Back in 2021, an Economic & Social Research Council commissioned project lead by Jo Edson Ferrie at the University of Glasgow began looking at the future skills needs of researchers working with social data. Speaking to students, large grant holders and methods teachers working within leading UK and international universities, reading available scholarship on how to teach methods better, and completing reviews of leading international summer schools, one key finding emerged: the way we teach methods isn’t effective or sustainable.

Now Associate Dean of Skill & Method within the University of Glasgow’s College of Social Sciences, Jo is working with colleagues to take the evidence-based blueprint for how to deliver a robust methods education to produce confident researchers, and make it into the state of the art, sector leading Masters: the MSc in Social Science Research Methods.

Why Methods Education Matters

What democracy needs, are people who can work with data and build shared understanding, in an age dominated by disinformation and fake news. People who can discern whether data are correct, and used appropriately. And this data isn’t just numbers, it includes creative ways of knowing, indigenous wisdom, the place of anecdotal evidence in building a robust argument. All disciplines need confident researchers and all active citizens need to develop their skills in harnessing and evaluating the truth. This MSc is methods-focused but the learning articulates with a strong social justice thread, helping us visualise the world we want to live in, and use and build evidence to achieve sustainable futures.

What is Unique About this Programme

The MSc Social Science Research Methods will launch September 2026 and delivers in full, the vision of the ESRC’s Postgraduate Training Guidelines (2022) and the work they commissioned (Ferrie et al, 2022) to develop. Our aim is not just to teach methods, but to help develop confidence.

Building Confidence: First step then is an Orientation Week, as much about getting to know each other and build relationships of trust as it is to refresh ourselves on the methods foundation, covering similar material to undergraduate courses. For those who are completely new to this, additional support is available. This week acts as a turbo charger, building excitement around methods,

Pedagogical Innovation: Drawing on international scholarship, semester 1 is dedicated to learning methods. This allows educators to craft learning spaces that work pedagogically, leading to an immersive experience, building knowledge and confidence. Drawing directly on Ferrie et al’s work (2022), the qualitative/quantitative binary is removed, all courses are mixed methods making it sector leading, and much more in tune with the research projects securing large and prestigious funding. The whole project approach extends the learning of traditional methods training to make the course intellectually demanding and useful, including a focus on data management, building a budget, dissemination strategies and building impact for example. Students will work directly with secondary and digital data in semester 1.

Sector Leading: This course is endorsed by the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) and can be used by any student funded through the Scottish Graduate School of Social Sciences. The ESRC are the largest and most prestigious funder of social research in the UK. Jo sits on the ESRC’s governance committee Expert Advisory Group: Data Infrastructure, Skill & Method. In turn, as member of the Oversight Board of SMART Research UK, Jo is at the cutting edge of data innovation, and this all feeds into the content of the MSc.

Learning that Builds on Your Interests: Semester 2 includes a range of advanced methods courses, or students can choose disciplinary courses within the School of Social and Political Sciences. The freedom to craft a curriculum in this way, provides the ideal culture for the dissertation (independent project work), setting it up as a springboard into doctoral study, or into industry/civil society roles that draw on research skills. 

First published: 11 November 2025

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Prof Jo Edson Ferrie