LITERATURE REVIEW

Christian A. Hesse (Ph.D.)

 OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION
• What is Literature Review?
• Purpose of Literature Review
• Types of Literature Review
• Literature Review Process
• How to Organize Literature Review
• Citing Your Sources (APA Referencing)
 WHAT IS LITERATURE REVIEW?
• A literature review is a critical discussion of
existing knowledge – drawn from books,
scholarly articles, and any other sources
relevant to a particular issue, area of research,
or theory.
• Literature review provides a description,
summary, and critical evaluation of works in
relation to the research problem being
investigated.
 WHAT IS LITERATURE REVIEW?
• Literature reviews are designed to provide an
overview of sources you have explored while
researching a particular topic and to
demonstrate to your readers how your
research fits within a larger field of study.
• Chance to demonstrate your understanding!
You need to demonstrate that you know what
others have said. You need to go beyond
description
 WHAT LIT. REVIEW IS NOT
• A descriptive account
• A list of published works
• A summary/A book review
• Thinly disguised paraphrasing
• Information ‘re’moval
 PURPOSE OF LIT. REVIEW
The purpose of a literature review is to:
• Place each work in the context of its
contribution to understanding the research
problem being studied.
• Describe the relationship of each work to the
others under consideration.
• Identify new ways to interpret prior research.
 PURPOSE OF LIT. REVIEW
The purpose of a literature review is to:
• Reveal any gaps that exist in the literature.
• Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly
contradictory previous studies.
• Identify areas of prior scholarship to prevent
duplication of effort.
• Point the way in fulfilling a need for additional
research.
• Locate your own research within the context of
existing literature
 TYPES OF LIT. REVIEW
• Argumentative - examines literature selectively in
order to support or refute an argument
• Integrative - reviews, critiques, and synthesizes
representative literature on a topic in an
integrated way such that new frameworks and
perspectives on the topic are generated
• Historical - examines research throughout a
period of time, often starting with the first time
an issue, concept, theory, phenomena emerged
in the literature, then tracing its evolution within
the scholarship of a discipline
 TYPES OF LIT. REVIEW
• Methodological - Reviews methods of analysis
and provides a framework for understanding
different methodologies
• Systematic - documents, critically evaluates,
and summarizes scientifically all of the research
about a clearly defined research problem
• Theoretical - examines the corpus of theory that
has accumulated in regard to an issue, concept,
theory, phenomena.
LIT. REVIEW PROCESS
FLOW DIAGRAM FOR REPORTING
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
 LIT. REVIEW AND KNOWLEDGE
According to Naegel (1961), Knowledge can be
classified in the following ways:
• theories/models;
• concepts;
• methods/techniques;
• facts.
 THEORIES OR MODELS
✓Zaltman (1977) point out that theory may be
viewed as a system for ordering concepts in a
way that produces understanding or insights.
✓ A theory is a set of interrelated concepts,
definitions and propositions that presents
systematic view of specifying relations among
variables with the purpose of explaining and
predicting phenomena.
 CONCEPTS
Concepts are the building blocks of any theory or model,
actually a concept, can be defined that it is an abstraction
representing an object, a property of an object, or certain
phenomenon
❖ e.g. Cost, income, market share, business strategy are all example of
common concepts in business administration disciplines.
✓ Concepts serve a number of important functions:
– are the foundation of communication
– introduce a perspective
– are means of classification
– are components of theories or model, explanations and predictions.
 DEFINITIONS
Clarification and precision of concepts are achieved through
definitions.
A useful definition of a concept should point out unique
attributes, not be circular, be stated positively and use clear
terms.
There are two types of definitions:
• Conceptual
• Operational
 CONCEPTUAL AND OPERATIONAL
DEFINITIONS
