Programme overview

What are dimensions of inequality? How unequal are societies in which we live? Is it getting better or worse? What factors determine these trends? In this course, students will develop the tools necessary to critically evaluate such questions. Students gain an overview in the many dimensions of inequality in contemporary societies (e.g. economic, ethnic, gender, spatial). We will look both within societies and across societies to develop an understanding of how inequality manifests in local and international contexts. Special attention is given to the mechanism through which these inequalities are produced and reproduced in social institutions like school, neighborhood and workplace. Furthermore, we will focus on the consequences of social inequalities in terms of individuals’ wellbeing and health. Students will learn how researchers study these processes in national and international contexts. They will learn about the challenges facing scholarship, and participate in key debates that animate contemporary inequalities research.

Learning goals

After successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
 
1. Explore central concepts through which sociologists investigate inequality.
2. Develop a descriptive and analytical understanding of how class, gender, ethnicity and other dimensions of inequality impact interactions, institutional placements, choices, and social policy in contemporary societies.
3. Become familiar with key debates that animate contemporary research on inequality.
4. Consider and critique competing explanations for social stratification and social mobility.
5. Learn about how these concepts are applied in quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods empirical research.

7.5 ECTS

Families are a key link between macro-level processes (political, cultural, and economic shifts) and individual outcomes such as socioeconomic and health status in later life. Many of the decisions that people might perceive as fundamentally personal and individual (the kind of job taken or whether to work at all, whether to become a parent or not, which country to live in) are shaped by the interaction between our families and broader social, cultural, and institutional conditions.

In this course, students will learn about the links between families and social inequalities. We will not only look at social class as dimension of social inequality, but also focus on differences by ethnicity, race, sexuality and gender. Students will gain insights into key theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of families and social inequalities. Attention will be paid to interactions between micro- and macro-levels of analysis; e.g. how markets (e.g. the precariousness of jobs), states (e.g. social policies and national laws) and political, cultural and economic shifts structure family members’ life courses and well-being outcomes, thereby reducing, maintaining or strengthening social inequalities at large.

The course is theory-based and empirical, and thus questions whether claims based on theory are supported by empirical evidence. It also seeks explanations for empirical phenomena. Moreover, tutorials will use empirical evidence in debates.

Learning goals

After successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Understand the key theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of families and social inequalities;
2. Illustrate how social inequalities arise within and between families;
3. Indicate how changes at the macro level context (e.g. policies, cultural climate, economic circumstances) influence family relations and in turn social inequalities;

After successful completion of this course, students will also have developed the following skills:

1. Understand and evaluate research and link this to trends and associations observed in data sources;
2. Build arguments and assess evidence in a clear and effective manner in oral presentations and written text;
3. Comment in a constructive way on other students’ work.

7.5 ECTS

When it comes to social inequalities, policies and institutional arrangements are part of the equation. They help shaping the incidence and consequences of our endowments and of the events we experience during our life – and often do so unequally. Policies and institutions may in fact mitigate social disparities, build some anew, magnify others, or even do all of the above at once. The result is often composite, a patchwork of trade-offs and unintended consequences cutting across the social fabric.

In this course we will examine a number of policies and institutional arrangements implicated in the (re)production of social inequalities. We will explore theory- and evidence- based accounts of these policies and institutions, of their features and effects as examined across the social sciences. Emphasis will be given to current debates, both academic and public, and to the organisation of informed debates within the class. Particular attention will be devoted, but by all means will not be limited, to the realms of welfare provision and labour markets. Most of all, the course will focus on four axes of social inequality, namely gender, generation and cohort, race and ethnicity, and class.
 

Learning goals

After successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Review and analyse theory- and evidence-based accounts of the features and consequences of different policies and institutions, with a particular emphasis on the (re)production of social inequalities;
2. Reflect on how policies and institutions respond to socio-economic, demographic, and political developments;
3. Identify trade-offs and unintended consequences of policies and institutional arrangements, i.e. how policies and institutions might mitigate some social inequalities while simultaneously producing or intensifying others;
4. Apply a theoretical “toolbox”, built on the insights of sociology and (equally) of other social sciences, to analyse policies/institutions and their consequences.

After successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Critically assess theories and empirical evidence;
2. Make informed policy recommendations, especially in the realm of social policies or other institutions implicated in social inequalities;
3. Report and summarise findings in a clear and effective manner (in writing).

7.5 ECTS

Various electives are available, of which some are part of other sociology programmes.

