Social Work Dissertation: Choosing the Right Type of Study

A social work dissertation is a dissertation, which main focus is on social work, its needs, and results. In that regard, it can be stated that a social work dissertation largely implies a quantitative study, in which a target population is investigated in the context of a social issue. Nevertheless, this article might provide a few hints on how to write a social work dissertation with different approaches.

Quantitative vs. Qualitative

Drawing the comparison before quantitative and qualitative social work dissertation, the main association is between testing a hypothesis and reviewing the literature. In that regard, quantitative social work dissertation implies translating the relationship between two variables into numbers. Usually, such relationships are tested in order to confirm or reject a hypothesis.

Qualitative, on the other hand, implies gathering information, which cannot be quantified, and thus, the issue is explored, rather than tested.

Qualitative Social Work Dissertation

A successful implementation of a qualitative study in a social work dissertation might include the following examples:

• A series of interviews, in which the potential aspects for investigation might be a social issue, the factors influencing the social issue, social workers, etc.
• Analysis of a particular section of literature, outlining common findings, common elements, and gaps in knowledge.
• Observation studies, in which a group of people might be observed for a specific period of time in order to identify possible problems.

It can be stated that qualitative social work dissertations are not necessarily easier than quantitative, rather than simply serving different purposes. An example of collaboration between a qualitative and quantitative social work dissertation can be seen in using the first to identify a social problem, while the second will investigate a hypothesis related to such problem. Such collaboration is called a mixed approach study.