Research Degrees (PhD/MPhil) in Global Studies

Methodologies and Research Methods Training Programme

In general, an agreed programme of research training should normally be completed during the first year of study (if full-time), or over the first two years (if part-time). All students are required to undertake and successfully complete their research training prior to formal upgrade from MPhil to PhD which must take place by May/June of the first year (full-time) or May/June of the second year (part-time).

Upon registration, the Centre research tutor, in consultation with the lead (and where appropriate the adjunct) supervisor, will provide a research method training schedule for each research student. This will make use of existing research methods training courses, primarily in the Faculty of Law & Social Sciences (except for the Department of Politics and International Studies and the Department of Development Studies), on a case-by-case basis (at the discretion of the relevant departments), and where aspects of specialised disciplinary research method training (e.g. legal methods, the use of specific (e.g. economic) databases, historical source materials, fieldwork in specific regions/developing countries) are of particular relevance to a research topic.

All CISD MPhil/PhD students will be asked to attend a specialised module on research methods for Global Studies at the CISD. This one-term course is designed to complement and support social science method training at SOAS by addressing three core aspects of challenges posed by research in the area of global studies:

Global Studies as an Emerging Discipline: Methodological and epistemological frameworks for the analysis of emerging global structures of Power and knowledge - their limitations and possibilities, the role of new forms of collaboration and the challenges of participatory public decision-making in a transnational and/or global context.
The challenge of multi-disciplinary research: How ‘generic’ are the methodological foundations of the ‘social sciences’?, comparative discussion of different (disciplinary) perspectives on explanation and causality in the social sciences, core implications for the design of multi-disciplinary research projects
Global Studies as an applied social science: case studies vs. aggregate data analysis in the analysis of globalisation processes and global concerns, tools of qualitative and quantitative data analysis, measurement and conceptual issues for trans- and cross-national empirical analysis. A second (one-term) research module at the CISD will focus on more generic training in the philosophy and method of social sciences. This will be organised around 2-3 examples of research projects in the area of global studies to illustrate both generic as well as specific methodological challenges arising for multi-disciplinary research situated at the interface between transnational and international processes and structures, in terms of conceptual as well as empirical analysis. This part of the research method training at the CISD may be replaced and/or complemented by specialised training in other departments (as above), where appropriate, and/or by an eventually evolving cross-departmental ‘core’ of generic social science methods teaching at the School.
At the end of term 2, first-year MPhil/PhD students in the Global Studies programme will be asked to present their research projects in an informal seminar to Centre staff and students. The objective is to allow first-year students, prior to submitting their upgrade paper, to discuss theoretical and empirical issues in devising their research project and design amongst peers.

Throughout their degree, the Centre’s research seminar series, at which Centre staff and advanced research students present research in progress for discussion, provides students with an opportunity to study and discuss methodological issues and concerns.

Upgrade Procedure

In the first week of Term 3, Year 1, students submit a core chapter and research proposal (of about 10,000 words), typically including the following elements:

• Research rationale and context of proposed research
• Main research questions
• Literature review
• Theoretical and methodological framework and considerations
• Proposed research methods
• Ethical issues (where applicable)
• Outlining the structure of PhD dissertation
• Schedule of research and writing
• Bibliography.

Adjustments to one or more of these sections, including additions or deletions where appropriate, are possible by prior arrangement between the students and lead supervisors.

This upgrade proposal is assessed by the student’s research committee, based on a 20-30 minute oral presentation, followed by a discussion, also open to other staff and student members of the Centre. On successful completion of the extended proposal, students are formally upgraded to PhD and proceed to the second year. (If the assessors consider there to be shortcomings in the upgrade proposal, students will be asked to revise it to their satisfaction before the upgrade to PhD status can be confirmed).

Students are not normally permitted to proceed to the second year until the upgrade process has been completed. It would not be expected that students make more than one oral presentation if this is also a requirement of the specific training programme.

Students studying part-time take the MPhil training seminar in the first year and write the Core Chapter & Research Proposal (see above) in the second year. The length of time for field or research and material collection, and writing up, is adjusted accordingly.

Year One

The first year of the programme involves research training seminars and advanced courses. At the same time, students work with their lead supervisor, in consultation with the adjunct supervisor, to develop a detailed research proposal, undertake the first stages of research and write some draft sections to outline the main arguments of the thesis. At the heart of the training is the research methods training programme.

It is designed to provide the analytical tools required by students to gain an advanced understanding of recent developments in the lead disciplines central to their research project and in the specific challenges and opportunities posed by their engagement with research into emerging global structures, processes and issues and for carrying out high-level research. Students in the PhD programme may also attend individual courses from MA/MSc Programmes to strengthen their competence in a specific subject. By the end of the third academic term, students are expected to have completed their upgrade chapter.

Year Two

In their second year, full-time students carry out detailed research which usually includes gathering and processing data. Some research for this purpose may be carried out overseas if required. During the year students write draft chapters of their thesis and discuss them with their lead supervisor and, where appropriate, also discuss specific aspects of their research with their adjunct supervisor.

Year Three

Full-time students for the PhD would complete their research and write a final draft or near-final draft of their thesis.

Year Four

Any work at this stage normally involves redrafting chapters of the thesis to achieve the standards of publications. The examination must normally be completed in this year. The examination is an assessment of the thesis and an oral examination (viva voce) concerning the thesis and the research upon which it is based.

Students from SOAS’s Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy (CISD) develop an in-depth understanding of international affairs, contemporary diplomatic practice and policy-makers. Graduates leave with a portfolio of transferable skills such as critical analysis, problem solving, negotiation and communication, all of which are valued by employers across a number of sectors.

Recent graduates have been hired by:

• Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
• Ernst & Young
• European Centre for Democracy and Human Rights
• Government of India
• International Rescue Committee
• Medical Aid for Palestinians
• NHS
• The Commonwealth
• UK National Commission for UNESCO
• UNHCR
• United Nations