In May the first cohort of the Master of Social Research (Advanced) students gave their final seminar presentations. The five students in the first cohort are working on the following topics:

• Household formation and composition in two Chinese ethnic populations (Lizzy Duan)
• Motivations for social science data sharing (Janet McDougall)
• Changes in family and household during China's rapid economic development (Fei Mao)
• Collective identify formation on Twitter (Cecilie Perez)
• Ethic fertility differentials in Afghanistan (Ateeq Zakokhail).

The Master of Social Research (Advanced) is a one semester (full-time)/two semesters (part-time) research-intensive extension to the Master of Social Research. During the program, students develop and implement a self-directed research project. This involves the development of a research proposal, presentation of a seminar and the write-up of the project as a journal-quality paper, and each student is supervised by an academic supervisor with knowledge or experience in the relevant field of study.

Photo: Dr Edith Gray, Cecile Perez, Janet McDougall, Lizzy Duan, Dr Robert Ackland, Fei Mao and Ateeq Zakokhail.