Conceptual definition: describe concepts by using other concepts
❖ e.g. Concept of Market - All potential customers sharing a need or want
who might be willing – Customers and need or want are among the
concepts used to define the concept of market (Kotler, 1997).
Operational definition: describe activities that are crucial in
measurement of concepts. It is the set of procedures that
describes the activities to be performed to establish empirically
what is described by a concept.
❖ e.g. Concept of market share – A company’s sales of products
in category X in area A during time T… requires specification
of sales, product category X, area and time period – sales
during a specific time interval is often defined as operational
definition.
 VARIABLES
When we move from the conceptual to the
empirical in research, concepts are converted
into variables by mapping them into a set of
values.
WHAT COMES FIRST: THEORY OR
RESEARCH?
❑ Theory before research: In
this case, present
knowledge allows for
structuring the research
problem so that the
researcher knows what to
look for, what factors are
relevant and what
hypothesis should be tested
empirically.
❑ Research before theory: In
this case, the researcher
tries to utilize available
knowledge whilst struggling
with problems.
 METHODS OR TECHNIQUES
Methods are rules and procedures, and
can be seen as “tools” or ways of
proceeding to solve problems.
– Logic or ways of reasoning to arrive at solutions
An important aspect is that there must be a valid
reason or theory underlying the actual method so that
it will results in the correct solution .
 MODELS IN RESEARCH
Model play a dominant role in research and
they are closely related to the notion of theory,
implying a systematic organization of, and
relationships between concepts
Key characteristics of a model are:
o Representation (i.e. the object is represented
by the model)
o Simplification (i.e. between the factors
within the model)
o Relationship (i.e. between the factors existed
within the model)
 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
• It is often useful to provide a conceptual
framework (in words, illustrated by diagram
if suitable) that highlights key findings from
the literature review on cause-and-effect
relationships that provide the rationale for
your hypothesis – i.e., why & how
interventions would yield expected results
• This will guide you in analyzing and interpreting
the data in terms of cause-and-effect
mechanisms, and also recognizing other
variables/explanations that may be at work
EXAMPLE
 SOME ISSUES TO CONSIDER WHEN
REVIEWING LITERATURE
• What is the author trying to say?
• Who is the author speaking to?
• Why has this account of this research/theory been
written?
• What does the author want to achieve?
• What evidence does the author offer to substantiate
the claims?
• Do you accept this evidence?
• Does this account ‘fit’ with what you know?
• What is your view? /What evidence do you have for
this?
STRUCTURE OF LIT. REVIEW
• No single structure BUT!
✓Start at a more general level before
narrowing down to RQ’S (a funnel)
✓Provide a brief overview of key ideas
✓Summarize, compare and contrast
the work of key writers
✓Narrow down to highlight the work
most relevant
✓Provide a detailed account of the
findings of this.
 ORGANIZING LIT. REVIEW
• What is the author trying to say?
• Chronology of Events
• By Publication
• Methodological
• Thematic [“conceptual categories”]
THEMATIC STRUCTURE
EVALUATING LIT. REVIEW - Saunders et al.,
2009:98
• Does your review start at a more general level
before narrowing down?
• Does the literature covered relate clearly to
your Research Questions?
• Have you covered the key theories of
recognized experts?
• Is the literature up to date? – if not can you
justify this?
• Have you been objective in your discussion and
assessment of other’s work?
 USING SOURCES AND CITATIONS
• There are many citation styles, but UPSA requires the
use of the American Psychological Association (APA)
citation style.
• Details about this style are found in the Publication
Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th
ed)
• The APA manual regulates:
– Stylistics
– In-text citations
– References
 Quick Guide to APA Referencing
Books
Reference list entry:
Author, Initial. (Year). Book title. City of publication, Country/State: Publisher.

