorous social research methodologies. By doing so, you'll contribute to tackling important intellectual and social problems in your substantive area of interest.

Throughout your studies, you’ll benefit from our interdisciplinary expertise in areas such as political science, statistics, sociology, social psychology, anthropology and criminology.

Alongside your research, you’ll have the chance to complete training in research design, computational, quantitative and qualitative methods. You’ll begin your studies on the MPhil and move on to the PhD (subject to certain requirements).

We support both qualitative and quantitative research, as well as novel combinations of the two approaches.

We encourage you to apply if you want to work on a research project that applies established methodological approaches rigorously in new contexts, and/or that contributes to methodological developments.

In addition to the research seminar, you'll take transferable skills courses.

At the end of your second year (full-time), you'll need to satisfy certain requirements and if you meet these, will be retroactively upgraded to PhD status.

In addition to the research seminar, you'll take transferable skills courses.

In addition to the research seminar, you'll take transferable skills courses.

The department is an internationally recognised centre of excellence in social science research methodology.

We offer postgraduate programmes in social research methods, applied social data science and demography, welcoming around 80 students each year.

As a department, we also provide training for thousands of students and staff across LSE on research design, qualitative, quantitative and computational methods. From workshops on computer programming and methods-related software through to short courses, we want to ensure that students and staff have the expertise to maintain the School’s excellence in social scientific research.

The department has a vibrant and collaborative ethos. We’re proud to have won the 2023 LSE SU Teaching Award for Departmental Excellence – based on student nominations.

Our teaching team include leading researchers in sociology, political science, international relations, anthropology, economics, psychology, criminology, and statistics. We also work closely with colleagues in the departments of Statistics and Mathematics on interdisciplinary topics, such as the social applications of data science.

Our aim is to make the School the pre-eminent centre for methodological training in the social sciences.

Department of Methodology

We welcome applications for research programmes that complement the academic interests of our staff at LSE. For this reason, we recommend that you take a look at our staff research interests before applying.

We encourage prospective students to email their proposals to potential supervisors before applying to gauge their interest. Browse our list of potential supervisors for MPhil/PhD Social Research Methods under "academic staff".

We carefully consider each application and take into account all the information included on your form, such as your:

• academic achievement (including existing and pending qualifications)
• statement of academic purpose
• references
• CV
• outline research proposal
• sample of written work.

See further information on supporting documents.

You may need to provide evidence of your English language proficiency. See our English language requirements.

Please note that LSE allows part-time PhD study only under limited circumstances. If you wish to study part-time, you should mention this (and the reasons for it) in your statement of academic purpose, and discuss it at interview if you're shortlisted.

Research proposal requirements

The Department of Methodology requires you to submit a proposal summarising and justifying your proposed research, to be attached to your formal application. This will provide the selectors with an idea of the topics of interest, and help in matching candidates to potential supervisors.

The research proposal should include the following questions:

• Why is the topic interesting?

What is the central research question? Is there a theoretical and empirical "gap" that your research will seek to fill? Is there a theoretical or empirical contradiction that your research will seek to resolve? How will your research take our understanding forward in your chosen field? What core theories and concepts will you draw on?

• What are the relevant literature(s) and field(s) the work will contribute to?

What are the main theories in the area? What are the critical empirical phenomena in the area? Specify the key references relevant to the proposed research.

• How will you address the empirical aspects of the research?

What empirical (qualitative and/or quantitative) information do you propose to collect, how, from where, and why? What methodology of analysis is appropriate and why? If the research question requires a combination of different methodologies, how will they be related? Do you foresee any practical difficulties in pursuing the research (eg finding suitable participants or data sources)? If so, how might they be overcome?

The application deadline for this programme is 25 April 2025.

However, if you’d like to be considered for any funding opportunities, you must submit your application (and all supporting documents) by the funding deadline.

See the fees and funding section below for more details.

The fee is likely to rise over the full duration of the programme. The School charges home research students in line with fee levels recommended by the Research Councils.

Learn more about fee status classification.

The fee is likely to rise over the full duration of the programme in line with the assumed percentage increase in pay costs (ie, four per cent each year).

Learn more about fee status classification.

Progression and assessment

First year review

In the Spring Term of your first year, you're required to produce a 10,000-word "first year review" that outlines the aims and methods of your thesis: this means summarising the key literature(s), motivating your specific research questions, and highlighting the planned contributions of your work. A first year review document typically includes a general introduction, a comprehensive literature review (covering relevant empirical and theoretical work), a motivation of the research questions and hypotheses, and an indication of the literature(s) that you seek to contribute to (ie, the gaps in knowledge that will be addressed). You'll also give an oral presentation of your proposal at the Department of Methodology PhD day.

Written and oral work will be assessed by two academics (not on the supervisory team), normally members of Department of Methodology staff. This work has to reach an acceptable standard to enable you to progress to the second year. It's particularly important that the first year review clearly states the objectives of the doctoral research and indicates how the empirical work will be carried out.

If the panel deems the first year review to be not suitably clear, they can choose not to accept the submitted document and give you up to a month to clarify. This decision will be taken maximum one week after the Department of Methodology PhD Day. Examples of unclear work might include (but not be limited to):

• a first year review that doesn't state clear research questions
• a first year review that doesn't adequately review the specific literatures that the empirical work is contributing to
• a first year review that doesn't give enough methodological detail, showing how the design will produce data that allows you to address the theoretical issues at stake in a systematic and rigorous way.

After your first year

After the first year you'll spend more time on independent study under the guidance of your supervisor(s). This will involve the collection, organisation and analysis of data, and writing up the results. During your second year of registration, you'll typically submit three (minimum) draft chapters of your thesis plus a short introduction and a detailed plan for its completion. The three draft chapters will typically include a detailed literature review, specification of research problem(s) and two empirical chapters. If you're pursuing a paper-based thesis, your upgrading documents will typically include a short introduction, a literature review and at least two empirical papers. Whether a traditional or paper-based thesis, the material will be evaluated by an upgrading committee (two academics, not necessarily of the MI or even LSE) who will recommend transferral to PhD registration if your work is judged to be of sufficient quality and quantity.

Throughout the MPhil/PhD and PhD, you'll attend the department's research seminar and other specialist workshops and seminars related to your interests. You must present at every Department of Methodology PhD day.

Students who successfully complete the programme often embark on an academic career.

Further information on graduate destinations for this programme

From CV workshops through to careers fairs, LSE offers lots of information and support to help you make that all-important step from education into work.

Many of the UK’s top employers give careers presentations at the School during the year and there are numerous workshops covering topics such as job hunting, managing interviews, writing a cover letter and using LinkedIn.

See LSE Careers for further details.