MSc project = PhD direction?
Hi everyone! I recently started my MSc in a social science field after working professionally in clinical research for the last few years. I'm wondering whether my MSc research project needs to be closely aligned with my PhD projects.
My program is extremely busy with classes, clinical/client work, and research, and our program recommends that secondary data is probably the best route for an easy master's project, given that ethics approval takes about 3-4 months at our school.
My PI has data that I can use for a project, but I was initially interested in federal data that I could analyze, with variables I would like to focus on further. However, I found that I have to jump through multiple hoops to even get access to it. My PI's data isn't super closely linked to what I want to do, but still very interesting.
I was hoping to get some insight/hear about people's experiences with something similar and whether it had any drawbacks, especially when applying for funding. Thank you!