Course description
Learning Outcomes
Graduates will obtain:
* a sound knowledge of theories, principles and political and economic contexts of policy-making
* the ability to use different quantitative and qualitative research techniques
* detailed understanding of substantive areas of social and public policy
How You Will Be Taught
Taught courses generally combine lectures and seminar discussions. Work on the 15,000-word dissertation involves independent supervised research.
The programme can be taken on a full or part-time basis (see below) and consists of two main elements. Firstly students must complete a taught element made up of six courses (or an equivalent number of credits).
All students on the MSc in Policy Studies take the two core courses, ‘Principles and Politics of Policy’ and ‘Economics and Resourcing of Public Policy’.
In addition students take at least one research training course, the school offers ESRC recognised basic training courses in data collection and quantitative data analysis, and a course on the Comparative Analysis of Social and Public Policy. Other research training courses may be available and students should check with the Programme Director.
Finally, students make up the remainder of their six courses from options provided by the Social Policy Subject Group, other subject groups in the School of Social and Political Studies and other Schools in the University. Where students choose courses outside the Social Policy Subject Group, these are subject to the approval of the Programme Director.
Social Policy courses
* Children, Childhood and Children’s Rights
* Crime, Justice and Public Policy
* European Social Policy
* Family Policies in Comparative Perspective
* Issues in Employment Policy
* Public Policy in Scotland
* The Social Division of Welfare
Examples of other approved courses
* Institutions and Policies of the European Union
* Political Economy of East Asia
* European Environmental Policy in an International Context
* Europe and International Migration
* Scottish Government and Politics
* Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics
* Comparative Territorial Politics
Actual courses on offer vary from year to year. For further details, contact the Programme Director.
Dissertation
Once students successfully complete the taught courses, they proceed to the dissertation element of the MSc. The dissertation offers students the chance to work under the supervision of an academic member of staff to explore in depth a topic of their choosing. This is an ideal chance to get to grips with an issue that fascinates you, and is also good preparation for further study.
Previous dissertation topics include:
* Social enterprise in Scotland
* The impact of benefit and labour market policies on unemployment
* Social policies and fertility rates
* The impact of tribunals on decision making in asylum and immigration
* Policy diffusion and police reform
* Private Finance Initiatives
* Pensions in Central and Eastern Europe and former Soviet states
* Transport and social exclusion
* Devolution and rail transport
* Donor ideology and sexual and reproductive health policy in developing countries
* Long-term care
* Agency work and social actors
* Policy transfer
Part-time students
Part time students usually take four courses in their first year and two in their second; the dissertation element can be started as early as April or May of the first year, although there is a degree of flexibility to fit around work or personal commitments of any given student.
