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What Should My Masters Course Be In?

Hi,

What would be the right masters course for me? I am interested in studying the effect of poor personal health (including mental health) on the adoption of extremist ideology as a PhD. I don't quite know what field this would be in because it concerns the interplay of two quite different fields. With that in mind, what masters course will enable me to study my prospective research area?

I will hopefully be achieving a BA in English Literature this summer - so I most likely won't be able to jump into a hardcore STEM course for what it's worth.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jed.

P.s. Sorry if this question is a duplicate, I filled out a form like this a moment ago and it disappeared - It may have been posted without me realising - I'm still figuring out this website!.

(edited 9 months ago)

Reply 1

LJMUStudentReps

Official Rep

Hi Jed,

Perhaps a masters in Psychology, but a conversion masters?

A conversion masters would just allow you to transition into this field and gain basic knowledge of core concepts.

It is worth mentioning, if you didn't know already, that your PhD can be in literally anything, so regardless if you chose the right or wrong masters, you could still go on to do a PhD in your area of interest?

Although I understand that having a related masters would be beneficial prior to commencing the PhD, which in this instance I would still believe Psychology would be the best route :smile:

Hope that helps!

Gemma
Official LJMU Student Rep

Reply 2

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Original post

by Jed4

Seems to be a pretty sociological topic to me...? You could perhaps also explore via anthropological perspectives, or maybe something in the politics vein.

Don't really see how any kind of STEM approach is going to be relevant, this is a social phenomenon based on underlying factors (i.e. health). You aren't going to be able to demonstrate somehow from a molecular basis how complex social behaviour like this comes about...

Reply 3

PG Study Chester

Original post

by Jed4

Hi,
What would be the right masters course for me? I am interested in studying the effect of poor personal health (including mental health) on the adoption of extremist ideology as a PhD. I don't quite know what field this would be in because it concerns the interplay of two quite different fields. With that in mind, what masters course will enable me to study my prospective research area?
I will hopefully be achieving a BA in English Literature this summer - so I most likely won't be able to jump into a hardcore STEM course for what it's worth.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jed.
P.s. Sorry if this question is a duplicate, I filled out a form like this a moment ago and it disappeared - It may have been posted without me realising - I'm still figuring out this website!.

Hey Jed4,

Wow this sounds a super interesting subject to research for your PhD and it's great that you have such a firm idea of where you want to go with your academic career and research.

In terms of the masters that you should do, is it possible to speak to the tutors at your current university, in the sociology/ psychology departments? Even if you don't want to remain at your current institution the tutors in the departments will have a clear idea of the contents of the masters courses and may be able to recommend which course would be the most relevant for you and give you some advice as to how the steps you should now be taking. As one of the previous replies said a conversion masters is a good idea, as this gives you a lot more flexibility.

Also, you could think about a research masters, which might suit your interests better as you can be a little more flexible with the content of your research and it will definitely assist you with the transition to PhD.

Open Days are a great way of finding out more about course content offered by universities and it might also be useful for you to go to a few postgraduate open day events and speak with the tutors in the sociology and psychology departments - even careers might be able to give you some indications of the most suitable masters courses or at least give you some pointers about where to look to narrow down your search - in respect of course content. You could outline your ideas and see what they say and ask for their advice.
I hope this has helped a bit,
Good luck with your academic journey, it sounds fascinating
Jess
PhD English
University of Chester

Reply 4

gjd800

Sociology or Social Anthropology seems the most obvious to me.

Reply 5

De Montfort University

Official Rep

Original post

by Jed4

Hi,
What would be the right masters course for me? I am interested in studying the effect of poor personal health (including mental health) on the adoption of extremist ideology as a PhD. I don't quite know what field this would be in because it concerns the interplay of two quite different fields. With that in mind, what masters course will enable me to study my prospective research area?
I will hopefully be achieving a BA in English Literature this summer - so I most likely won't be able to jump into a hardcore STEM course for what it's worth.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jed.
P.s. Sorry if this question is a duplicate, I filled out a form like this a moment ago and it disappeared - It may have been posted without me realising - I'm still figuring out this website!.

Hey Jed,
First off, your research idea sounds interesting and incredibly relevant. The connection of mental health and extremist ideology is such an important area, and you’re right in saying it crosses disciplines. Although my expertise is in engineering, it sounds like it would be worth the read once you complete your dissertation.
Given your background in English Literature, I’d recommend looking into interdisciplinary master’s courses like:

•

MA in Health and Society

•

MA in Terrorism, Security and Society

•

MA in Psychology of Mental Health (conversion)

•

MA in Criminology and/or Psychology

These kinds of programs often explore social, psychological, and political factors together and could give you the grounding you need for a future PhD. You might also want to check out courses in Cultural or Critical Theory if you're interested in ideological discourse . Some of the courses we offer cover similar subject area , if you would like to have a look on our website , otherwise there are many other universities who cover some of the degree’s I have mentioned above or related ones.
Also, many unis are open to applicants from different academic backgrounds, especially for interdisciplinary or qualitative research routes, so don’t worry about your BA limiting you.
Hope this helps😊
Cece
Energy engineering student

Reply 6

Jed4

Original post

by LJMUStudentReps

Hi Jed,
Perhaps a masters in Psychology, but a conversion masters?
A conversion masters would just allow you to transition into this field and gain basic knowledge of core concepts.
It is worth mentioning, if you didn't know already, that your PhD can be in literally anything, so regardless if you chose the right or wrong masters, you could still go on to do a PhD in your area of interest?
Although I understand that having a related masters would be beneficial prior to commencing the PhD, which in this instance I would still believe Psychology would be the best route :smile:

Hope that helps!
Gemma
Official LJMU Student Rep

Hi Gemma,

I didn't know that. It's quite a relief I suppose. I appreciate the advice and I think psychology conversion courses sound like exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for actually. I appreciate your response. :smile:

Jed.

Reply 7

UEA Rep Grace

Original post

by Jed4

Hi,
What would be the right masters course for me? I am interested in studying the effect of poor personal health (including mental health) on the adoption of extremist ideology as a PhD. I don't quite know what field this would be in because it concerns the interplay of two quite different fields. With that in mind, what masters course will enable me to study my prospective research area?
I will hopefully be achieving a BA in English Literature this summer - so I most likely won't be able to jump into a hardcore STEM course for what it's worth.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jed.
P.s. Sorry if this question is a duplicate, I filled out a form like this a moment ago and it disappeared - It may have been posted without me realising - I'm still figuring out this website!.

Hi Jed, this sounds like it has psychology alll over! I think a psychology course is going to allow you to focus on these issues best as well as give you the right methodological training to conduct the research which is also super important! I think your biggest challenge will be finding courses that take you with a non-psychology-related undergrad so I would look at conversion courses which you can find out more about here.

My psychology course did a module on mental health and as part of my placement I got to work with police negotiators and see how they engage with people who have committed acts of terrorism, so I think this research sounds super worthwhile! Best of luck 😊

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