Literature review has to be done by every researcher to make a research proposal. The proposed research is trying to extend the understanding of a particular phenomenon. This necessarily implies that the researcher made a review of the present understanding of the phenomenon and identified the need for further understanding. In academic research that is knowledge enhancing research, literature review is done using research journals.
The Procedure Described by Remenyi et al. in their book.
Chapter 4
The Literature Review
The literature review is a material part of the research process, taking a significant amount of the time and the energy to be expended on the research degree. Furthermore the literature review is never completed, as the researcher has to remain abreast of the latest literature right up to the final publication of the dissertation.
As already mentioned, in the first instance the researcher should have some idea of the field of study, or the area of his or her interest in which the research is to be carried out. This will perhaps be related to earlier undergraduate academic interests, or to current working experience, or both. Defining the field of study in such broad terms would be specific enough at the early stage of the research project.
The next step is to review the literature in this general area in some detail. This means reading as much of the published material on the subject area as possible. Initially the researcher needs to review all possible references available, including textbooks, academic papers, professional magazines and newspapers. In addition television broadcasts and video recordings are also acceptable sources during this stage of the literature review. Emphasis should be placed on the most recent material.
However, as the researchers’ interests begin to focus on a possible research topic, the literature emphasis should be increasingly placed on papers published in academically reviewed journals. The popular press and even textbooks should be given relatively low emphasis at this stage. Of course, it is sometimes the case that the topic is so new or novel that the popular press or videos have be used as a primary source of reference material. In such cases it is important that support for views expressed in these media be sought from experts in the field.
The literature review should indicate a suitable problem to research as well as give the researcher some idea of the research methods or approaches that have been traditionally used in this field.
In reviewing the literature it is useful to look for contradictions or paradoxes. These usually suggest that there is an interesting research question which could be addressed for a masters or doctoral degree.
It is important to note that in the dissertation the literature should be critically evaluated and not just accepted on face value. It is this critical evaluation of the thoughts of other academics which usually leads to the formulation of suitable research question.
Traditionally researchers used paper reference indexes available in the university or business school library as the way of initiating a literature search. These references lead researchers to seminal papers in the field of interest and these papers in turn contained references to other important papers. However, increasingly this type of paper-based literature search is being replaced by electronic searchers.
Many libraries now supply their students with access to electronic databases, either over telecommunications networks or on CD-ROM. In addition, there are extensive literature search facilities on the Internet, which is currently available to researchers at a low cost.
By the end of the literature review the researcher should have a vision of what he or she wishes to achieve in his or her research.
https://phd-research-methodology.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-research-programme-and-process-dan.html
Chapter 5
There are agreed facts and established (if sometimes conflicting) theories, and the researcher may have deduced a new theory by analysing and then sythesising ideas and concepts, already present in the literature of the discipline.
In business and management studies established and accepted theories are unlikely to be available. There is little grand theory and few, if any, authors who have developed seminal theories of the kind offered by Freud, Marx or Keynes. As a result the business and management researcher needs to generate a grounded theory, a concept developed by Glaser and Strauss(1967), which they define as: ‘ an inductive, theory discovery methodology that allows the researcher to develop a theoretical account of the general features of a topic while simultaneously grounding the account in empirical observations or evidence.’
The primary aim of the researcher developing a grounded theory is to describe the phenomena of interest accurately. The grounded theory emerges through the process of concept discovery, within which the researcher develops abstract concepts and categories from the evidence. It is important to note that in this approach to research, concepts and theories are regarded simply as more or less useful and not as more or less true or valid.
Once the grounded theory has been developed, the researcher in business and management studies is in a position to make a theoretical conjecture or thesis, but there is no structured methodology for doing this. Rather, this aspect of research or scientific study can be regarded as an art that relies almost entirely on the imagination and creative abilities of the researcher.
It is not acceptable for the researcher completely to invent a theoretical conjecture, and he or she needs to be able to defend how the concepts and ideas which exist in the literature and which arose from the evidence lead to the theoretical conjecture.
The following is an example of a theoretical conjecture developed through the use of the grounded theory approach for a doctoral dissertation in information systems management(Remenyi,1990a).
Strategic Information Systems (SIS) occur as a result of pressure or opportunities directly related to industry drivers. The firm’s response to this pressure or opportunity is influenced by its strategy and by its critical success factors (CFS), and these issues determine the formulation of the SIS. The decision to attempt to take advantage of SIS is made with little attention to detail concerning cost-justification and vendor selection, but with more attention to communicating with the staff, training appropriate people and setting up support facilities.
An important change occurs at this stage of the research. Whereas the formulation of the research problem began as a description of the known facts from which a narrative theory was developed, this narrative will now be used paradigmatically. That is to say, it will provide a set of logical conjectures as the basis on which to predict and explain observations.
