Example methodology dissertation topic 7:

The literature of qualitative data: a secondary source based commentary.

Qualitative research evolves out of a pursuit of phenomenological data that provides evidence of particular behaviours, occurrences, and perspectives. Traditionally employing a greater emphasis on sociological techniques for its investigative process, a qualitative approach can therefore generate relevant findings retrieved from fundamentally complex scenarios. This dissertation reviews existing literature on the merits and weaknesses of qualitative data and in so doing seeks to make its contribution to research within the social sciences more accessible to the general reader. Thus this is a dissertation that involves close textual referencing and will require the writer to explain complex methodological issues in a clear and concise manner.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Dixon-Woods, M., Shaw, R.L., Agarwal, S. and Smith, J.A. (2004). ‘The problem of appraising qualitative research’. Quality and Safety in Health Care, vol. 13(3), pp. 223-225.
• Flick, U. (2009). An introduction to qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
• Maxwell, J.A. (2004). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.