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Literature Review V1.1

The document provides a comprehensive overview of literature and the literature review process in research, detailing the types of literature, their purposes, and the steps involved in conducting a literature review. It emphasizes the importance of quality and relevance in literature selection, as well as the need for critical analysis and synthesis of existing knowledge. Additionally, it offers guidance on writing a literature review, including organization, tone, and common pitfalls to avoid.

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Haimanot Dubale
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
4 views51 pages

Literature Review V1.1

The document provides a comprehensive overview of literature and the literature review process in research, detailing the types of literature, their purposes, and the steps involved in conducting a literature review. It emphasizes the importance of quality and relevance in literature selection, as well as the need for critical analysis and synthesis of existing knowledge. Additionally, it offers guidance on writing a literature review, including organization, tone, and common pitfalls to avoid.

Uploaded by

Haimanot Dubale
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Content

• What is Literature
• Literature Review
• Literature Review Process
• Citing and Referencing
What is Literature

• The literature in the context of research all sources of


published data on a particular topic.
• It is research that has already been carried out and
published in
• Journal articles, Monographs, Computerized databases,
Conferences proceedings, Dissertations, Empirical studies,
Government reports and reports from other bodies,
Historical records, Statistical handbooks
What is Literature

• Primary Sources
• a direct record of observations or findings written by the
observer
• Secondary Sources
• normally written after the event
• Tertiary Sources
• use and distil information from primary and secondary
sources
Cont…

• What is the difference


between peer-reviewed Vs.
non peer-reviewed literature?
• How do you establish the
quality of a literature?
What is Literature Review?

• The literature review


• a systemic process with
a view to identifying the existing
body of knowledge on a particular topic’ (Collis and
Hussey, 2009, p. 91)
•a synthesis of available resources and materials with
strong relation to the topic in question, accompanied
by a synthesis, critical evaluation and comparative
analysis of current knowledge on a topic,
substantive findings, theoretical and methodological
contributions
What is the Purpose of Literature Review

• To provide a context for your study


• To explain the importance of your study
• To explain the timeliness of your study
• To clarify the relationship between your study and
previous work in the field
• To demonstrate that your study is worthwhile and
distinctive
What is the Purpose of Literature Review

• Offer new ideas, perspectives, and approaches


• Help to know researchers who worked in your research area for advice
or contact
• Inform methodological and design issues used by others
• Indicate sources of data which are not known to you
• Introduce you with measurement tools dealing with problem situations
• Help to link your finding with others
• Bolster your confidence as others valued as important research problem
• Help to develop your argumentation and analytical skills
What is the Purpose of Literature Review

• Generally,
• Demonstrate your knowledge
• Justify the gap/flaws in the research
• Conceptual Framework
• Inform the methodology
Literature Review Process

• Questions you need to ask yourself when you are planning


and drafting your Literature Review:
• What has been done in your field of research?
• What principles of selection are you going to use?
• How are you going to order your discussion? Chronological,
thematic, conceptual, methodological, or a combination? What section
headings will you use?
• How do the various studies relate to each other? What precise
contribution do they make to the field? What are their limitations?
• How does your own research fit into what has already been done?
• Could the problem have been approached more effectively from
another perspective?
Cont…
Cont…

• Iteratively / Cyclical Process


• Decide the purpose of the literature review
• Identify, locate and retrieve
• Ensure quality and relevance
• Develop annotated bibliography
• Summarize, analyze, synthesize
• Writing
Decide the Purpose

• Decide Purpose and Topic


• A literature review is purposeful which means the
researcher must establish a topic or theme, however
defined, so that the researcher knows the direction the
research has to follow.
• Without a topic, theme or area of interest, it is difficult to
direct efforts towards a particular area and gather literature.
Cont…
Identify Locate and Retrieve

• Identify, Locate and Retrieve


• Defining keywords or short phrases that describe aspects of
the topic
• Sources and tools available
• Web-based e.g. Google Scholar
• Web of knowledge (Web of Science)
• Subject specific databases
• Academic networks
• Institutional repositories (Inter-governmental, governmental,
organizational, professional/industry associations)
• Personal, Supervisor
Cont…

• Coverage
• Type of material,
• Geographical context/focus
• Time period
• Language
• Build your bibliography and article database
• Copying citations incorrectly, or incompletely, is problematic
to relocate the source.
• Master Reference Management Mendley/Endnote and keep a
correct entry from day one, every time, for all articles
Cont…

