Example methodology dissertation topic 1:

An assessment of the relative strengths of different interviewing techniques within qualitative research.

Furthering the hypothesis that choosing the correct interviewing technique (or techniques) is a vital pre-requisite to the attainment of quality primary research data, this dissertation offers a comparative critique of four interviewing techniques and scenarios. They are; face-to-face interviews versus email interviews, structured versus semi-structured interviews, individual interviews versus group interviews, and open versus closed questioning techniques. Having used secondary data to assess the relative strengths and merits of each, the second part of the dissertation will then conduct a ‘fictitious’ study upon ‘perceptions of Norwich as a romantic weekend holiday destination’ and will conduct interviews using each of the aforementioned techniques. Through so doing, the study will be able to offer a series of reasoned comments as to which interviewing technique was most useful for the given study area.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Jennings, J. (2005). ‘Interviewing: A focus on qualitative techniques’. In, Ritchie, B.W., Burns, P. and Palmer, C. (eds), Tourism research methods: Integrating theory with practice. Wallingford: CABI, pp. 99-118.
• Opdenakker, R. (2006). ‘Advantages and disadvantages of four interview techniques in qualitative research’. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum, vol. 7(4), Art. 11.
• Wengraf, T. (2001). Qualitative research interviewing: Biographic narrative and semi-structured methods. London: SAGE.