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Learning Outcomes

Social Research and Public Policy Program

Students who complete the major in Social Research and Public Policy at NYU Abu Dhabi will acquire the knowledge, skills and abilities summarized below:

  1. Knowledge and application of analytical frameworks to understand the policy process in different societies, including the role of the state and other major stakeholders and organizations, as well as the role of social and political movements.
  2. A thorough understanding of analytical frameworks to understand social structure in societies around the globe, including an understanding of the causes and consequences of social and economic inequality, poverty, and social development.
  3. Critical thinking, writing, and analysis related to the social science literature; ability to comprehensively and critically analyze the literature in fields of inquiry important for public policy in writing and for oral presentations, with an emphasis on analytical clarity.
  4. Ability to apply the central concepts and methodologies employed in fields relevant to SRPP majors, including fields such as research on inequality and poverty, health, conflict, development, culture, and social interaction.
  5. Critical assessment of the normative arguments and empirical evidence that play a role in specific policy debates; ability to assess the quality of existing empirical evidence as well as the need for additional empirical work relation to the policy question.
  6. Critical evaluation of methodological approaches in the social sciences, including qualitative approaches such as in-depth interviewing and ethnography as well as quantitative approaches such as survey and experimental research; in-depth understanding of weaknesses and strengths of the major approaches to social research; familiarity with related software applications.
  7. In-depth understanding of ethical principles in research with human subjects; ability to implement these principles in research design and practice.
  8. Abilities and skills necessary to design, plan, and carry out a research project independently; includes developing a research question, formulating hypotheses, and designing the empirical approach, implementing the design and collecting data and testing hypotheses.