• Organization of Sources
• Group related studies together.
• Review briefly any weaker studies or studies that share
similar methods. Devote more attention to groundbreaking,
stronger studies.
• Organize studies by findings.
• Organize by methodology.
• Organize by theory.
• Use Reference Management Software, Mendley or Endnote,
when available
Cont…

• Use original sources, not secondary sources or reviews


wherever possible
• Beware ‘soft’ sources eg internet/ unauthored
• Balance of ‘front-line’ literature
• theoretical work
• reports of original research
• accounts of current practice
• policy statements
Ensure Quality and Relevance

• Quality and Relevance


• Literature overload
• A common mistake in undertaking the review is to collect everything
that you have identified regardless of its relevance.
• Develop the habit of screening the literature for quality and relevance
• Think of the review as a funnel - start wide with the overview and
then quickly narrow into discussing the research that relates to your
specific topic.
• Be critical and demonstrate quality and relevance to your research.
• ‘build an argument, not a library’
• Select literature to serve your purposes
• to avoid becoming overwhelmed and to enhance criticality over description
Cont…

• How relevant is the literature to the research?


• How dated is the literature sourced?
• If dated, is it from seminal sources?
• Is there any up to date literature ?
• Who authored the literature?
• What qualifications do they have?
• Do they have other publications?
• Take a critical perspective to published research
Cont…
• Author credentials
• Are they an expert in the field?
• Are they affiliated to a reputable organization?
• Date of publication – is it sufficiently current or has knowledge moved on?
• If a book – is it the latest edition? •
• If a journal – is it a peer reviewed scholarly journal?
• Is the publisher reputable and scholarly?
• Is it addressing a scholarly audience?
• Does it review relevant literature?
• Is it an objective fact-based viewpoint? Is it logically organized and clear to follow?
• Does it follow a particular theoretical viewpoint?
• What is the relationship of this work to other material on the same topic – does it substantiate it or add a
different perspective?
• If using research, is the design sound? Is it primary or secondary material?
• If it is from a practice-based perspective, what are the implications for practice?
Cont…

• Taking notes on scraps of paper,


without complete and accurate
reference to the citation, is a recipe
for disaster.
• It is worthwhile interpreting your
notes as you go along, so that they
are not merely a transcript of what
you have read, but contain an
intellectual element.
• This helps with your later writing
• Reduces the danger that you have
unknowingly plagiarized.
Develop Annotated Bibliography

• Develop annotated Bibliography

Others’ * Annotated * Analysis,


Ideas Bibliography synthesis

• The annotated bibliography is essentially a flat file (list document) of


your notes from your reading.
• Each entry consists of
• The citation,
• Your evaluation of the value of the article, and
• Some idea of how the article fits into your problem statement or thinking.
Cont…

S.N Title of the paper Purpose/Objective Methodology Key Finding/result Key critics
/remark
1
2
3
Cont…

• TIP for Critical Reading – evaluate the argument of


others:
• What evidence does the author produce for their claims?
• Does the author’s reasoning lead logically to the conclusions drawn?
• What values or assumptions are made explicitly or implicitly?
• How do the author’s claims relate to those of others?
• How do the author’s claims relate to the reader’s own research or
knowledge?
Cont…

• Assess the status of existing Knowledge


• Give both or all sides of the argument
• Take a stance
• Where does weight of argument fall?
• Where are gaps in the knowledge base?
• Convince reader of legitimacy of assertions by sufficient logical and
empirical evidence
• Originality: Analysis and synthesis
• Analysis: systematic extraction of ideas / theories / concepts / assumptions from
the literature
• Synthesis: making of connections between elements derived from analysis to
demonstrate patterns not previously produced
Cont…
• An annotation may contain all or part of the following elements.
• Provide the full bibliographic citation
• Indicate the background of the author(s)
• Indicate the content or scope of the text
• Outline the main argument
• Indicate the intended audience
• Identify the research methods (if applicable)
• Identify any conclusions made by the author/s
• Highlight any special features of the text that were unique or helpful (charts, graphs
etc.)
• Discuss the relevance or usefulness of the text to research
• Point out in what way the text relates to themes or concepts in your thesis
• State the strengths and limitations of the text
Summarise, analyse and Synthesise

• Unlike the Annotated Bibliography, to analyse and synthesise


• You will have read in detail a selected pool of literature
• Everything in the pool is placed into some argument thread leading
to some conclusion
• You will therefore remove extraneous entries, but will expand
review of individual articles to include your evaluations, some
history, influence on other thinking, etc.
• A comparative framework expands on the literature survey and
develops a systematic way of comparing articles, usually based on
research issues and usually around a table of some sort. This makes
it easy to compare articles and sort them by importance or relevance
Cont…

• A strong literature review examines each work on its own and


in relation to other works by
• identifying and then analyzing them with regards to a number of
different research aspects and ideas
• Here are some possible categories to use for comparison and analysis
• Topic
• Argument
• Results found and conclusions
• Methods
• Theoretical approach
Cont…

• Have you read the most important experts in your field?