One author
Gambles, I. (2009). Making the business case: Proposals that succeed for
projects that work. Farnham, England: Ashgate.

In-text citations:
Gambles (2009) states....
....can lead to a more successful outcome (Gamble, 2009)
 Quick Guide to APA Referencing
Two - seven authors
Reference list entry:
Gazda, G. M., Balzer, F. J., Childers, W. C., Nealy, A. U., Phelps, R. E., &
Walters, R. P. (2005). Human relations development: A manual for
educators (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Educational.

In-text citations - two authors

Walker and Allen (2004) said....
....stop smoking (Walker & Allen, 2004).
 Quick Guide to APA Referencing
Books
In-text citations - three, four or five authors

First citation in text:

... as the findings suggested (Alred, Brusaw, & Oliu, 2009)

Subsequent citations:
... in the same study (Alred et al., 2009).
Alfred et al. (2009) found that ...
 Quick Guide to APA Referencing
Books
In-text citations - three, four or five authors

First citation in text:

... as the findings suggested (Alred, Brusaw, & Oliu, 2009)

Subsequent citations:
... in the same study (Alred et al., 2009).
Alfred et al. (2009) found that ...

In-text citations - six or more authors

Kosslyn et al. (1996) found that ...
 Quick Guide to APA Referencing
Books
Corporate author (organization)
Reference list entry:
New Zealand Health Information Service. (2003). Report on maternity:
Maternal and newborn information. Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of
Health.

In-text citations:
... as research indicates (Inland Revenue Department [IRD], 2007)
Subsequent citations:
.... suggested by recent statistics (IRD, 2010).
 Quick Guide to APA Referencing
Books
New edition of a book
Reference list entry:
Berk, L. E. (2004). Development through the lifespan (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn
and Bacon.
Edited book
Reference list entry:
Sykes, P., & Potts, A. (Eds.). (2008). Researching education from the inside:
Investigations from within. London, England: Routledge.

Chapter from an edited book

Easton, B. (2008). Does poverty affect health? In K. Dew & A. Matheson (Eds.),
Understanding health inequalities in Aotearoa New Zealand (pp. 97–106).
Dunedin, New Zealand: Otago University Press.
 Quick Guide to APA Referencing
Journal articles - online
Reference format

Article with doi (DOI = digital object identifier):

Author, Initial. (Year). Title of the article: Subtitle if there is one. Title of the
Journal, volume(issue if used), pages. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Article without doi:

Author, Initial. (Year). Title of the article: Subtitle if there is one. Title of the
Journal, volume(issues if used), pages. Retrieved from https://journal
home page
 Quick Guide to APA Referencing
Journal articles - online
Reference list entry

With doi
Li, S., & Seale, C. (2007). Learning to do qualitative data analysis: An
observational study of doctoral work. Qualitative Health & Research, 17,
1442–1452. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732307306924

No doi
Bartlett, R. P. (2009). Going private but staying public: Re-examining the effect
of Sarbanes-Oxley on firms going-private decisions. The University of
Chicago Law Review, 76, 7–39. Retrieved from
http://lawreview.uchicago.edu/
 Quick Guide to APA Referencing
Journal articles - in print
Reference format
Author, Initial. (Year). Title of the article: Subtitle if there is one. Title of the
Journal, volume(issue if used), pages. https://doi.org/xxxxx
Reference list entry:
With doi:
Wilson, S., Spies-Butcher, B., & Stebbing, A. (2009). Targets and taxes: Explaining
the welfare orientations of the Australian public. Social Policy &
Administration, 43, 508-525. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-
9515.2009.00676
No doi:
McFeely, S. (2001). Young people’s pathway to smoking cessation. Nursing
Standard, 16(2), 39–42.
 Quick Guide to APA Referencing
Journal articles - in print
In-text citations:
McFeely (2001) said ....
or
...... to stop smoking (Wilson, Spies-Butcher & Stebbing, 2009)

Journal articles - in press

Reference format
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (in press). Title of article. Title of Periodical. DOI
or Retrieved from http://www.xxxxxxxxxx.
Reference list entry
Brey, P. (in press). The strategic role of technology in a good society.
Technology in Society. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2017.02.002