Institute of Professional StudiesSchool of Research and Graduate

Studies

Literature Review

Lecture Four

Outline of Presentation Introduction Definition Forms of Literature Review Reasons for conducting Literature Review Literature Review Process Structure of Literature Review Presentation of Literature Review Evaluating the content of literature review

2

IntroductionTo quote the words of Jankowicz (2005, p. 161): “…the work that you do is not done in a vacuum, but builds on the ideas of other people who have studied the field before you. This requires you describe what has been published, and to marshal the information in a relevant and critical way” Whatever the objective(s) of a research may be, its significance is invariably judged in relation to other peoples research and findings.

Therefore, one really needs to demonstrate awareness of the current state of knowledge in the chosen area of research and show how his/her research fits into the wider context (Gill and Johnson, 2002). This can be achieved through a literature review.3

What is Literature Review?

A literature review is a part of the research report where the researcher analyzes and discusses published/scholarly information relating to the subject area under research.

A literature review surveys scholarly articles, books and other sources (e.g. dissertations, conference proceedings) relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory by providing a description, summary, and critical evaluation of each work.

4

What is Literature Review Cont’d

It is a critical and evaluative account of what has been published on a chosen research topic. Its purpose is to summarise, synthesise and analyse the arguments of others. You should describe and analyse the knowledge that exists and what gaps occur in research related to your field of interest. (This should clarify the relationship between your own research and the work that has previously been done.) It should reveal similarities and differences, consistencies and inconsistencies and controversies in previous research.

5

What Literature Review is notIt is not primarily an argument for the importance of

what it is you are researching. While it is necessary to explain what is the primary purpose of your research, the reader of a literature review will assume that the need for undertaking the research has already been established.

It is not a descriptive list of papers or summaries. You must not just list your sources and describe them in detail one at a time.

A literature review is organised around ideas, not the sources themselves as an annotated bibliography would be organised. You should assess previous studies and discuss their strengths and weaknesses.

6

Forms of Literature Review

Two forms of literature review are usually

conducted for different reasons (Sharp et al,

2002)

1. The preliminary review which helps the

researcher to generate and refine research

ideas. This review usually does not form part

of the research project proper

2. The critical review, which forms part of the

research project, helps the researcher7

The Purpose of the Critical Literature Review

Reviewing the literature critically provides the foundation on which a research is built.

The precise purpose of reviewing the literature will depend on the approach used in the research.

1.Deductive approach: The literature is used to identify the theories and ideas that will be tested using data

2.Inductive approach: the literature review helps you relate your findings to existing knowledge.

8

Reasons for conducting Literature Review

Literature review may be conducted for a number of reasons. These include:

1.Literature review offers an overview of significant literature published on a topic

2.To help you refine further your research questions and objectives

3.To highlight research possibilities that have been overlooked implicitly in research to date. That it helps to identify knowledge gaps

4.To discover explicit recommendation for further research. These can provide you with an excellent justification for your own research questions and objectives

9

Reasons for conducting Literature Review Cont’d

5. To help avoid simply repeating work that has been done already

6. To sample current opinions in newspapers, professional and trade journals, thereby gaining insights into the aspects of your research questions and objectives that are considered newsworthy

7. To discover and provide an insight into research approaches, strategies and techniques that may be appropriate to your own research questions and objectives

10

Literature Review ProcessThe process can be likened to an upward spiral culminating

into the final draft of a written critical review. The processes are:

State the research problem/questions and objectives Define the parameters for your search Generate and refine key words for the search Conduct literature search Obtain literature Evaluate the literature: determine which literature

makes a significant contribution to the understanding of your work

Record the relevant literature Start drafting the literature review: this should

involve description, analysis and synthesis

The process may be repeated a number of time to come out with a critical review report11

Conducting the Literature Review

Literature reviews should comprise the following elements:

An overview of the subject, issue or theory under consideration, along with the objectives of the literature review

Division of works under review into categories (e.g. those in support of a particular position, those against, and those offering alternative theses entirely)

Explanation of how each work is similar to and how it varies from the others

Conclusions as to which pieces are best considered in their argument, are most convincing of their opinions, and make the greatest contribution to the understanding and development of their area of research

12

The Content of Critical Literature Review

The content of the critical literature review need:

1. To include the key academic theories within your chosen area of research

2. To include relevant empirical research conducted on the chosen area

3. To demonstrate your knowledge of your chosen area is up to date

4. Show clear referencing which will enable those reading your project report to find the original publications you cite

13

Evaluating the Content of Critical Literature Review

Ask if you have: shown how your research question relates to previous

research reviewed assessed the strengths and weaknesses of the

previous research reviewed been objective in your discussion and assessment of

other people’s research included references that is counter to your our opinion made reasoned judgements about the value and

relevance of others’ research to your own highlighted those areas where new research (yours!)

