PhD in Sociology and Methodology of Social Research

It aims to train researchers in the analysis of current processes of cultural and social change based on the close integration of theory and empirical research. Emphasizing both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, it prepares students for interdisciplinary research on contemporary social, inequalities, media, urban spaces and cultural changes.

The doctoral programme offers a theoretical-analytical and technical-methodological preparation rooted in an excellent tradition of international research on empirical sociology. It aims to train researchers in the analysis of current processes of cultural and social change based on the close integration of theory and empirical research. The programme aims to provide a solid theoretical-conceptual preparation along with mastery of the most up-to-date research methodologies and techniques, both quantitative and qualitative. This translates into a programme which provides students with all the tools for undertaking original, theoretically oriented and empirically based research on a wide range of aspects of contemporary society. Particular attention is given to comparison between different social situations and contexts, also in supranational contexts and through extended periods of research abroad. Lectures are delivered in English. Although well anchored in the concepts and methods of sociological research, the student will regularly interact with the other social sciences - anthropology, psychology, political sciences, economics, demography, statistics, and informatics - to gain a fuller understanding of the phenomena under study.

The main areas of doctoral research in Sociology and Methodology of Social Research regard social change and inequalities, cultural processes, the media and the public sphere, urban spaces, and methodologies in social research.