Doctor of Social Work

The Doctor of Social work is a professional doctorate for both UK based as well as International (EU and wider Overseas) students. Its purpose is to enable those working in professional contexts to make a difference by carrying out applied or action-orientated research in a variety of areas. It also facilitates organisational input on agreed research areas and can enhance organisational research capacity.

The Doctor of Social Work is designed for those who are involved in aspects of social work, social policy and practice in a wide range of settings, including government, voluntary organisations, community-based projects, management, education, social care, health care, probation and user groups, as paid workers or volunteers.

It aims to develop critical reflection within participants' policy, practice and organisational contexts, enhance applied social research skills, and develop ability to carry out and apply original research.

The programme comprises research training, work orientated assignments and a 50,000-word thesis demonstrating original work.

More specifically, Doctor of Social work students undertake the following:

a. Four taught modules

• Introduction to Social Science Research
• Research Design
• Social Research Methods (I)
• Social Research Methods (II)

b. Optional modules to the value of 40 credits selected from available advanced research training modules or other postgraduate modules

c. Either

• A Development and Evaluation project and
• Researching Professional Practice (taught module)

Or

• Dissertation (10,000 words)

d. Thesis (50,000 words).