• Artificial Intelligence: The Present and Future of Work
• De stad als politieke arena: over de zeven gezichten van de stad
• Governing Economic Activity
• Infrastructures of Power
• Migration in a Globalized World
• Political Attitudes and Behaviour in Context
• Work Behaviour in the Digital Age

This course exposes students to a wide range of perspectives and approaches is social science research. Students will broaden their understanding of the philosophical, theoretical and ethical issues that matter in research, and will gain insight in the relationship between theory and research and between research and policy/practice.
To gain insight into the research process from design to the production of new knowledge, the course pursues two avenues. One is to help students develop practical skills in data collection, data analysis and interpretation. The other is to present students with exemplars of research: combining qualitative and quantitative methods, innovative use of registry data, natural experiments, creative comparisons of competing hypotheses.
The course content covers general topics such as scientific integrity, epistemology, ethics, mixed methods and big data. In addition, attention is devoted to so-called quantitative research, and to so-called qualitative research.
The course aims to not only provide the background enabling students to develop and manage their own thesis research projects, but also more generally to acquire a set of skills that are sought by government and non-government agencies, and industry.

Learning goals

After successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Explain the basic philosophical components to various methodologies in the social sciences (e.g. naturalism, constructivism);
• Explain and apply the principles of ethics, privacy, and scientific integrity in social research;
• Formulate answerable social scientific research questions, and identify which data and analyses best match those questions;
• Explain principles of sampling;
• Evaluate reports of empirical social science research, and assess to what extent they provide answers to the formulated research questions;
• Understand the main approaches in qualitative data collection, i.e. interview, observation, documents, and combinations thereof (e.g. ethnography);
• Understand and describe the main qualitative data analyzing techniques and its procedures to interpret the results, i.e. coding, content analysis, discourse analysis and grounded theory;
• Understand the main approaches for quantitative data collection, i.e. survey design, experimental design and the use of secondary quantitative data;
• Understand and describe techniques for analyzing quantitative data and interpret the results, i.e. various types of regression analysis.
• Understand and describe the role of mixed methods and triangulation in sociological research;
• Understand and describe the most important approaches in evaluation research (random control trials, quasi-experimental designs, realistic evaluation).

7.5 ECTS

The master thesis is the finale of the master Sociology. The thesis trajectory consists of two parts: the thesis-proposal and the thesis-research. Both parts will take place in small groups of approximately 5 students. Under supervision, students develop their own thesis-proposal. Students are only allowed to start with their actual thesis-research when their thesis proposal has been considered satisfactory by both their supervisor as well as their second reader. Once their proposal has been approved, students are allowed to conduct the research as detailed in their proposal, and report the findings of this research in their master thesis.

Learning goals

In the process of writing your master’s thesis proposal, conducting the research necessary to answer your research question(s), and reporting on the study conducted in your master’s thesis, you will learn:

• To formulate a suitable and sociologically relevant problem statement;
• To provide an overview of the extant literature in the chosen research subfield, resulting in a detailed and specific research question(s);
• To differentiate between descriptive and explanatory research questions;
• To use sociological theory and empirical findings to develop hypotheses and/or sub-questions, which constitute the basis for your theoretical framework;
• To create an appropriate research design to answer your research question(s);
• To assess the feasibility of your research design;
• To demonstrate and document the proper, careful consideration of the ethics and privacy implications of your study;
• To reliably operationalize the core concepts of your study;
• To independently conduct empirical research using secondary or primary (self-collected) data, using suitable analytical methods and techniques;
• To discuss the theoretical and empirical value of your study and evaluate your study’s sociological and societal relevance;
• To clearly and adequately orally communicate your thesis proposal to both expert and lay audiences.

Good to know

A sufficient assessment of the thesis proposal is the condition for being able to start carrying out the thesis research.

22.5 ECTS

The master thesis is the finale of the master Sociology. The thesis trajectory consists of two parts: the thesis-proposal and the thesis-research. Both parts will take place in small groups of approximately 5 students. Under supervision, students develop their own thesis-proposal. Students are only allowed to start with their actual thesis-research when their thesis proposal has been considered satisfactory by both their supervisor as well as their second reader. Once their proposal has been approved, students are allowed to conduct the research as detailed in their proposal, and report the findings of this research in their master thesis.

Learning goals

In the process of writing your master’s thesis proposal, conducting the research necessary to answer your research question(s), and reporting on the study conducted in your master’s thesis, you will learn:

• To formulate a suitable and sociologically relevant problem statement;
• To provide an overview of the extant literature in the chosen research subfield, resulting in a detailed and specific research question(s);
• To differentiate between descriptive and explanatory research questions;
• To use sociological theory and empirical findings to develop hypotheses and/or sub-questions, which constitute the basis for your theoretical framework;
• To create an appropriate research design to answer your research question(s);
• To assess the feasibility of your research design;
• To demonstrate and document the proper, careful consideration of the ethics and privacy implications of your study;
• To reliably operationalize the core concepts of your study;
• To independently conduct empirical research using secondary or primary (self-collected) data, using suitable analytical methods and techniques;
• To discuss the theoretical and empirical value of your study and evaluate your study’s sociological and societal relevance;
• To clearly and adequately orally communicate your thesis proposal to both expert and lay audiences.

Good to know

A sufficient assessment of the thesis proposal is the condition for being able to start carrying out the thesis research.

22.5 ECTS