• Have you referred to major research studies which have made
contribution to knowledge in your field?
• Have you referred to articles in the most important academic journals in
your area?
• Have you identified any major government or other institutional study
in your research field?
• Have you identified studies that use the same paradigms and
methodologies you propose?
• Have you identified serious criticisms of any previous studies?
• Have you avoided plagiarism?
Writing

• In writing the literature review, your purpose is to convey to


your reader what knowledge and ideas have been established
on a topic, their strengths and weaknesses.
• Show your reader that you
• have a clear understanding of the key concepts/ideas/studies/
models related to your topic
• know about the history of your research area
• Identify any related controversies can discuss these ideas in a context
appropriate for your own investigation
• can evaluate the work of others
• formulate and justify questions that need further research
Cont…

• Organize the literature review into sections that present


themes or identify trends, including relevant theory.
• It is not a list describing or summarizing one piece of
literature after another. It’s usually a bad sign to see every
paragraph beginning with the name of a researcher.
• In the case of a voluminous body of literature
• “The technical literature of cyber crime is very extensive. This is
evidenced by the literature search and critical analysis published by
XXXX(YYYY), which cited over X references in the literature
published up to ZZZ. An exhaustive review of the literature is thus
beyond the scope of this work.”
Cont…

• To add clarity where none exists


• “The conception of … this section provides a clearer understanding of
the different research methodologies…”
• Linking multiple streams of literature
• “There are two schools of thought on …... The first school of thought
examines…. The second school of thought examines…”
Cont…

• Tips for guiding the reader


• Reader directions are comments in the text:
• they give signals to the reader about where the author is going and what
they have achieved so far.
• This can apply to:
• The whole thesis ( the focus of this thesis is...)
• Another chapter ( the physical properties are presented and analysed in
Chapter 5)
• The current chapter ( the rest of this chapter will examine...)
• Another section ( in the previous section, it was demonstrated...)
• The current section ( the following case study will illuminate...)
Cont…

• Generally, you should aim to write your own story


and analysis. Rarely is the original text written with
your particular focus in mind.
• Direct quotations are commonly used to highlight:
• Definitions of important terms
• Assumptions underlying the author's choice of words
• Particularly well-expressed opinions, revealing insights which a
paraphrase could not capture
Cont…

• Paraphrase or quotation?
• When you use direct quotation, it needs to fit grammatically
with the rest of your sentence.
• Regulatory agencies have been known to take a hard line against
“corporate transgressors who care nothing for the helpless
investor” (Dellaportas, 2017)
• To modify a quote, you use square brackets [like this] to
include a verb or to change a pronoun to make it follow
grammatically.
• Omitted information from a quote is indicated by '[...]'.
Cont…

• Tone
• “A successful literature review constructively informs the reader
about what has been learned. “
• In contrast to specific and critical reviews of individual papers, tell
the reader what patterns you are seeing in the literature”
• Do not be overly negative
• Give due respect to the work of previous scholars
Cont…

• Tense
• The present tense is used for:
• a generalization - in overviews, statements of main points, or a
generally accepted scientific fact
• Example:
• "This thesis investigates the second approach."
• The past tense is used to:
• describe the contents, findings, or conclusions of past research. It
emphasizes the completed nature of a past activity.
• Example:
• "This xxxxx was popular in the 1970s.”
Cont…

• The present perfect tense is used to:


• Indicate that research in the area is still continuing, or that the
research has immediate relevance today
• Example 1: " Several researchers have studied …"
• Generalize about past literature
• Example: " Software has been tested manually for most of the last four
decades."
• Tenses can indicate more than chronology.
• Past tense in reporting others' research indicate secondary importance
to current work
• Present tense to indicate that the research is of more direct and
primary importance.
Cont…

• Common Faults when Writing Literature Review


• Making assertions without stating where the evidence was obtained
• You must support all claims to avoid plagiarism
• Failing to state the objectives of previous studies, the year conducted,
location, sample, methodology
• A ‘shopping list’ with no effort to synthesize or compare previous
studies, or provide rationale
• Poor structure, style or spelling
• Conclusions fail to provide rationale for the proposed study or lead to
the research questions
Cont…