is needed to provide fresh insights and taken into account in your arguments.

justified clearly your own ideas14

The Structure of the Critical Review

Three common structures are identified. The literature review can be written in:

1. A single chapter2. A series of chapters3. Throughout the project report as you

tackle various issuesFor dissertation, adopt a single chapter approach

with the following components:1. Introduction 2. Theoretical and 3. Empirical4. Concepts, Constructs and Operational

definitions15

Conducting Theoretical Review

Theoretical literature refers to the various theories or abstractions expressing the ideas and concepts on a subject matter.To conduct a theoretical literature review:Identify the key themesIdentify your variables of interest if anyIdentify and discuss the theories bordering on the variablesSynthesize and evaluate these theories with respect to your hypothesis or proposition, or thesis or research question

16

Conducting Theoretical Review Cont’d

Create a mind-map of the theories to write about

Convert the mind-map into a story-board or an outline

Get the necessary information and synthesize and evaluate under each sub-theme or theory.

Relate these to your hypothesis or proposition or research question.

17

Sources of Information for Theoretical Literature ReviewText Books Book ReviewsPeer reviewed JournalsAccredited scholarly publicationsWeb (scholarly search engines)

18

Empirical Literature ReviewAfter the theoretical literature look for published scholarly research evidence in respect of the key theories in you work.

Discuss whether they support your hypothesis or counter your hypothesis or emergent views and arguments.

19

Concepts and ConstructsA Concept is a generally accepted collection of meanings or characteristics associated with certain phenomenon, events, objects, conditions, situations or behaviors.

Eg. Employee performance, customer satisfaction, quality, strategic management, strategic leadership.A Construct is an image or idea specifically invented for a given research and or theory building purpose.

E.g. Job Satisfaction: Job satisfaction is defined as "the extent to which people like (satisfaction) or dislike (dissatisfaction) their jobs" (Spector, 1997, p. 2

20

Operational DefinitionAn operational definition is a definition stated in terms specific testing or measurement criteria.

These terms must have empirical referents that we must be able to count or in some other way gather information through.

The definition must specify the characteristic and how they are to be observed.

The specifications and characteristics must be so clear that any one using it will classify the objects the same wayE.g. “…..and Job Satisfaction will be measured by or operationalized by ……..”

21

Presentation of the Literature Review

Three different approaches can be adopted if there are no institutional regulation or requirement. These are: 1.Chronological: present the information according to when they were published [from the most recent to the earliest or vice versa]2.Thematic: information is organized along topic(s) or issue(s), rather than the progression of time. However, progression of time may still be an important factor in a thematic review.3.Methodological: presentation focuses on the "methods" or “strategies” the researchers or writer used

22

Planning your Literature Search Strategy

The planning should include:

The parameters of your search The key words and search terms you intend to useThe databases and search engines you intend to useThe criteria you intend to use to select the relevant and useful studies from all the items you find

23

Defining the Parameters of your search

You need to be clear on the following: Language of publication Subject area Business sector Geographical area Publication period Literature type

24

Generating your Key wordsCould use one or a number of different techniques in combination:

Discussion with colleagues, your project tutor and handbook

Initial readingDictionaries, thesauruses, encyclopedias and

handbookMind mappingBrainstormingRelevance tree

25

Conducting your literature search

The literature search could be conducted using a variety of approaches:

Tertiary literature sources Literature referenced in books and

journals Scanning and browsing secondary

literature in your library Searching using the internet

26

Sources of Information1. Untested opinion2. Self-evident truth3. Authoritative source (documents from

authoritative sources)4. Literary works5. Scientific method6. postulations

27

Sources of Literature

Primary Tertiary Reports Theses E-mail, Memos,

minutes Conference

proceedings Company reports Unpublished

manuscript sources Some government

publications such as white paper etc.

Indexes Abstracts Catalogues Encyclopedia Dictionaries Bibliographies Citation

Indexes

28

Secondary Books Journals Newspapers Some

government Publications

Evaluating the LiteratureEvaluating the literature gathered involve defining the scope of your review and assessing the value of the items that you have obtained in helping you to answer your research questions. Ask yourself the following questions:

Relevance How recent is the item? Is the item likely to have been superseded? Are the research questions or objectives sufficiently close to your own

to make it relevant to your own research? Is the context sufficiently different to make it marginal to your

research questions and objectives? Have you seen references to this item (or its authors) in other items

that were useful? Does the item support or contradict your arguments?

Value Does the item appear to be biased? What are the methodological omissions within the work? Is the precision sufficient? Does the item provide guidance for future research?

29

Thank You

30