======= Date Modified 14 Oct 2011 16:40:01 =======
A glossary in a qualitative thesis - what does anybody think? I am not particularly against the idea but am unsure how to go about it. I have flicked through glossaries in books and none seem to include references alongside the entries, and yet how can I compile definitions of key terms without including references. Also, as mine is a qualitative study the glossary won't have technical terms but rather concepts relating primarily to the philosophical orientation of my study. Again, how do I do this without references?

I'd appreciate any thoughts, has anybody else got a qualitative glossary?

Thanks

Not sure if this helps, the way I added definitions was simply through adding '(see Appendix X for a full description of 'concepts')' and just listed them on appendix X. I have not referenced them at all because they're already referenced on the text. Could you do something similar at all?

I thought about adding a glossary to my thesis, but in the end I decided not to, as I thought it would "eat" a good part of my word count. Then, after the viva I had to clarify the meaning of some words in footnotes. So retrospectively it would have been better to insert the glossary.

I don't think you should reference what you write in the glossary, unless you write it in the style of a dictionary entry, and at that point you can reference things in-text using the author-date system.

======= Date Modified 14 Oct 2011 16:40:30 =======
Thanks for that input Skig and Corinne. It's been on my 'to-do' list for a while now and I keep putting it off. I guess as the glossary comes after the PhD proper any entry would have already been defined and explained throughout the text so maybe that's why they don't seem to have references of their own. I'm just a bit uneasy explaining some of the concepts I have without using references.

I think I'll put it off a while longer :p