• Generally, Content might include


• Historical background to study
• Definition of key terms and use in context of work (could be in
introduction)
• Discussion of relevant theories and concepts underpinning research
• Contemporary debates, issues and questions in field
• Discussion of related research, demonstrating how study will
extend/challenge this
• Supporting evidence for issues you are addressing
Cont…

• TIP for Critical Writing


• The critical writer constructs their own argument
• Arguments have 2 components:
• A set of claims or assertions (conclusions)
• The warrant (backing) for them (evidence)
• OPINION = UNWARRANTED CONCLUSION
• ARGUMENT = CONCLUSION + WARRANT
• Maintain your authority
• Develop your argument, and cite work of others to evidence /buttress
points/ provide
• ….Rather than hiding behind authority of cited texts
• Use your own words (Paraphrasing)
• o Overuse of quotations will deflect your ownership of the argument
Cont…

• Overcoming Writing Avoidance Strategies


• Don’t wait until you have ‘something to write’
• You will end up with more reading than you can cope with
• Write as you go!
• Start literature review as soon as you have started reading...
• Most of us can’t organize thoughts in head – do it on paper
• First draft is hardest – then you have something to work on
• Work on several sections at a time – if you get
blocked/bored, a change is as good as a rest
• Don’t start at the beginning
• leave the introduction until you know what you are introducing
Cont…

• Revision of Drafts
• Leave first draft a while before returning to read it afresh
and revise
• Read aloud for sense and flow
• Read through quickly for overview of message
• Check for grammatical construction and spelling
• Remove extraneous words and repetition
• If over the word limit, ask – how does this section
contribute to answering my research question?
Cont…

• Things that might Go Wrong – BE AWARE


• Research question not grounded in literature review (empirical study)
• Literature review descriptive, not analytical
• Lack of originality arising from inadequate synthesis
• Poor balance between review of theoretical work, empirical research,
policy and practice
• Linkage: literature review – methods - findings
• Lacking multi-disciplinary perspective
Citation and Referencing

• A citation is ‘an acknowledgement in the text of the original


source from which information was obtained’ (Collis and
Hussey, 2009, p. 96)
• Acknowledgement is made by citing the author’s surname
and the date of the publication in brackets
• e.g. Richardson et al,. (2015)
• If the author’s words are quoted or you reproduce a table,
chart, diagram, photograph, or other image, you must also
include the page number from which it was taken, as shown
above
• e.g. Richardson et al., (2015, p, 30)
Cont…

• Citing the work of other authors, may focus either on the:


• information provided by that author, or
• on the author him/herself.
• To emphasize the information
• …The availability of data is a key factor in determining the successful
outcome of a research project (xxx and yyy, 2009).
• …For some theory, the time-dependent stresses on data availability is
important (xxx, 2017)
Cont…

• To emphasize the authority, the author's name is


emphasized
• …Collis and Hussey (2009) argue that the availability of
data is a key factor in determining the successful outcome
of a research project.
• ...Author (2017) developed a simplified theory
• …Several authors have suggested that ….. (Author 1, 2001;
Author 2, 2009; Author 3, 2020).
Cont…

• Universities treat plagiarism as academic misconduct,


Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2007) also warn of the
associated penalties.
• Collis and Hussey (2009, p. 103) define plagiarism as
• ‘the act of taking someone’s words, ideas or other information and
passing them off as your own because you fail to acknowledge the
original source’.
• They describe it as a form of intellectual theft.
Cont…

• Plagiarism means taking the ideas or words from other writers without
acknowledging them. Along with fabricating results, it is considered an
academic sin!
• When you submit your thesis you must be very confident that all
sources are acknowledged; hence the Declaration Statement.
• References are ‘a list containing bibliographic details of the sources
cited in the text’ (Collis and Hussey, 2009, p. 96) shown in alphabetical
order by author’s surname at the end of the document
• The format depends on the referencing guide that is applicable to a
given piece of work
• Complete referencing is a sign of quality
Cont…

• Checklist for Referencing


• Have I acknowledged other people’s work, ideas and all sources of
secondary data?
• Have I enclosed quotations in quotation marks and cited the
author(s), date and page number in the original source?
• Have I acknowledged the source of all tables, diagrams and other
items reproduced, including the number of the page in the original
source?
• Have I applied the rules consistently?
• Have I included full bibliographic details for every source cited in my
list of references?
Questions

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