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1. Admissions/ Management Information
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Title of the programme – including any lower awards
Please provide the titles used for all awards relating to this programme. Note: all programmes are required to have at least a Postgraduate Certificate exit award.

See guidance on programme titles in:
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Masters MA in Social Media and Social Research
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Postgraduate Diploma PgDip. Social Media and Social ResearchPlease indicate if the Postgraduate Diploma is available as an entry point, ie. is a programme on which a student can register, is an exit award, ie. is only available to students exiting the masters programme early, or both.Exit
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Postgraduate Certificate PgCert. Social Media and Social ResearchPlease indicate if the Postgraduate Certificate is available as an entry points, ie. is a programme on which a student can register, is an exit award, ie. is only available to students exiting the masters programme early, or both.Exit
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Level of qualificationLevel 7
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This document applies to students who commenced the programme(s) in:2020
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Awarding institutionTeaching institution
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University of York University of York
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Department(s):
Where more than one department is involved, indicate the lead department		Board of Studies
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Lead Department SociologySociology
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Other contributing Departments: N/A
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Route code
(existing programmes only)
PSCOCSME
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Admissions criteria
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The minimum requirement is a 2.1 undergraduate degree or international equivalent. This will normally be in a relevant social sciences or humanities discipline but candidates with other backgrounds and relevant experience may be admitted following an interview and/or written test.
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Length and status of the programme(s) and mode(s) of study
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ProgrammeLength (years/ months) Status (full-time/ part-time)
Please select		Start dates/months
(if applicable – for programmes that have multiple intakes or start dates that differ from the usual academic year)		Mode
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Face-to-face, campus-basedDistance learningOther
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MA Social Media and Social Research1Full-timePlease select Y/NYesPlease select Y/NNo
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MA Social Media and Social Research2Part-timePlease select Y/NYesPlease select Y/NNo
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Language(s) of study
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English
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Language(s) of assessment
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English
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2. Programme accreditation by Professional, Statutory or Regulatory Bodies (PSRB)
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2.a. Is the programme recognised or accredited by a PSRB
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Please Select Y/N: Noif No move to section 3
if Yes complete the following questions
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3. Additional Professional or Vocational Standards
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Are there any additional requirements of accrediting bodies or PSRB or pre-requisite professional experience needed to study this programme?
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Please Select Y/N: Noif Yes, provide details
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4. Programme leadership and programme team
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4.a. Please name the programme leader for the year to which the programme design applies and any key members of staff responsible for designing, maintaining and overseeing the programme.
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Prof David Beer
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5. Purpose and learning outcomes of the programme
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5.a. Statement of purpose for applicants to the Masters programme
Please express succinctly the overall aims of the programme as an applicant facing statement for a prospectus or website. This should clarify to a prospective masters student why they should choose this programme, what it will provide to them and what benefits they will gain from completing it.
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Social media are radically transforming the world we live in. But how can we understand their impact upon the work in which we live? Operating on a global scale, they are central to the functioning of new types of capitalism and are rapidly reshaping the social world. Understanding social media is key to understanding the changes that we continue to experience. It is only by combining a knowledge of social research methods with a knowledge of social media that we will be able to get beyond superficial understandings and really get to grips with these changes. This programme prepares you to be both a skilful and knowledgeable researcher and an informed critical analyst of social media. The Social Media and Social Research programme engenders a cutting edge and dynamic area of knowledge for contemporary media workers, social researchers, and technology designers by combining social scientific research practices with comprehensive knowledge of the use of social media in contemporary society. As a Social Media and Social Research student, you will learn to harness a critical social science understanding of relevant social, economic, cultural and political factors, and design and apply appropriate social scientific methods and research practices. In particular, the role of social media data, generated by people, organizations and automated technologies, will be at the vanguard of your thinking by critically evaluating on-going public debates, new examples of culture, society and technology, and formulating approaches to investigating ‘real world’ problems . As a graduate of the programme you will be prepared for a range of careers in the commercial, voluntary, and policy sectors, including media management, policy research, social media analysis, journalism, communications, and academic research. You will be in a position to contribute sociological knowledge and skills to an emerging and vibrant social media landscape and shape the future of that area through critical evidence-based decisions that benefit members of society. You will also have the skills to thrive in an interconnected global workplace.
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5.b.i. Programme Learning Outcomes - Masters
Please provide six to eight statements of what a graduate of the Masters programme will be able to do.
If the document only covers a Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma please specify four to six PLO statements in the sections 5.b.ii and 5.b.iii as appropriate.
Taken together, these outcomes should capture the distinctive features of the programme. They should also be outcomes for which progressive achievement through the course of the programme can be articulated, and which will therefore be reflected in the design of the whole programme.
