MANAGING YOUR LITERATURECRITICALLY

Created by: Ashkan RangamiztousiPhD candidate in Management

July 2012

Managing your literature

Three basic areas for consideration:

1.Searching, reading and critically evaluating your literature.

2.Managing your literature – organizing and documenting.

3.Using your literature accordingly.

Questions to ask when doing the literature

review…..

Literature Review in context

L.R exists in all of your chapters in your thesis:

In Chapter 1 – Justifying the topic, identifying gaps and supporting the methods used for data collection and analysis. E.g: The funnel shape.

In Chapter 2 – Focusing on issues/ research done in particular to your topic of interest. In-depth and critically analyzed.

In Chapter 3 - Justifying your research methods, techniques for data collection and analysis.

In Chapter 4 – Emphasizing your findings and methods of analysis.

In Chapter 5 – Discussions of results – addressing the so what questions i.e. contribution to knowledge of your research findings; i.e. linking your work to the application of such issue to the current practice and the literature.

In Chapter 6 – the reflecting part i.e. addressing your limitations and future studies.

Searching, reading and critically evaluating your

the literature What to search and where to search?

Google scholar, Web of knowledge, Emerald, Scopus, Science Direct – looking for the right keywords and tracing the key literature i.e. key authors and highly cited research within your area of interest. L.R will lead you tracing back and forth of a particular work.

Eg: www.google.com

What you search, you must read! Applying the scanning and speed reading

techniques.

Searching, reading and critically

evaluating your the literature ….

Continued • What you read you will forget!

• What you read and write, you will remember!

• What you read, write and talk about, you

will understand!

Managing your literature – organizing and documenting

Identifying key literature – being on top of the literature.

Scanning and speed reading techniques:

E.g: Look at your article(s)

* Abstract

* Introduction (find the aim, objectives, research

questions, hypotheses).

* Methodology (the method(s) used, the study focus

and analysis done).

* Discussions – summary of findings and limitations.

How to document what you have

read?1. Prepare a simple table using Words document or Excel.

2. Fill-up the table with the particulars –

3. E.g: Documenting your LR.doc

4. The benefits of preparing this table:

As a record of all the literature that you have read in a very systematic way. A black and white evidence that you have read tremendously.

Organize the literature according to the development of such issue i.e the earliest to the latest.

How to document what you have read? …..continued

Aim, objectives and research questions sections would help you to identify what are the study focus on. Help to formulate your own research questions or hypotheses. These are mainly addressed in the Introduction – Chapter 1 of your research.

Models/Theory - Evaluating each of the models in terms of strength and weaknesses and the relevance to your topic – To be used in Chapter 2 or Theoretical Framework.

Research Method – Analyzing what have been done using what approach and methods for analysing (Chapter 1 and extensively in Chapter 3).

Analysis – justifying the techniques of any analysis chosen for your study - Chapter 4 (Analysis of Data).

Findings and limitations– identifying gaps and justifying your topic is researchable, feasible and why your research is required – Chapter 1.

Critical thinking is where you are going to address the context of your research and critically evaluating/criticizing the existing literature. This is where most of your critical thinking will be organized and written in Chapter 2.

How to document what you have read? …..continued