Master's Programme in Applied Social Research
Foto; Kristian Pohl/Stockholms universitet
Sociology is the science about human social behaviour and relations between people and societies. Frequent sociological issues deal with processes and patterns of the interaction of groups and individuals, forms of organization of social groups, relations between groups, influence of groups on the behaviour of individuals and differencies among people in terms of power resources and life chances.
We welcome students who want to attain an advanced knowledge of quantitative social research methods, and how these can be used to address problems where the empirical analysis of data is a crucial component. The programme is a specialized and research-oriented Master's programme with the objective of training highly qualified sociologists with special skills in statistical and other quantitative methods. The distinguishing feature of the programme is its combination of rigorous sociological theory with quantitative empirical methods to analyze and contribute to the solution of challenging problems in sociology and society. The programme meets an increasing demand in public authorities and firms for skills in research design, measurement, data collection and data analysis.
Teachers at the programme are researchers that are highly active in the international research community, in several of Stockholm University's leading research areas.
Sociology at Stockholm University is continuously ranked high in the world according to both the QS World University Rankings by subject and the Shanghai ranking (Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, ARWU).
The language of instruction is English. The programme starts once a year, in autumn.
The first three semesters consist of both compulsory and elective courses.
The compulsory courses provide the student with the skills and competences to critically analyze and use sociological theories, different types of evaluation methods and research designs and a wide range of methods of analysis.
The elective courses make it easier for students to specialize, either methodologically or subject-wise. The elective courses can, after consultation with the department, be taken at another Swedish university or a university abroad. During the fourth semester, the student writes a master's thesis in sociology.
Year 1
Admitted from autumn 2026:
Semester 1
- Sociology Proseminar, 7.5 credits
- Qualitative Methods in the Social Sciences, 7.5 credits
- Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences 1, 7.5 credits
- Core Concepts in Sociological Theory, 7.5 credits
Semester 2
Admitted autumn 2025 or earlier:
Semester 1
- Introduction to Quantitative Research Design, 7.5 credits
- Basic Demographic Methods, 7.5 credits
- Social Network Analysis, 7.5 credits
- Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences 1, 7,5 credits
Semester 2
Year 2
Master’s programmes at Department of Sociology will only have one admission round for all applicants. This means that if you wish want to apply to one of our Master´s programmes starting autumn 2026, the application is open October 16, 2025 to January 15, 2026.
When applying to our master's programmes, it is required that you also submit a motivation letter including your research ideas. You must use the webform in the link below to create your motivation letter.
Once completed you will receive an e-mail with a pdf to upload with your application at www.universityadmissions.se / www.antagning.se . If you do not upload your motivation letter, it will not be assessed. The last day to upload the motivation letter is 2 February 2026. A new motivation letter must be submitted each semester you apply for.
Webform to create your motivation letter.
Any questions related to this can be directed to master@sociology.su.se
Selection process
In ranking the applicants for programmes at the Department of Sociology the following components are used to assess the merits of applicants:
- Grades of academic courses (1-50)
- Motivation letter (1-50)
- Relevance of previous studies in relation to the programme in question (1-100)
The programme meets an increasing demand in public authorities and firms for skills in research design, measurement, data collection, and data analysis, and welcomes students who want to attain an advanced knowledge of quantitative social research methods, and how these can be used to address problems where the empirical analysis of data is a crucial component.
