This course will provide you with the research skills to develop into a future researcher through an ESRC accredited programme of research training designed around the discipline of human geography. It aims to provide an advanced level of understanding of geography and will give you the tools to become an advanced independent researcher, able to develop, design and execute academic research projects.
Introduction
This programme will provide advanced training in geographical thought and analysis. Students will gain postgraduate level expertise on Human Geography research, with a depth and breadth that corresponds to master’s-level accreditation.
The course is roughly delivered in three sections. The first part of the course will deliver core research skills training required in order for ESRC Research Training Accreditation. This is delivered in combination with Planning staff in the Department, but also in combination with students studying in Sociology. It provides a bedrock of essential research skills which can also qualify students to complete a doctoral research project if they wish.
The second part of the course (60 credits) will provide specific training in Human Geography. You will learn about different aspects of the discipline that correspond to the specialist knowledge of staff, both in the Power, Space and Social Change cluster as well as also in related human geography subfields. You will also learn in more depth about the ways in which geographers apply theory to their work, and the way in which they can use an array of methods to engage with research participants, policy-makers and communities. In this part of the course students will also have the chance to take mini-modules in sociology, which overlap generatively with the geography course.
Finally, you will also undertake a 60 credit dissertation. This piece of independent research will allow you to apply the skills developed during the taught components of the research and to focus on a topic of interest to you.
What you'll learn
Learn the required skills to design effective research projects at a postgraduate level
Gain a range of appropriate techniques to conduct social science research at a postgraduate level
Develop a thorough understanding of relevant theories appropriate to their studies
Grow your analytical skills in order to allow advanced data analysis to take place
Develop and demonstrate your research skills through developing a research project
Meet the ESRCs Framework for Postgraduate Training and Development in Social Science Research.
Accreditation
This course is accredited by the Economic and Social Research Council – the UK’s largest funder of economic, social, behavioural and human data science.
If you're able to study part-time, you'll
study the same modules as the full-time master's degree over a longer period, usually 24 months. You
can make studying work for you by arranging your personal schedule
around lectures and seminars which take place during the day. After you
complete all the taught modules, you will complete your final
dissertation or project and will celebrate your achievements
at graduation the following term.
Studying part-time means you can study alongside work or any
other life commitments. You will
study the same modules as the full-time master's degree over a longer period, usually 24 months. You
can make studying work for you by arranging your personal schedule
around lectures and seminars which take place during the day. After you
complete all the taught modules, you will complete your final
dissertation or project and will celebrate your achievements
at graduation the following term.
Semester one
In your first semester, you will be introduced to academic debate about knowledge producting and methods within social sciences, relationships between power, space and cultural change in relation to themes linked to crisis and change, and analysis of social survey data. You’ll explore the politics and practices of social research through understanding the roles, contexts and limitations of social science.
You’ll also be shown the statistical programming language R, get a good understanding of research methods, and learn to anonymise data.
Optional modules offer you the chance to learn the theory and practice of Critical Discourse Analysis and the analysis of visual data.
Compulsory modules
Qualitative Research Methods (ENVS441)
Credits: 15 /
Semester: semester 1
This module is intended to explore qualitative research methods in a holistic manner; moving from research philosophy, through design to individual research methods and analysis. The module covers a range of qualitative research methods through a mixture of lectures and workshops. In undertaking this module students will consider how research design and individual research methods need careful selection to suit the specific research problems or questions under investigation.
Social Survey Analysis (ENVS450)
Credits: 15 /
Semester: semester 1
An introduction to analysis of social survey data, covering descriptive and inferential statistics, data visualisation, regression modelling and model diagnostics. The module is taught using ‘R’ – a statistical programming language – to which the module will also provide an introduction.
THE POLITICS AND PRACTICES OF SOCIAL RESEARCH (SOCI501)
Credits: 15 /
Semester: semester 1
This module provides students with an introduction to the politics and practice of social research. It does so by exploring the following aspects of the research process: the context of the modern university; the role of the social scientist; power, critique and reflexivity in the social sciences; the constraints, benefits and limitations of social science. Those are explored in relation to practical dillemas and cases studies in social science research.
PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE (SOCI504)
Credits: 15 /
Semester: semester 1
SOCI504 is a module that introduces students to academic debates about knowledge production and method within sociology and the social sciences. The module is structured to provide an insight into the historical debates about the relationship between method and knowledge and how they inform the development and transformation of the social sciences.
Crisis and Change in Human Geography (ENVS434)
Credits: 15 /
Semester: whole session
The module examines the dynamics between space, power and culture through drawing upon topics denoting crisis and change in human geography. Drawing on academics’ specialist expertise, students learn about space and power through different themes including migration, land, labour, gender and sexuality. Themes can change according to ongoing crises, topical issues, and debates in the discipline – each taught session allows us to focus on one pertinent field of study in the discipline.
Optional modules
An Introduction to Critical Discourse Analysis (SOCI517)
Credits: 5 /
Semester: semester 1
This 5 credit module is designed to introduce students to the theory and practice of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). Students are introduced to a critical understanding of discourse, which in turn encourages the analysis of language use in relation to questions of power in society. The module seeks to enable students’ engagement in such analyses, introducing them to appropriate methods and techniques, and providing them the opportunity to put these into practice.
