Data Analytics and Applied Social Research

The Master’s Program in Data Analytics and Applied Social Research provides students with the educational foundation and technical skills necessary to prepare for a professional career in market research, program evaluation, media and public opinion research, public health research, institutional research and assessment, or other applied social research fields. The program teaches students to use data to answer questions and support decision-making. The program emphasizes advanced analytic skills, including data handling, manipulation, interpretation, and analysis. It also emphasizes research process, preparing students to conduct independent projects using a variety of research methods and designs. The program offers five concentrations, all sharing the basic core of data analytics and applied research: Applied Social Research, Market Research, Program Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Media and Marketing, and Data Science (“Big Data”).

An Accelerated MA program is also available for undergraduate students majoring in Sociology. This program allows students to take four MA courses for joint credit toward both the Sociology BA and the MA in Data Analytics and Applied Social Research. Subject to capacity, requirements for admission to the Accelerated MA program are an overall undergraduate GPA of 3.5 and a grade of B+ or better in SOC 205 and SOC 334 or equivalent.

The department’s full-time faculty members maintain a very active research agenda. Faculty members include nationally recognized scholars, senior marketing executives, and award-winning demographers with extensive networks. Faculty research areas are: social stratification of urban areas; demography and public health; film and society; the impact of digital technology on society; workforce diversity; migration and immigration; ethnicity, race, class and gender; organizational and economic sociology; education; and Jewish culture in America. The facilities in the department include computer laboratories along with a new multimedia lab and full Internet connections to assist graduate students in their research.