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PLOOn successful completion of the programme, graduates will be able to:
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1Exercise specialised knowledge and understanding of social media and their importance for social, cultural and global processes and how it applies to a range of areas including everyday interactional practices, cultural production and circulation, and political and institutional engagement.
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2Critically interpret, analyze, and evaluate social theories, concepts, methodologies and arguments in order to articulate a clear understanding of the sociological study of social media, culture and globalization.
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3Develop informed and advanced research strategies based upon critical consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of different methods, in order to identify the epistemological approaches in social scientific research.
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4Critically select and use a range of social scientific research methods, both quantitative and qualitative, which are appropriate to meet the requirements in industry, national and local government and public services.
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5Develop arguments to support the use of emerging forms of social and behavioural data (both large, and small-scale) in order to understand the relationship between social media and contemporary sociological research.
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6Draw upon concepts, theories and methods in order to advance and utilise social research practices in the contemporary context.
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7Utilize extended social research expertise to critically evaluate social research, and to design research appropriate for the investigation of cultural, social, and global aspects of social media and emerging communication technologies.
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5.c. Explanation of the choice of Programme Learning Outcomes
Please explain your rationale for choosing these PLOs in a statement that can be used for students (such as in a student handbook). Please include brief reference to:
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i) ... in what way will these PLOs result in an ambitious, challenging programme which stretches the students?
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Pushing students to develop their knowledge of both the dynamics of social media and the advanced practices of social research, this programme is ambitious and will provide students with unusual combination of skills. It centres on the ability of students to understand social research in the context of rapidly changing media. Thus, giving the research skills and conceptual understanding of their environment that will give them a real edge. The outcomes focus on the abilities to understand, critically interpret, develop, select and communicate. They are designed this way to be both ambitious and challenging in combining conceptual and methodological knowledge and skills, spanning across social media and social research.  To ensure rigorous academic training, the programme is designed with a strong compulsory core. This is reflected in the PLOs by stressing that students’ will be enabled to; develop a comprehensive understanding of social media, develop informed research strategies, make critical methodological considerations, understand the relationship between social media and contemporary sociological research, and to utilize extended social research expertise appropriate for the investigation of cultural, social, and global aspects of social media and emerging communication technologies. Students’ knowledge is stretched across a number of modules in which they are enabled to develop a systematic understanding of the key issues relating to social media and social research. Combined with the dissertation module, students are significantly stretched when they are required to apply the knowledge they have gained from the taught modules in order to execute and produce a comprehensive research project. Students on these programmes will arrive on the course with a variety of academic backgrounds - it is also a highly international student cohort. This makes transition onto the course and successful completion of the PLOs a particular challenge. In addition to dedicated sessions on the basic skills that are required - such as library and VLE awareness - the students also require focused transition to ensure that they will all achieve the desired levels. The head of programme has now implemented additional transition sessions on this programme, these deal directly with contemporary issues in social media - this takes the form of a welcome session in week 1 which is then followed by four additional sessions throughout the Autumn term. This serves three purposes: 1. it creates a cohort feeling and enables interaction with the course leader. 2. It ensures the students have a shared knowledge of up-to-date issues in social media that they can call upon in their studies. 3. These sessions help students to begin to make the connections between the combination of modules on their programme as well as with the knowledge gained on their previous qualifications.
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ii) ... in what way will these PLOs produce a programme which is distinctive and advantageous to the student?
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This programme that is distinctive in the manner in which they focus on the combination of social science methodology with deep insight into the social, cultural, and economic characteristics of new information technologies, particularly in relation to social media. The PLOs are pursued through novel and distinctive, research based teaching on topics such as data algorithms and the manner in which these underpin and influence social processes and interaction. The programme outcomes will prove advantageous in that they bring to light contemporary society interwoven with communications technologies, and enable the student to have a firm grasp of the social and technological aspects of contemporary workplace and leisure practices. The students will not only have advanced understanding of social research methods but will also understand the shifting social media based social connections that are changing the world and how it can be understood.
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iii) ... how the design of the programme enables students from diverse entry routes to transition successfully into the programme? For example, how does the organisation of the programme ensure solid foundations in disciplinary knowledge and understanding of conventions, language skills, mathematics and statistics skills, writing skills, lab skills, academic integrity
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The modules in the autumn term are introductory to secure a successful transition into the programme for all students. The students will also have two induction sessions with the module lead and 3 additional sessions (outside of their modules) in which issues in social media will be discussed in detail. These extra sessions will be used to help students to get acquainted with some core ideas and to think about how the different parts of their programme might be combined.
