MSc in Social Research Methods at London School of Economics

[goddess_imenja]

I am thinking about doing a Masters in Social Research Methods at LSE with a sociology track (meaning I get to take one full unit of sociology). I basically perceive this Masters as a stepping stone to doing a PhD in Sociology. Besides, I think it could fill in a lot of gaps in my CV:

-I didn't study at a research institution (like Harvard, Berkeley, U of M, etc.) but rather at a mid-west liberal arts college and later on I did my Masters in International Business at a (highly ranked) French business school.

-I didn't do stellar in my statistics and research methods classes at business school

-I lack profound experience in quantitative methods

-I did not major or get a masters in Sociology (-3.96 GPA in International Studies and German, 3.5 GPA in Masters in International Business) but I don't think getting a masters in Sociology would be as a helpful as a course like this since I have taken a lot of sociology courses or courses that are related to sociology - politics, international relations, anthro, soc, gender, language, etc.

Neverthless,

-I was a Fulbright research scholar in Brazil - I have much qualitative research experience: participant, ethnographic, interviews

-I was a project/research assistant (again all qualitative) at an AIDS organization in Brazil during my Fulbright research.

-I was a TA/TF at Harvard for the summer school and should be again this summer (I am really not sure if this counts for much since the summer school usually hires profs from outside the school and the curriculum does not seem as rigorous as the normal year)

-1 article published by ECCH (case study database)

-I speak 5 languages fluently (I don't know if sociology departments give a shit about this sort of thing)

-All my past non-academic jobs are kind of research-oriented (competitor analysis, market entry strategies, etc.)

I was wondering if anyone could provide me advice or tips on whether such a masters would be a valuable tool to getting into a PhD program. I talked with the program director and sociology-track coordinator and have the impression that I would gain a lot of methodological (quant and qual) and research design expertise in this program and that a lot of students end up doing a PhD after. Has anyone done something similar? Or has heard about this program? Or studied at LSE? LSE is a very reputable institution in social sciences so I am expecting to gain an invaluable network there... I am interested in globalization, political sociology and transnational social movements.

This is the program website:

http://www2.lse.ac.uk/methodologyInstitute/study/mscSocialResearchMethods/introduction.aspx

Thank you very much for your help!

[splitends]

Based on what you've said, I would sort of advise against it...

Of course, I have no authority. My opinion is based mostly on a synthesis of advice I've gotten from professors throughout this process.

1. I've heard over and over again from students that their Master's took zero time off their track to the PhD. You'll at most get exempted from one or two methods courses. So it will be adding one or two years onto the whole thing and you will not be especially ahead on the PhD (if that was ever in the equation.)

2. (Assuming your ultimate goal is a PhD) Master's Degrees are mostly useful as a way of making up for deficiencies in your undergraduate record, which you don't seem to have. Your GPA looks pretty stellar, you were a Fulbright Scholar, you have a publication, you have research experience, so...you look like you'd be a really competitive candidate already.

3. Sociology is notoriously open to people who didn't do Sociology for undergrad. How much this puts you behind when it comes to coursework at the beginning of a program, I couldn't say, but I know for sure it won't keep you from getting in.

4. Almost anyone coming in with an undergrad degree is SOC is going to have very, very few little quantitative background. They just don't usually teach it at the level you need to know it. You will learn stats in grad school, no matter which school you go to. Having a background in stats from business (even if you didn't do as well as you would like) will still probably put you ahead of many in your cohort. (There's a chance this info could be skewed by the fact that I did my undergrad at a school notorious for attracting qualitatively minded grad students...but I do get the feeling that that is the general way of the world.)

5. You will learn all of that information (quant and qual methods/research design) once you are actually in grad school. I'm just not convinced that it will be any special value added to your skillset as a scholar in the long run.

6. I've heard that a lot of UK universities have set up gazillions of these one and two year masters degrees as a way to suck money out of Americans, and that the quality of the education you get might reflect this. This is just rumor and hearsay...but looking at the programs being offered at LSE and Oxbridge, I'm willing to entertain that possibility.

