MSc in Behavioural Science - Full Details

From September 2013 the Stirling Management School, University of Stirling will offer an MSc in Behavioural Science. The course director is Dr. Michael Daly and course faculty include Professor Alex Wood and Professor Liam Delaney.

Behavioural science is a rapidly growing area for policy and business with fascinating insights into human behaviour and wide-ranging practical implications.

This exciting new programme teaches the core theory and methods of behavioural science and behavioural economics and how these can be applied important business and policy-relevant issues.

This MSc is aimed at students with a very strong intrinsic motivation to study the link between economics, psychology, business and policy. The MSc is taught by dedicated staff from the Behavioural Science Centre who have extensive experience in integrating insights from economics and psychology to address key societal challenges.

The MSc offers students the opportunity to gain advanced training in behavioural theory, to learn a comprehensive suite of behavioural methods, and to understand how this ‘toolkit’ can be applied to understand and inform the decisions made by stakeholders, workers and consumers.

Behavioural science and behavioural economics seek to answer key questions about how people behave and what influences the decisions they make, for example:
What determines whether people are impulsive, take risks, or cooperate?
What factors influence behavioural change?
What influence do different cultures and societies have on human behaviour?

Behavioural science uses the knowledge derived from the study of such questions to develop solutions to crucial economic, political, commercial and social challenges, for example:
How can we increase the efficient use of energy?
How can pension savings rates be increased?
How can randomized controlled trials be used to test and evaluate public policy?
How do we ensure consumers find value and make purchases they are satisfied with?
How can compliance with laws and regulations be increased?