The module ‘Understanding Social Media’ provides students with solid, introductory and general knowledge of social media practices and their advantages and limitations. This ensures that students from various academic backgrounds get a comprehensive introduction to the study of social media. The modules 'Quantitative Methods and Data Analysis' and ' Qualitative Methods' introduces students to a range of common quantitative data analysis skills and techniques as well as the essential qualitative methods in social research, this combination enables all students to get a successful transition into the study of social research.
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iv) ... how the programme is designed to enable students to progress successfully - in a limited time frame - through to the end of the award? For example, the development of higher level research skills; enabling students to complete an independent study module; developing competence and confidence in practical skills/ professional skills. See QAA masters characteristics doument http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/Masters-Degree-Characteristics-15.pdf
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This programme is designed to enable students to develop knowledge of a new field of study in combination with their prior relevant knowledge or experience. The programme will delivered through the taught modules in research methods and field specific topics that prepare students to independently conduct a research dissertation. This programme equips successful graduates with the potential to enrol for a PhD , but entry is not guaranteed. Graduates of this programme are also equipped to enter a variety of types of employment both subject-specific and generalist. The programme the programme has been created to enable students to develop knowledge of both social media and social research. The social research modules are intended to develop your knowledge in quantitative and qualitative research techniques before then studying advanced methods - this means students bild towards advanced research skills. Similarly, the students start with general issues in social media and work towards advanced understandings of their social and political dynamics.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
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Digital literacy is a key and embedded component in understanding both social media and management. The students will be evaluating and analysing web based sources, exploring their form and consequences and thinking about them as part of global transformations. The assessments develop these skills as part of the module aims, but students will also be reflecting on digital transformations and how these relate to their lives. Students will give discuss issue around digital media and give presentations and perform tasks that require reflection on digital content, such as brands, profiles and networks. Given the topic focus of the degree, the issue of digital literacy is central to learning outcomes in relation to theory and empirical methods oriented to social media, the understanding of collaboration interactivity and information sharing, the analysis of current use of social media, the critical analysis of social media as tools of surveillance, control, innovation and emancipation, as well as the use of data analysis techniques within the dissertation project.
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vi) ... how this programme (as outlined in these PLOs) will support and enhance the students’ employability (for example, opportunities for students to apply their learning in a real world setting)?
The programme's employability objectives should be informed by the University's Employability Strategy:
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http://www.york.ac.uk/about/departments/support-and-admin/careers/staff/
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The PLOs are designed to support students’ employability by suggesting real work settings where students can apply their knowledge and experiences as graduates of the programme. An example of this is the learning outcome; to enable students to deploy practical experience of the range of social scientific quantitative and qualitative research methods. These methods should meet the requirements of social research in industry, national and local government, and public services and therefore support the employability of graduates. Another learning outcome of this programme is to enable students to; apply knowledge and understanding of the emergence of social media, and their importance for social, cultural and global processes, in a range of areas including everyday interactional practices, cultural production and circulation, and political and institutional engagement. This is further emphasized in the Statement of Purpose where it is states that the programme will prepare student for a range of careers in various sectors and will allow them to shape the future of field through evidence based decisions that benefit members of society.
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viii) ... how learning and teaching on the programme are informed and led by research in the department/ Centre/ University?
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York has been at the cutting edge of research on social media since the early stages of their development. This programme is associated with the long-standing Science and Technology Studies unit, which is based in the department of Sociology. The academic staff have a long track-record of being at the forefront of sociological exploration, this includes work on social media. Around 2006-7 the department was involved in a major programme of work into transformations in web cultures, this was the foundation from which the programme was established and reflects the ongoing research into social media in the sociology department.The Department of Sociology was ranked 1st in the UK for research quality and research impact by the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF2014). The academic staff have a long track-record of being at the forefront of sociological exploration of culture, gender, language and science. All of the academic staff within the department are engaged in both teaching and conducting research.
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5.d. Progression
For masters programmes where students do not incrementally 'progress' on the completion of a discrete Postgraduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma, please summarise students’ progressive development towards the achievement of the PLOs, in terms of the characteristics that you expect students to demonstrate at the end of the set of modules or part thereof. This summary may be particularly helpful to students and the programme team where there is a high proportion of option modules and in circumstances where students registered on a higher award will exit early with a lower one.

Note: it is not expected that a position statement is written for each masters PLO, but this can be done if preferred.
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On completion of modules sufficient to obtain a Postgraduate Certificate students will be able to:
If the PG Cert is an exit award only please provide information about how students will have progressed towards the diploma/masters PLOs. Please include detail of the module diet that students will have to have completed to gain this qualification as an exit award.
