MA RESEARCH ACTIVITIES/RESEARCH PROJECT

Choosing your research topic:
possible factors
Personal interests/curiosity (emerging from everyday life experience, hobbies, membership in cultural groups and settings)
Practical interests and applied problems + timeliness and applicability
Ethical principles and ideals of the researcher
Theoretical preferences
Access to the field
Time constraints and financial constraints
Personal security and reputation
See e.g. In the Beginning: Starting a Field Research Project, in: Bailey, Carol A. A Guide to Field Research. London, 2001. Pp. 25-49.

Things to remember for MA SES students when choosing the research topic
Focus on Europe
Comparative perspective desirable
Compatibility of theoretical frame and empirical research question
Elements of scientific novelty are expected in MA thesis
The project should be ‘doable’ within 2 years of study
Both the focus of the research and the major research questions can change in he course of research process

Research design
Research problem
Key research question -> goal
Specific research questions -> tasks
Subject of inquiry (“research object”) -> samples, cases + necessary grounding
Hypotheses (if needed)
Methods + grounding
Additionally: topicality, the level of the topic scientific development
Theoretical frame(s) + grounding

Elena Shershneva
Dr., associate professor
European labor markets
employment policies and unemployment problems
education and inequality
international human resources management
Economic crises, new risks and welfare state reforms in Europe
Social movements in European countries

Elena Belokurova
Dr., associate professor
European politics: integration and disintegration
European Union governance
Constitutionalization in Europe
Non-governmental organizations

Dmitry Ivanov
Dr., Prof.
sociological theory
globalization
virtualization of societies
glam-capitalism

Vladimir Ilyin
Dr., Prof.
social differentiation, inequality and exclusion
labor relations
consumption
everyday life
qualitative social research

Svetlana Yaroshenko
Dr., associate professor
poverty
social exclusion and new forms of solidarity
post-Socialist contexts
gender differentiation and inequalities
case-study

Anisya Khokhlova
Dr., head of Council of Young Scholars. MA SES director
everyday life
cultural studies (especially public and community-based art, creative communities and spaces)
urban studies
memory studies

Madeleine Block
Dr., DAAD lecturer
knowledge management
human resources management
Sociology of organizations and organizational management
Quantitative methods of social research

Andrey Rezaev
Dr., Prof.
contemporary capitalist societies
education
transnational migration
comparative sociology
neo-institutionalism in social sciences

Research activities evaluation
Evaluation is done every semester by MA SES director with the involvement of scientific supervisors
Points system:
1st semester ≥ 15 points
2nd semester ≥ 18 points
3rd semester ≥ 20 points
4th semester ≥ 25 points
Special support from CGES for students who obtained the highest number of points
Extra points earned for general activities can be transferred to the next semester

Reporting: thesis-related research progress
Development of research design
Improvement of research design
Bibliography
Theoretical chapter(s)
Empirical chapter(s)
Development of research tools (e.g. questionnaire, interview guide, discourse-analysis guidelines)
Empirical data collection & analysis
Full paper presentation and predefense