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Effective Literature Review in Research

Dr. Khalid Mahmood

ProfessorUniversity of the Punjab

Professor of Information Management at University of the Punjab, Pakistan

Post-doctoral research fellow at University of California, Loss Angeles, USA

150+ publications Supervised many doctoral, M.Phil. and master theses Worked for various research journals as editor, reviewer and

editorial board member Conducted many trainings on research writing and publishing

About me

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Acknowledgment I have prepared this presentation with the

help of many books, presentations and Websites.

I pay my sincere gratitude to all authors, professors and experts for their efforts and contributions.

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Literature review - Definition A body of text that aims to review the critical points of

current knowledge on a particular topic A comprehensive survey of publications in a specific field

of study or related to a particular line of research A summary of existing published literature made by

experts who select and weigh findings available from the literature

A summary and interpretation of research findings reported in the literature

A process and documentation of the current relevant research literature regarding a particular topic or subject of interest

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Purposes of literature review Define and limit problem

Develop familiarity with topic Limit research to a subtopic within larger body of knowledge

Place study in historical perspective Analysis of way in which study relates to existing knowledge

Avoid unintentional and unnecessary replication Awareness of prior studies so as to avoid unneeded replication Replication is reasonable if it is needed to verify prior results,

investigate results that failed to be significant, or relate problem to a specific site

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Purposes of literature review… Select promising methods and measures

Knowledge of and insight into specific research designs for investigating a problem

Awareness of specific instruments, sampling procedures, and data analyses

Relate findings to previous knowledge and suggest future research needs Relating prior research to what is known places current study in

perspective This knowledge allows researcher to focus problem on what is

not known Develop research hypotheses

Suggestions for specific research hypotheses

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Meta-analysis Quantitatively combines the results of studies that are the result of a systematic literature review. Capable of performing a statistical analysis of the pooled results of relevant studies.

Literature review designsNarrative review Selective review of the literature that broadly covers

a specific topic. Does not follow strict systematic methods to locate and synthesize articles.

Systematic review Utilizes exacting search strategies to make certain that the maximum extent of relevant research has been considered. Original articles are methodologically appraised and synthesized.

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When we need to do a literature review At the beginning of the research project

Proposal Chapter 2, 1 & 3

Constantly update during research

When writing discussion and conclusion chapters

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What is literature Books Journals Conference papers Theses and dissertations Bibliographies Maps Internet Indexes/Abstracts

Audio-visual material CDs/DVDs Electronic databases Government reports Magazines Newspapers Grey literature Interviews and other unpublished research

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Three types of literature

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Steps in narrative review Identifying a topic Searching and finding literature Evaluating literature Reading literature critically Analyzing literature Synthesizing literature Writing and presenting literature review

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Searching and finding literature

Bibliographic information, abstract and full text

Formal and informal sources of literature Print and online literature

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Evaluating literature Evaluation for relevance

Index of a book, chapter or section headings, abstract of an article, introduction and conclusion, references or bibliography

Evaluation for reliability Audience, authority, bias, currency, scope

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Critical reading Passive vs. active reading Previewing Reading Taking notes Responding critically

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Analyzing literature Varying definitions of key terms Methodology used Enough evidence for claims? Findings consistent with those of similar

studies?

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Synthesizing literature How does each reading relate to your topic

and purpose? Define your argument/thesis. Identify major trends or patterns emerging

from the readings. Reassemble your notes based on the results

of readings, using organizational aids such as post-its, flags, etc.

Create a detailed topic outline

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Sample topic outlinePsychological Aspects of Organ Donation: Individual and Next-of-

Kin Donation DecisionsI. Introduction A. Establish importance of topic (cite

statistics on scarcity of organs). B. Delimit the review to psychological

components of decisions. C. Describe organization of the paper,

indicating that the remaining topics in the outline will be discussed.

II. Individual decisions regarding posthumous organ donation

A. Beliefs about organ donation B. Attitudes toward donating C. Stated willingness to donate D. Summary of research on individual

decisionsIII. Next-of-kin consent decisions A. Beliefs about donating others’ organs. B. Attitudes toward next-of-kin donations. C. Summary of research on next-of-kin

consent decisions

IV. Methodological issues and directions for future research

A. Improvement in attitude measures and measurement strategy.

B. Greater differentiation by type of donation. C. Stronger theoretical emphasis. D. Greater interdisciplinary focus.V. Summary, Conclusions, and Implications A. Summary of points I-IV. B. Need well-developed theoretical models

of attitudes and decision making. C. Current survey data limited in scope

and application points to need for more sophisticated research in

the future. D. Need more use of sophisticated data

analytic techniques. E. Conclusion: Psychology can draw from

various subdisciplines for an understanding of donation decisions so intervention strategies can be identifiable. Desperately need to increase the available supply of donor organs.

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Synthesizing literature… Note on your topic outline relationships among studies:

which researchers, what page, etc. support each point? Note consistency of results from study to study. Note discrepancies among studies and provide possible

explanations such as dates of studies, different methodologies.

Note landmark studies and if replicated. Note how individual studies help illustrate or advance

theoretical beliefs. Note gaps or areas needing more research. Make sure your detailed outline follows a logical

sequence of topics and subtopics. This will give your literature review the coherence it needs.

