Advanced sociological research

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The master’s program invites students to learn about contemporary social transformations and develop sociological research skills from a critical and applied perspective.

For the period 2020-2023, all aspiring students will have the opportunity to participate in specific research activities, fully funded, within the research project “Precarious work and peripheral housing” conducted by teachers and staff for a Norwegian grant. Research will be carried out in Maramureș and will focus on topics such as: transnational migration, industrialization/deindustrialization/reindustrialization, territorial development/underdevelopment, segregation of poverty, housing marginalization, transformation of the labour market.

The courses will take place weekly, Mondays-Thursdays, from 16:00 or 17:00, so as to meet the needs of those who want to work during the master’s studies.

The Master offers specialization in two separate fields (optional courses):  quantitative and qualitative sociological research methods and techniques on the one hand and applied sociology in organizations, social programmes and daily life on the other hand.

Within the program there will be various scientific activities, debates and extracurricular seminars, in which students will be able to critically use and apply the skills acquired during courses and seminars. Our research conference series will provide opportunities for students to meet researchers from other universities in Romania or abroad and will expose them to other academic networks that will help them identify future academic opportunities.

The master is very open to the professional environment and we organize meetings with sociologists who use research in non-academic settings: NGOs, private companies and public organisations. Students will also have the opportunity to participate in working visits to sociological research institutes in Cluj-Napoca, where they can familiarize themselves with different types of social marketing services.

Sociologist; Research Assistant in Sociology; Social Science Research Assistant; Demography Research Assistant; Analyst; Specialist with administrative functions; Specialist with intellectual and scientific roles; Public administration consultant; Advisor in public institutions; Education Advisor; Local expert on minority issues.

The specific objectives of this master’s program are:

  • expertise in internationally competitive sociological and ethnographic research, for a professional career in specialised companies;
  • specialized professional practice based on institutional agreements with prestigious companies and market research institutes;
  • specialized optional modules of quantitative research methods and techniques (descriptive and predictive statistics) and / or qualitative research;
  • critical thinking and social analysis that will help students to substantiate, implement and evaluate the impact of public projects or policies carried out by the public or private sector, e.g. NGOs in the social, artistic, civic, cultural, etc. fields.
  • training students to be specialists in various branches of sociology with an openness to doctoral studies.

1st semester 

Social research methodology
State, territory, citizenship (in English)
Marginal groups and social exclusion
Specialized course optional 1

2nd semester 

Applied research: social themes in documentaries
Social inequalities and critical analysis of public policies (in English)
Academic writing, ethics and deontology in social sciences
Specialized course optional 2
Specialized professional practice I

3rd semester 

Political economy of big data (in English)
International migration and the globalization of the labor market (in English)
Sociological and anthropological paradigms of secularization
Specialized course optional 3
Specialized professional practice 2

4th semester 

Postmodernism and critical thinking in social sciences
Specialized course optional 4
Bibliographic documentation for the dissertation
Empirical research for the dissertation

During the 4 semesters, a total of 3 general and specialized optional courses have to be chosen. These can be selected from those nominated in the curriculum.

For more information you can contact the program head:

Gabriel Troc
Associate professor PhD 
Department of sociology

Admission and information:

TEL.: +4 0756 831 955
E-MAIL: admitere.socasis@ubbcluj.ro