MSc course overview
The MSc is a ten-month course running from October to August. The compulsory components of the course are designed to provide students with the core skills, methods, theories and concepts required to undertake the remainder of the degree.
- Graduate Studies Handbook (PDF, 472kb)
- Programme of Specification (PDF, 86kb)
- MSc Template of Provision (PDF, 36kb)
Course timetable
Please note that this information is provisional, and may be subject to change.
| Michaelmas Term (MT) (Autumn) | Hilary Term (HT) (Spring) | Trinity Term (TT) (Summer) |
|---|---|---|
| Research Methods 1: Social Research Methods and the Internet |
Research Methods 2: Social Research Methods and the Internet |
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| Core Paper 1: Social Dynamics of the Internet |
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| Core Paper 2: Internet Technologies and Regulation |
Option Papers: Students can choose any two from the list of option papers. |
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Thesis |
Note: Oxford University terms are referred to as Michaelmas Term (MT), Hilary Term (HT) and Trinity Term (TT). Each term lasts eight weeks. Find out Oxford University term dates.
Social Research and Internet
This course component provides students with the basic quantitative and qualitative methods required in order to undertake, analyse or apply Internet research, including a fundamental understanding of the required statistical measurement techniques. Students are required to take research and statistical methods papers in their first and second terms, which may include:
- Social Research Methods and the Internet (HT). Examining issues concerning application of traditional social research methods to the study of emerging ICTs, as well as the use of new methods, enabled by the Internet and ICTs, in the study of an array of social research problems.
Students with a law and policy focus can take some classes in Legal Research Methods provided by the Faculty of Law in place of some Internet Research Methods classes.
Core papers
Students are required to take the following core papers in their first and second terms:
- Social Dynamics of the Internet (MT). An overview of the major findings to date regarding the social implications of the Internet, drawing material from several social science disciplines, including communication studies, sociology, and political science.
- Internet Technologies and Regulation (HT). Providing students from across a range of disciplines with a basic understanding of the interplay between the social and technological shaping of the Internet, and the associated policy implications. It outlines the Internet's origins and technical architecture and its embeddedness in a long history of communication technologies.
Option papers
Students will be required to take two option papers which will enable them to pursue issues of particular interest in greater depth, whilst developing their specialist skills and applying them to the Internet and its evolving technologies. A provisional list of option papers includes (as of September 2008):
- Learning, the Internet and Society
- Internet Economics
- Online Social Networks
- Law and the Internet
- Digital Era Government and Politics
- Networks of Collaboration
Students can also take any option from a relevant paper from another University of Oxford Social Sciences Division Masters programme (with the permission of the course convenors).
Thesis
In addition to the taught courses, students will be required to complete a 10,000 word dissertation on a topic of their choosing after discussion with their course tutor. The dissertation provides students with the opportunity to apply the methods and approaches they have covered in the other parts of the course and carry out a substantive piece of academic research on a specialist topic of their choosing.
The deadline for submission of the thesis will normally be 1 August, or the next working day if this falls on the weekend.
