Program Overview

How can data science methods help answer social science questions? How can we combine a deep understanding of the social world, with the latest tools and data sources to analyse it? Discover how to ask the right questions, and develop the skills to answer them. By complementing a sociological understanding of the world with programming and analytical skills, you become a social scientist that can both understand and shape the big data revolution.

At Essex we investigate what connects people with each other, as well as what divides them. We consider every aspect of our daily lives, from how we relate to politicians, celebrities and friends, to how we define ourselves, our families, and others. You experience a lively, informal environment with the opportunity to explore a wide variety of topics including:

• The role of software in everyday life
• Programming with Python and Java
• Key ethical and social issues in digital societies
• Data visualisation
• Theories of social stratification
• Race, class and gender
• Sociological research methods
• Natural language engineering

With research methods rapidly changing in response to the large-scale generation of data within society, sociology needs to ensure it is engaged with new digital methods to both benefit from them, and to shape them. Sociologists with programming skills are highly valued in any organisation that must gather and draw inferences from data. By combining a sociological understanding with practical programming skills you learn how to understand and be that change in society.

Our BSc Sociology with Data Science is taught by our Department of Sociology in partnership with our School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering to provide an interdisciplinary course. Our Department of Sociology is top 20 in the UK for research excellence (REF 2014, mainstream universities, THE 2014).

We offer expertise in many areas that complement the study of society and technology, including criminology, social history, visual sociology, anthropology, economic sociology, US and European studies and cultural rights.

Study abroad

Your education extends beyond our university campus. We support you in expanding your education through offering the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities. The four-year version of our degree allows you to spend the third year abroad or employed on a placement abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the three-year course.

Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised.

If you spend a full year abroad you'll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won't pay any tuition fees to your host university.