7. About the languages: from what I understand, it will be very helpful if you want to do research in that area/those areas of the world. It's not like undergrad where you stuff as many facts about how great you are into one application, so I don't know that it's important in and of itself. But it will make your research agenda look much more credible if you already have language skills in the area of the world you want to study.

So yeah.

That is all assuming you are paying out of pocket and/or taking on debt to do this. If you are fully funded (though I don't think most people in that situation are...) then I would say go for it. Enjoy the funny accents. If you're not...I would just be cautious.

[Chuck]

Since you say "I basically perceive this Masters as a stepping stone to doing a PhD in Sociology," Splitends has good advice here. It looks like you have a very solid application, and well-framed previous graduate study/work experience will do wonders for your SOP. Splitends is correct that the pluralism of sociology as a discipline renders an MA a bit superfluous in a situation where you're already well qualified to be applying for the PhD and when you know that the PhD is what you want now.

That said, I would rigorously disagree with the flippant disregard for master's degrees coming through in the advice of Splitends' professors. There is no one best way to be a sociologist. And there is no PhD program that can be all intellectual things to all people. Or, as I think is increasingly becoming apparent, all intellectual things for one person. Perhaps the caveat here should be that Splitends happens to be an extremely motivated and singularly focused undergraduate intent on a straight-shot efficient trajectory through his/her chosen discipline. This is the more traditional paradigm for sociology, as it has been in most disciplines. Professors who themselves found success in this approach tend to council their bright motivated undergraduates to choose the path that they did. But the straight-shot is far from the only way to be successful in academia. Take note that, as a pluralist discipline, some of the strongest contributions to sociology have come from cross-pollination with other intellectual and practical pursuits. Where do you think some of the best places to acquire these backgrounds might be? You can bet that an MA/MS/MPP/MEM/MPA/MSc/MBA/JD/MD/MSW is going to enhance someones intellectual understanding of sociological questions in a qualitatively different way than they could get from any PhD program. Not to mention the maturity, perspective, and real-world skills gained (hopefully) through professional work experience. Some of the most interesting and intelligent sociology grad students and prospective students I've been meeting are coming from radically different backgrounds than one might 'traditionally' expect. And I hope these people join my cohort so that my perspective might be broadened as well!

[splitends]

Totally agree on all things "different strokes for different folks." There are lots of good reasons to get a Master's outside of professional, prestige ladder climbing ones, and if you feel strongly about them, that matters.

Just don't let someone convince you that dropping $50K will improve your chances of getting into a PhD program. You sound like you're pretty awesome already.

[Darth.Vegan]

Totally agree on all things "different strokes for different folks." There are lots of good reasons to get a Master's outside of professional, prestige ladder climbing ones, and if you feel strongly about them, that matters.

Just don't let someone convince you that dropping $50K will improve your chances of getting into a PhD program. You sound like you're pretty awesome already.

You can always split your apps between PhD and MA programs. That's what I'm doing!

[goddess_imenja]

Splitends - I really appreciate your thorough post, please check out your inbox.

Chuck - well, i am definitely one of those interdisicplinary people you speak of, and I certainly hope that grad schools would be interested in my international and professionally diverse profile. Nevertheless, I was rejected to the four universities I applied to (top soc schools) - maybe my over-interdisciplinary nature could be my handicap? Maybe I should be more focused? Or maybe my research interests are outdated? And, sadly I am suspecting that having not studied at a top-tiered research institution has hurt my CV.

For these reasons and others, I am looking at this social research methods program at LSE. The hope is to remedy these deficiencies, exactly Splitends second point: "Master's Degrees are mostly useful as a way of making up for deficiencies in your undergraduate record."

I have also thought of doing a summer course at a research institution like Harvard instead of doing a masters, taking classes in statistics and social research methods - this may be a cheaper way of going about it, but I still would not have access to faculty or the networking that masters would provide.

Chuck and Splitends - thank you so much for your wisdom! I wish I had looked at this grad forum last year!!!