Whereas in the physical sciences the theoretical conjecture will frequently be expressed as a formula or as a series of simple propositions, in business and management research the theory or thesis will often be reduced to a diagram for the purpose of clarification
https://phd-research-methodology.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-research-programme-and-process-dan.html
Chapter 5
Literature Review
Once the literature has been fully and critically reviewed, the researcher should be able to provide a narrative description of the current understanding in the field of study, including at least one area where there is incomplete knowledge which could be further investigated.
Assessment of the Established Theory
In business and management studies established and accepted theories are unlikely to be available. There is little grand theory and few, if any, authors who have developed seminal theories of the kind offered by Freud, Marx or Keynes. As a result the business and management researcher needs to generate a grounded theory, a concept developed by Glaser and Strauss(1967), which they define as: ‘ an inductive, theory discovery methodology that allows the researcher to develop a theoretical account of the general features of a topic while simultaneously grounding the account in empirical observations or evidence.’
The grounded theory methodology normally relies heavily on the use of in-depth interviews with experts in the field of study for the collection of evidence that will be used in an inductive way to assist in the theory generation.
Theoretical Conjecture
Once the grounded theory has been developed, the researcher in business and management studies is in a position to make a theoretical conjecture or thesis, but there is no structured methodology for doing this. Rather, this aspect of research or scientific study can be regarded as an art that relies almost entirely on the imagination and creative abilities of the researcher.
It is not acceptable for the researcher completely to invent a theoretical conjecture, and he or she needs to be able to defend how the concepts and ideas which exist in the literature and which arose from the evidence lead to the theoretical conjecture.
The following is an example of a theoretical conjecture developed through the use of the grounded theory approach for a doctoral dissertation in information systems management(Remenyi,1990a).
Strategic Information Systems (SIS) occur as a result of pressure or opportunities directly related to industry drivers. The firm’s response to this pressure or opportunity is influenced by its strategy and by its critical success factors (CFS), and these issues determine the formulation of the SIS. The decision to attempt to take advantage of SIS is made with little attention to detail concerning cost-justification and vendor selection, but with more attention to communicating with the staff, training appropriate people and setting up support facilities.
An important change occurs at this stage of the research. Whereas the formulation of the research problem began as a description of the known facts from which a narrative theory was developed, this narrative will now be used paradigmatically. That is to say, it will provide a set of logical conjectures as the basis on which to predict and explain observations.
Whereas in the physical sciences the theoretical conjecture will frequently be expressed as a formula or as a series of simple propositions, in business and management research the theory or thesis will often be reduced to a diagram for the purpose of clarification
Read an interesting paper
A Systems Approach to Conduct an Effective Literature Review
Yair Levy and Timothy J. Ellis
Nova South Eastern University, Florida, USA
Informing Science Journal, Vol. 9, 2006
http://inform.nu/Articles/Vol9/V9p181-212Levy99.pdf
Ideas from A Systems Approach to Conduct an Effective Literature Review
Yair Levy and Timothy J. Ellis
Literature: Step of Processing
Know the literature
Comprehend the literature
Cognitive Issues - Constructs and Concepts
Apply the literature
Analyze the literature
Synthesize the literature
Evaluate the literature
Literature Step: Outputs
Writing arguments and Argumentation theory
Writing the literature review
The literature review must do more than just "point to the literature." An effective review must describe the major points contained in the article, interpret those points, classify the article's position in the BOK, explain the importance of the article, compare and contrast the findings and position of the article from the BOK, and evalute the findings of the article in light of the rest of the BoK.
Video Lecture based on the above Paper
Effective Literature Review - Video Lecture by Yair Levy - Part 1/5 - YouTube Video
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English Language to use in Literature Reviews
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Structuring and Writing Literature Review
Introduction: Literature needs to have introductory paragraphy explain the focus of the literature review.
The suggestions are start from a broard area discussion to more specific topic close to your area of research.
Present the literature chronologically.
Where multiple themes or topics are there, present the review theme wise. Within each of these, chronological order needs to be followed.
Critical analysis of the papers brings out the areas of agreement and disagreement expressed by other scholars as well as the conclusion of the candidate writing literature review. Hence carefully reading the criticism of a paper by other scholars and evaluating it is important. The candidate has to make judgment whether the criticism is justified or not and if it is needed the candidate may correct the unjustified criticism or misrepresentation.
A concluding paragraph or section summarizes the key issues covered in the literature review and the gaps identified for further research.
http://library.bcu.ac.uk/learner/writingguides/1.04.htm
References
The Literature Review: A Step-by-Step Guide for Students (SAGE Study Skills Series)
Diana Ridley
chapter
http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/29986_Chapter3.pdf
Bryman 3 edition chapter
http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199202959/bryman3e_ch04.pdf
Updated 14 November 2018,
First published 6 Decmber 2012
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