The School has always been at the forefront of methodological development in the social sciences. With the exception of the departments of Statistics and Philosophy, where methodology is for some the main activity, this methodological expertise has generally been contained within specific substantive areas of research rather than being identifiable and accessible from outside these areas. In the case of statistics and philosophy, the expertise has also tended to be inaccessible to potential users from outside, because of its technical focus. Consequently the teaching and dissemination of methodological expertise has been available to students, and in many cases staff, primarily within their own departments.
The mission of the Methodology Institute is to become a national centre of excellence in methodology. Specifically, the Institute was set up to coordinate and provide a focus for methodological activities at the School, in particular in the areas of research student (and, potentially, staff) training and of methodological research. The Institute is an interdisciplinary group and its primary role is to facilitate collaboration between departments and to provide courses where appropriate.
The School-wide Master's programme in Social Research Methods, drawing on teaching from nine departments, and accepting students specialising in many of the disciplines offered by the School, is the flagship of the Institute's teaching efforts. Through this, and the Institute's provision of courses for research students from all parts of the School, the aim is to make the School the pre-eminent centre for methodological training in the social sciences.
Institute staff are involved in a variety of research projects| in Research methodology, Social Psychology, Sociology, Criminology, Political science and Statistics.