Visual Data, Visual Analysis (SOCI518)
Credits: 5 /
Semester: semester 1
This module is organised around a review of the critical sociological literature on visual data and visual analysis. Drawing together existing research in this sub-field – which is growing rapidly in significance – the module focuses particularly on academic research that has sought to develop critical approaches to the production and deployment of visual data in specifically urban contexts.
Programme details and modules listed are illustrative only and subject to change.
Semester two
Your second semester will give you a stronger understanding of the links between theoretical issues you’ll learn in other modules and the work you will do on your dissertation project in semester three. You’ll also be introduced to the latest debates, current thinking, and research on Human Geography.
The flexible approach to optional modules mean you will get the opportunity to learn statistical techniques for handling spatial data, explore the health dimensions of our environmental relationship, or deepen your understanding of researching and data gathering.
Compulsory modules
MA Dissertation in Human Geography (ENVS493)
Credits: 60 /
Semester: summer
This module is an extended research project undertaken during the final stages of the MA (Research Methods) in Contemporary Human Geography. It forms a student-led piece of work, with staff supervision by a delegated academic tutor.
Researching Crisis and Change in Human Geography (ENVS489)
Credits: 15 /
Semester: semester 2
This module will provide students with an understanding of how research is undertaken in qualitative Human Geography. Through weekly discussions, you will explore some of the ‘real world’ challenges of undertaking research, from gaining access to participants, through to the ethical challenges of doing your research. This will help you reflect on develop the research skills you will use during your dissertation. Assessment is in the form of two pieces of coursework: a Policy brief designed to present complex ideas to a non-academic audience (an NGO, Government Official etc), and a Research Proposal for the dissertation which will take place over the summer. Each assessment is worth 50% of the overall module mark.
Theorising Human Geography (ENVS416)
Credits: 15 /
Semester: semester 2
This is the core theoretical human geography course for all students on geography masters introducing students to the latest debates in the discipline. It is taught through a series of staff-led seminars with pre-set readings, and assessed through a 5000 word essay through which students identify the session closest to their individual research interests and agree a topic with that member of staff who provides formative guidance and feedback. This enables students to undertake an in depth piece of work at master’s level on the topic that most interests them, and which they may go on to study in more detail later should they undertake doctoral studies.
Crisis and Change in Human Geography (ENVS434)
Credits: 15 /
Semester: whole session
The module examines the dynamics between space, power and culture through drawing upon topics denoting crisis and change in human geography. Drawing on academics’ specialist expertise, students learn about space and power through different themes including migration, land, labour, gender and sexuality. Themes can change according to ongoing crises, topical issues, and debates in the discipline – each taught session allows us to focus on one pertinent field of study in the discipline.
Optional modules
Spatial Modelling for Data Scientists (ENVS453)
Credits: 15 /
Semester: semester 2
An introduction to a range of statistical techniques specifically designed to handle spatial data, building upon the more generic social survey analysis skills and R programming skills covered and developed in ENVS450, the pre-requisite of Module ENVS453.
HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL HUMANITIES (HLAC712)
Credits: 15 /
Semester: semester 2
Global crises such as climate change, infectious diseases, plastics and other forms of pollution, and species extinction are signs of the unhealthy relationships between humans and their environments. These problems also raise serious questions about the possibilities for human and nonhuman health and wellbeing in an epoch that is increasingly known as the Anthropocene. This module explores the health dimensions of the human-environment relationship from the perspective of the environmental humanities. Drawing on interdisciplinary concepts, approaches, and methodologies, and taking an international view, the field of environmental humanities allows for multifaceted and critical exploration of the intersections between health and the environment.
Using Foucault's Methods (SOCI515)
Credits: 5 /
Semester: semester 2
Michel Foucault’s work has been influential in a wide range of disciplines. SOCI515 is a module that introduces students to the uses of Foucault’s theory and method within the social sciences. The module is structured to provide an insight into the ways Foucault’s technique and method have been taken up in sociology and applied to social research. Focusing on discourse as the cornerstone of Foucault’s methods our aim is to reconsider the status of ‘reality’ in the social sciences.
Focus Groups (SOCI516)
Credits: 5 /
Semester: semester 2
This module will help students design, plan and carry out focus group discussions, and will cover both the theory, ethics and practice of focus group research. Particular attention will be paid to the analysis of verbal and non-verbal interaction.
Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis (SOCI519)
Credits: 5 /
Semester: semester 2
Ethnomethodology and conversation analysis are radical approaches to social inquiry. While distinct, ethnomethodology – the study of practical methods of action and reasoning, i.e. ‘ethno-methods’ – and conversation analysis – the study of ‘talk-in-interaction’ – are grounded in detailed investigations of how people in all manner of ordinary and specialised sites and settings organise their activities from within. Although this module will chart the development of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis and situate them intellectually in wider fields of inquiry, its purpose is to provide an advanced, hands-on introduction to the unique way both approach the study of social practices via ‘tutorial problems’ centred on the analysis of interactional data collected as part of small-scale fieldwork exercises. Among others things, the module will look at how ethnographic research, observation and interviewing can be ‘repurposed’, that is, put to work in alternate ways when pursued ethnomethodologically.
