About the department
The Sheffield Methods Institute is an interdisciplinary department set up as a response to how changes in contemporary society have impacted the social sciences.
The SMI was set up via funding as part of a £20-million programme to promote change in Social Science graduates - more graduates are needed who can use data and other forms of information such as social media, and can communicate clearly what it tells us.
We are a unique organisation created to promote innovation in research methods that can be applied to the social sciences to ultimately help solve the big challenges facing today’s society.
We do this by:
- Delivering teaching and training in cutting edge qualitative and quantitative research methods.
- Providing opportunities to manage and analyse data sets, including Big Data.
- Leading the methodological innovation at The University of Sheffield through events such as seminar series, workshops, study schools and conferences.
- Building working relationships with businesses to promote best practice research methods and deliver work experience opportunities.
- Working with international partners with our teaching and research.
