MA Anthropological Research

• Acquire research skills in both anthropology and ethnography.
• Gain the necessary skills to move on to doctoral and research degree programmes.
• Benefit from a course that is part of the North West Doctoral Training Centre (NWDTC).

The MA Anthropological Research course is designed to prepare you to carry out doctoral level research in social anthropology. It provides training in a wide range of research methods and teaches you how to develop a substantive research project in a theoretically and methodologically informed way.

Although, primarily intended as preliminary to doctoral research, the course is also available as a stand-alone taught master's degree to improve your social research skills and gain an in-depth understanding of ethnographic methods and approaches.

You will work closely with an expert supervisor in social anthropology, with further guidance from a second supervisor. All students attend the following core course units:

• Issues in Ethnographic Research I and II;
• Postgraduate Research Seminar;
• Independent Theoretical and Ethnographic Analysis I; and
• Introduction to Quantitative Methods.

In consultation with your supervisor, you will also select three short, five credit units in qualitative or quantitative research methods. Computer training is also available.

You may then select two specialist course units, of which one must be within social anthropology (options vary from year to year) and one may be elsewhere in the University.

Full entry requirements

Applicants whose first language is not English should meet the following language requirements:

• IELTS Academic test score of 7 overall, including 7 in writing with no further component score below 6.5
• TOEFL IBT 100 with 25 in writing and no further score below 22 in each section. TOEFL code for Manchester is 0757
• Pearson Test of English (PTE) score of 76 overall, with 76 in writing and no further score below 70

Priority will be given to applicants who have provided evidence of meeting these scores when making offers.

Pre-Sessional English Courses

We will consider applicants who do not meet these scores but you will be required to complete a pre-sessional English language course at the University of Manchester prior to the start of the course.

To be considered for a pre-sessional English language course for this programme we require the following minimum IELTS (Academic) scores:

6 Week Pre-Sessional Course : IELTS 6.5 overall with 6.5 in writing and no more than one sub-skill of 6.0.

10 Week Pre-sessional Course : IELTS 6.0 overall with 6.0 or above in each sub-skill

If you have not yet completed your current academic study and are interested in studying a pre-sessional course, you must hold an IELTS for UKVI (Academic) test certificate to ensure that you are eligible for a separate visa for the English language course.

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