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Writing and presenting literature review

A general organization looks like a funnel

Broader topics Subtopics Studies like yours

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How to organize studies Chronological

By publication date By trend

Thematic A structure which considers different themes

Methodological Focuses on the methods of the researcher, e.g.,

qualitative versus quantitative approaches

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Making links between studiesAgreements Similarly, author B points to… Likewise, author C makes the case that… Author D also makes this point… Again, it is possible to see how author E agrees with author D…

Disagreements However, author B points to… On the other hand, author C makes the case that… Conversely, Author D argues… Nevertheless, what author E suggests…

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Summary table It is useful to prepare. Such a table provides a quick overview that allows the

reviewer to make sense of a large mass of information. The tables could include columns with headings such

as Author type of study Sample Design data collection approach key findings

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Citation Sample Environment Method Conclusions

ColourBellizzi, Crowley and Hasty (1983)

125 Adults Furniture store Laboratory experimentPhotographic slide simulations

Warm and cool colours created different emotional responses. Customers view red retail environments as more negative and unpleasant than blue.

Bellizzi, & Hite (1992)

70 Adult women107 Students

Televisions shown with different colour backgroundsFurniture stores

Laboratory experiments Photographic slide simulations

Study based on PAD affect measures and approach-avoidance behaviours.More positive retail outcomes occurred in blue environments than red.

MusicSmith and Curnow (1966)

1100 Supermarket shoppers

Retail store Field experiment

Time in store reduced with loud music but level of sales did not.

Milliman (1982) 216 Shoppers Supermarket Field experiment

The tempo of background music influenced the pace at which customers shopped. Slow tempo music slowed customers down but resulted in increased volume of sales.

Hui, Dubé and Chebat (1997)

116 Students Bank branch- waiting for service.

Laboratory experimentVideo simulation

The positive impact of music on approach behaviours is mediated by an emotional evaluation of the environment and the emotional response to waiting. Pleasurable music produced longer perceived waiting times.

LightingAreni and Kim (1994) 171 Shoppers Wine store Field

experimentThe investigation found that brighter in-store lighting influenced shoppers to examine and handle more of the merchandise in the store

Summers and Hebert (2001)

2367 Customers Hardware storeApparel store

Field experiment

Confirmed Areni and Kims (1994) results. Increased levels of lighting will produce arousal and pleasure and increase the approach behaviours of customers.

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Citation styles Information prominent citation

Example: For viscoelastic fluids, the behaviour of the time-dependent

stresses in the transient shear flows is also very important (Boger et al., 1974).

Author prominent citationExamples: Close (1983) developed a simplified theory using an

analogy between heat and mass transfer and the equivalent heat transfer only case.

Several authors have suggested that automated testing should be more readily accepted (Balcer, 1989; Stahl, 1989; Carver & Tai, 1991).

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Reporting verbs Argue Assert Assume Challenge Claim Contend Contradict Describe Dispute Emphasize Establish Examine Find Maintain

Note Object Observe Persuade Propose Prove Purport Recommend Refute Reject Remark Suggest Support

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Verb tenses – Present A statement about what the thesis, chapter or

section doesExamples: This thesis presents a report of an investigation into ……. This chapter thus provides a basis for the next. In this section, the results from the first set of experiments are

reported. A statement of a generally accepted scientific fact

Examples: There are three factors that control the concentration of

aluminum in seawater. The finite rate coefficients have an effect on heat transfer

through a horizontal porous layer.

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Verb tenses – Present A review of current research work, or research work

of immediate relevance to your study.Example: Schulze (2016) concludes that hydraulic rate has a significant

effect on future performance. Comments, explanations and evaluative statements

made by you when you are reviewing previous studies.Examples: Therefore, this sequential approach is impractical in the real

world where projects are typically large and the activities from one stage may be carried out in parallel with the activities of another stage.

The reason for this anomalous result is that the tests were done at low hydraulic rates at which the plastic packing was not completely wetted.

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Verb tenses – Past Report the contents, findings or

conclusions of past researchExamples: Haberfield (1998) showed that the velocity of many

enzyme reactions was slowed down if the end product had an increased paramagnetism.

Allington (1999) found that the temperatures varied significantly over time.

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Verb tenses – Present perfect In citations where the focus is on the research area

of several authorsExamples: Several studies have provided support for the suggestion that

the amount of phonological recoding that is carried out depends on orthographic depth (Frost, 1994; Smart et al, 1997; Katz & Feldman, 2001, 2002).

Joint roughness has been characterized by a number of authors (Renger, 1990; Feker & Rengers, 1997; Wu & Ali, 2000).

To generalize about the extent of the previous researchExamples: Many studies have been conducted in this field. Few researchers have examined this technique. There has been extensive research into.........

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A good literature review is… Focused - The topic should be narrow. You should only present

ideas and only report on studies that are closely related to topic. Concise - Ideas should be presented economically. Don’t take any

more space than you need to present your ideas. Logical - The flow within and among paragraphs should be a

smooth, logical progression from one idea to the next Developed - Don’t leave the story half told. Integrative - Your paper should stress how the ideas in the studies

are related. Focus on the big picture. What commonality do all the studies share? How are some studies different than others? Your paper should stress how all the studies reviewed contribute to your topic.

Current - Your review should focus on work being done on the cutting edge of your topic.

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Best of luck for your research endeavors!