The master’s (Sc.M.) program in Social Data Analytics trains students in advanced techniques for data collection and analysis.

For more information on admission and program requirements, please visit the following website: https://graduateprograms.brown.edu/graduate-program/social-data-analytics-scm

Two Required Courses
SOC 2010	Multivariate Statistical Methods I
SOC 2020	Multivariate Statistical Methods II

Research Internship and Directed Research Practicum

Students may elect to enroll in a faculty-directed research practicum (SOC 2982) in the first or second semester in conjunction with a research internship. The internship provides students with hands-on experience in social research. Internship experiences may occur outside of the department (either off-campus with a local organization in the for-profit or not-for-profit sector or an on-campus organization) or on a faculty member's research project. Activities may range from data collection, data entry, data file management, descriptive analyses, and more advanced model estimation. Students sometimes opt to design their own project under the supervision of a faculty member.

Optional Tracks

The master’s in Social Data Analytics offers tracks that allow students to specialize in one of three methodological areas. The tracks are: Qualitative Analysis, Spatial Analysis, and Demographic Analysis. The track name will appear in parentheses at the end of the official transcript below the program name, for example: Social Data Analytics (Spatial Analysis). The completion of a track signals strength and expertise in a particular set of methods to potential employers. Students who wish to pursue a track must either take at least four of their elective courses from an approved list of courses for that track; or take three approved courses from that track plus one pre-approved course from another track. Students may only select one track. Students applying to a track must do so by the end of the first week of classes in their second semester. Students are not required to select a track and may opt for a more general mixed-method training. 

In any given academic year, not all of the courses listed under each track are offered, and new courses not listed on the table may be offered. Students who are interested in pursuing a track need to choose their courses carefully in consultation with a program advisor. In exceptional cases, a course taken outside of the Population Studies and Training Center or the Department of Sociology can be used to meet a track requirement with the permission of the program advisor.

Demographic Analysis (4 from list, or 3 + 1 from Spatial Analysis list)
SOC 1120	Market and Social Surveys
SOC 1260	Market Research in Public and Private Sectors
PSTC 2071	Introduction to Social Network Analysis
SOC 2230	Techniques of Demographic Analysis
SOC 2960S	Statistical Methods for Hierarchical and Panel Data
SOC 2960Y	Causal Analysis
SOC 2961M	Computational Methods for Social Scientists

Qualitative Analysis (4 courses from list, or 3+ SOC 1120 or SOC 1260)
SOC 1117	Focus Groups for Market and Social Research	1
SOC 1118	Context Research for Innovation	1
SOC 1270	Race, Class, and Ethnicity in the Modern World	1
SOC 2210	Qualitative Methods	1
SOC 2250	Ethnography: Theory and Practice	1
SOC 2260T	Cultural Theory and Methods	1

Spatial Analysis (4 courses from list, or 3 +1 from Demographic Analysis list)
PSTC 1340	Principles and Methods of Geographic Information Systems	1
SOC 1873G	The Geography of Urban Inequality	1
SOC 2610	Spatial Thinking in Social Science	1
PSTC 2612	Geographic Information Systems and Spatial Analysis for the Social Sciences	1
SOC 2960G	Spatial Data Analysis Techniques in the Social Sciences	1
PSTC 2961B	Applications in Geographic Information Systems	1