Description
Student guidance – critical literature-based assignment
Task for assessment: writing a critical account of qualitative methods within a specific area of enquiry
Your task involves exploring why qualitative methods have or have not been used in research within your broad
area of research interest, judging how much potential qualitative methods to contribute in future, including your
own work, and explaining why the reasons for your view. It entails developing a convincing argument,
demonstrating:
• How you plan to develop your argument in this assignment
• How thoroughly you have searched for studies in your broad area of research interest that employ qualitative
methods (alone and within mixed designs)
• Whether the use of qualitative methods has contributed significant new knowledge in this area or not,
illustrated by examples of any research using qualitative methods or any evidence that researchers have
considered but rejected such methods
• Why researchers have or have tended not to use qualitative methods, supported by evidence from literature
pointing to the strengths and limitations of qualitative methods, and to evidence of researchers’ ontological
and epistemological assumptions informing their choice of methods
• What potential, if any, qualitative methods have to contribute in developing significant new knowledge within
your area, and your own work, and explaining why