Participatory Action Research (SOCI520)
Credits: 5 /
Semester: semester 2
This module gives you the opportunity to plan a Participatory Action Research (PAR) project in preparation for your dissertation. Students will be given the opportunity to do this through Interchange, a charity that links students to 3rd sector organisations working in social welfare, social policy or criminal justice contexts. Students will not be encouraged to undertake a PAR dissertation unless they have completed this module.
Programme details and modules listed are illustrative only and subject to change.
Final project
Your final semester is all about planning, researching and writing your dissertation. You will use all of the skills and knowledge you gained in previous modules to develop a full-scale research project to demonstrate your research and analytical skills, ultimately creating a dissertation of up to 15,000 words.
Compulsory modules
MA Dissertation in Human Geography (ENVS493)
Credits: 60 /
Semester: summer
This module is an extended research project undertaken during the final stages of the MA (Research Methods) in Contemporary Human Geography. It forms a student-led piece of work, with staff supervision by a delegated academic tutor.
Programme details and modules listed are illustrative only and subject to change.
How you'll learn
Lectures, lab or computer-based practicals, workshops, tutorials, and seminars will take place on campus, so will give you plenty of opportunity to engage with the theory and reall-world implications of research into human geography, as well as your colleagues and lecturers.
You’ll push yourself and learn independently, through reading and learning qualitative research and methodologies, and access real world data via the UK Data Archive.
You can dig deeper online and take part in discussion forums with other students and researchers in the field.
How you're assessed
Through a series of oral presentations, essays, and reports you’ll be able to demonstrate your understanding of existing research in human geography, along with how you interpret existing data.
You will also complete some assessments that mimic real world work you may produce after your master’s – including a conversation journalism piece, essays in the form of reports or academic papers, and policy briefs.
There are also exams in some modules, which may have longform essay questions or “short answer” questions which require you to show your understanding of, and ability to apply, descriptive and inferential statistics to a real-world dataset.
Liverpool Hallmarks
We have a distinctive approach to education, the Liverpool Curriculum Framework, which focuses on research-connected teaching, active learning, and authentic assessment to ensure our students graduate as digitally fluent and confident global citizens.
Your experience
At the Department of Geography and Planning, you will learn from world-leading researchers who bring the latest theoretical and practical knowledge from a range of specialisms.
By the end of your master’s, you’ll develop the knowledge and skills to become an agent for change on the global stage.
Support for students with differing needs from the Disability advice and guidance team. They can identify and recommend appropriate support provisions for you.
What students say...
The collaborative nature of the degree in terms of dialogues between students and staff. There are really good approaches that make space for interesting ideas and engagements, which can be both thought provoking and fun. I have also particularly enjoyed the field classes during undergraduate study which have been a personal highlight during my time at university.
Following this postgraduate programme, you will be able to understand the whole process of undertaking research, through from project design, data collection & analysis and interpretation of results. As a result, you will be well placed to apply for entry into a research-led career pathway.
Career support from day one to graduation and beyond
This MA is designed to allow you to meet the criteria for ESRC accreditation for research training, and students would therefore be able to apply for UK Research Council funding for PhD research.
Graduates from this programme possess a range of skills which are applicable to wider research activity beyond academia, including working for social and market research companies or for research arms of government agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Fees and funding
Your tuition fees, funding your studies, and other costs to consider.
Tuition fees
UK fees (applies to Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland)
Full-time place, per year
£10,000
Part-time place, per year
£5,000
International fees
Full-time place, per year
£20,000
Part-time place, per year
£10,000
Fees stated are for the 2023-24 academic year.
Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching and assessment, operating facilities such as libraries, IT equipment, and access to academic and personal support.
We understand that budgeting for your time at university is important, and we want to make sure you understand any course-related costs that are not covered by your tuition fee. This could include buying a laptop, books, or stationery.
You will normally need a 2:1 honours degree, or above, or equivalent. This should be in a relevant field of study, including science or mathematics subjects.
We also encourage applications from those from non-traditional backgrounds, for example with significant and relevant experience or professional qualifications. Each application will be assessed on its own merits.
International qualifications
If you hold a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, but don’t meet the entry requirements for a master’s degree at Liverpool, a pre-master’s, delivered by our partner, University of Liverpool International College, can help you gain a place. Although there’s no direct pre-master’s route to this MA, completing a pre-master’s pathway can guarantee you a place on many other postgraduate courses which may interest you.
Liverpool bursts with diversity and creativity which makes it ideal for you to undertake your postgraduate studies and access various opportunities for you and your family.
To fully immerse yourself in the university experience living in halls will keep you close to campus where you can always meet new people. Find your home away from home.
Discover what expenses are covered by the cost of your tuition fees and other finance-related information you may need regarding your studies at Liverpool.
Contact us
Have a question about this course or studying with us? Our dedicated enquiries team can help.