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Students exiting the programme with a PG Cert will have accumulated 60 credits from taught modules. Students will have made progress towards fulfilling PLOs 1, 2, and 3 and may have made progress towards PLOs 4 and 5 depending on which modules are completed. 
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On completion of modules sufficient to obtain a Postgraduate Diploma students will be able to:
If the PG Diploma is an exit award only please provide information about how students will have progressed towards the masters PLOs. Please include detail of the module diet that students will have to have completed to gain this qualification as an exit award.
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Students exiting the programme with a PG Dip will have achieved 120 credits from taught modules. Students will have made significant progress towards completing PLOs 1,2, 3, and 4 and will have made some progress towards achieving PLO 5 and 6. 
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6. Reference points and programme regulations
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6.a. Relevant Quality Assurance Agency benchmark statement(s) and other relevant external reference points
Please state relevant reference points consulted (e.g. Framework for Higher Education Qualifications, National Occupational Standards, Subject Benchmark Statements or the requirements of PSRBs): See also Taught Postgraduate Modular Scheme: Framework for Programme Design:
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6.b. University award regulations
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The University’s award and assessment regulations apply to all programmes: any exceptions that relate to this programme are approved by University Teaching Committee and are recorded at the end of this document.
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7. Programme Structure
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7.a. Module Structure and Summative Assessment Map
Please complete the summary table below which shows the module structure and the pattern of summative assessment through the programme.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
If the structure of your programme does not fit the usual academic year (for instance students start at the beginning of September or in January) please contact your Academic Quality Team contact in the Academic Support Office for guidance on how to represent the structure in an alternative format.

To clearly present the overall programme structure, include the name and details of each individual CORE module in the rows below. For OPTION modules, ‘Option module’ or 'Option from list x' should be used in place of specifically including all named options. If the programme requires students to select option modules from specific lists by term of delivery or subject theme these lists should be provided in the next section (7.b).

From the drop-down select 'S' to indicate the start of the module, 'A' to indicate the timing of each distinct summative assessment point (eg. essay submission/ exam), and 'E' to indicate the end of teaching delivery for the module (if the end of the module coincides with the summative assessment select 'EA'). It is not expected that each summative task will be listed where an overall module might be assessed cumulatively (for example weekly problem sheets).

Summative assessment by exams should normally be scheduled in the spring week 1 and summer Common Assessment period (weeks 5-7). Where the summer CAP is used, a single ‘A’ can be used within the shaded cells as it is understood that you will not know in which week of the CAP the examination will take place. (NB: An additional resit assessment week is provided in week 10 of the summer term for postgraduate students. See Guide to Assessment, 5.4.a)
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Full time structure
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CreditsModuleAutumn TermSpring Term Summer Term Summer Vacation
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CodeTitle12345678910123456789101234567891012345678910111213
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SOC00003M
Understanding Social MediaSE
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RSS00006M
Introduction to Quantitative Methods and Data AnalysisSEA
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RSS00001M
Introduction to Qualitative MethodsSAAEA
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SOC00011M
Advanced Methods in Social ResearchSEA
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SOC00001M
Themes and Issues in Contemporary SociologySEA
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SOC00022M
Social Media, Data & SocietySEA
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60SOC00009MResearch DissertationSEAEA
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Please indicate when any Progression Board and Exam board will be held and when any reassessments will be submitted.
NB: You are required to provide at least three weeks notice to students of the need for them to resubmit any required assessments, in accordance with the Guide to Assessment section 4.9
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Progression BoardSummer Term & Week 8
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ReassessmentSummer Term & Week 20
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Exam BoardSummer Term & Week 8
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Part time structures
Please indicate the modules undertaken in each year of the part-time version of the programme. Please use the text box below should any further explanation be required regarding structure of part-time study routes.
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Year 1 (if you offer the programme part-time over either 2 or 3 years, use the toggles to the left to show the hidden rows)
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CreditsModuleAutumn TermSpring Term Summer Term Summer Vacation
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CodeTitle12345678910123456789101234567891012345678910111213
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SOC00003M
Understanding Social MediaSEA
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SOC00001M
Themes and Issues in Contemporary SociologySEA
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SOC00022M
Social Media, Data & SocietySEA
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Please indicate when any Progression Board and Exam board will be held and when any reassessments will be submitted.
NB: You are required to provide at least three weeks notice to students of the need for them to resubmit any required assessments, in accordance with the Guide to Assessment section 4.9
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Progression BoardSummer Term & Week 8
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ReassessmentSummer Term & Week 20
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Exam BoardSummer Term & Week 8
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Year 2
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CreditsModuleAutumn TermSpring Term Summer Term Summer Vacation