ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the ways in which parallel shifts are occurring within postgraduate research training and social science research. It explains that recent developments in postgraduate training are aligning the spatial and conceptual relations between academia and public policy, with the intent to bridge the gap between these two parties. Research training at postgraduate level is not a new phenomenon: master's degrees and post-doctoral degrees, known as research degrees, have traditionally involved reading for a research degree, a research study produced at the end of a doctorate degree. ESRC accredited universities have designed and installed Masters in research degrees (MRes) in order to formally train postgraduates in social science research methods. Quantitative research training comprised the building and analysing regression models using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The research training at master's level provides postgraduate students with various calculative research techniques that enable them to extrapolate evidence from the research field and analyse them within a measurable framework.
