Chapter 2 incorporating theory and conducting literature search and review

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SQQS5034Qualitative Data AnalysisMohd. Noor Abdul HamidIncorporating Theories, Conducting Literature Search & ReviewChapter 1

Data, Concepts & TheoriesQualitative research usually focus on the meaning of real-life events, not just the occurrence of the event.The search for meaning is in fact a search for concepts ideas that are more abstract than the actual data in an empirical study.A collection of concepts, even a small collection, may be assembled in some logical fashion that then might represent a theory about the events that have been studied. Mohd Noor Abdul Hamid, Universiti Utara Malaysia

Data, Concepts & TheoriesStereotype of Qualitative research a devoid of concepts, i.e. spouting detail after detail about events or people without relying on any concepts, much less theories.Such a stereotype of qualitative research does not represent good qualitative research, and you should AVOID emulating it.The preferred qualitative captures the same empirical details but interwoven in some manner with abstract concepts if not theories.Mohd Noor Abdul Hamid, Universiti Utara Malaysia

Inductive VS DeductiveInductive approaches tend to let the data lead to the emergence of concepts. (Bottom-Up approach)Deductive approaches tend to lets the concepts if only taking the form of initial categories lead to the definition of the relevant data that need to be collected. (Top-Down approach)Most qualitative research follows an inductive approach BUT, nothing is wrong with taking a deductive approach.

DEDUCTIVEINDUCTIVEMohd Noor Abdul Hamid, Universiti Utara Malaysia

Inductive VS DeductiveMost social research involves both inductive and deductive reasoning processes at some time in the project.

Abductive Reasoning:Another form of scientific reasoning that does not fit in with inductive or deductive reasoning is abductive. Abductive reasoning usually starts with an incomplete set of observations and proceeds to the likeliest possible explanation for the group of observations.It is based on making and testing hypotheses using the best information available. It often entails making an educated guess after observing a phenomenon for which there is no clear explanation. Abductive reasoning is useful for forming hypotheses to be tested. Mohd Noor Abdul Hamid, Universiti Utara Malaysia

Inductive VS DeductiveMohd Noor Abdul Hamid, Universiti Utara Malaysia

Reviewing LiteraturePurpose of Literature Review:provides a (historical) background for your research;gives an overview of the current context in which your research is situated by referring to contemporary debates, issues and questions in the field;it includes a discussion of relevant theories and concepts which underpin your research;it introduces relevant terminology and provides definitions to clarify how terms are being used in the context of your own work;describes related research in the field and shows how your work extends or challenges this, or addresses a gap in work in the field;provides supporting evidence for a practical problem or issue which your research is addressing, thereby underlining its significance.Mohd Noor Abdul Hamid, Universiti Utara Malaysia

To Review or Not?Arguments for NO:Earlier view of doing a qualitative research resisted formal literature reviews prior to the onset of collecting some field data Belief that qualitative studies attempt, most of all, to capture the meaning of events from the participants point of view and not from the researchers perspective.Reviewing prior research could hinder if not introduce bias by creating unwanted filter or lens.

Mohd Noor Abdul Hamid, Universiti Utara Malaysia

To Review or Not?Arguments for YES:Studies and the literature have become much more diverse new investigators need to show their awareness in identifying specific lines of research and the meanings uncovered under similar circumstances.If a new study is claimed to be entirely unique, a good literature review also can demonstrate a researchers mastery over literature as well as presenting the argument for the lacuna.Expertise in conducting literature review is an important evidence for skills in conducting a research.


Role of LR in Starting a StudyAt the initial stage of your research, the need for review is selective and not comprehensive.Selective Review:Main purpose: to sharpen your preliminary considerations & review and report in greater detail about a specific array of previous studies directly related to your likely topic of study, method and data source.At this stage of review process, the studies that need to be targeted an reviewed are those that, on first appearance, closely resemble the one you have started to consider doing.Chances are you will encounter other studies that focused on similar topics or used a similar data collection method, or even in the same context of study you may examine these studies carefully and determine whether you can cast yours in some importantly different manner. A good point to start is to look at the studies recommendation for further research or limitation of the study.


Role of LR in Starting a StudyAt the initial stage of your research, the need for review is selective and not comprehensive.Comprehensive Review:Main purpose: to bring together what is known on a particular topic, possibly highlighting controversial or disparate lines of thinking or even the progress over time in cumulating the knowledge about a subject.The legitimate role of this type of reviews is indeed recognized by the existence of major journal, devoted exclusively to such literature review (e.g Academy of Management Review).Comprehensive review maybe more suited to helping you to decide on a broad area of interest for what may turn out to be a lifetimes worth of studies, rather than defining any particular study.


Systematic Literature ReviewFirst developed in the medical sciences as part of the search for a better evidence base for policy making and for clinical practice.Aim: to evaluate the main body of research within a particular field, or around a particular research question.Undertakes a defined sequence of locating, analysing, ordering and evaluating literature from defined sources over a period of time.Advantage: the process is replicable, scientific and transparentDisadvantage: an over-preoccupation with counting and cataloguing articles can lead to a quantitative positivism, at the expense of conceptual or theoretical synthesis.


Systematic Literature ReviewBoaz et at (2002) identify seven standards for reviewing data systematically:Using protocols to guide the process. A protocol is a project management tool used by the reviewer(s) to plan the different stages of the review. It is a detailed description of how the review will be carried out and promotes transparency, transferability and replicability.Focusing on answering a specific question(s).Seeking to identify as much of the relevant research as possible. Research databases are used to conduct wide-ranging searches of the available literature, with the aim of locating as much of the relevant research as possible, across a broad spectrum of research fields.Appraising the quality of the research included in the review. Explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria, clearly stated in the protocol, are used to systematically focus the study onto the most relevant articles. Quality assessment criteria are used to focus on those which are most methodologically robust.Synthesising the research findings in the studies included. In medicine and healthcare research, meta-analysis is used to synthesize quantitative findings from multiple studies. In social science research, where the review will include a range of research methodologies, narrative synthesis has more often been used. This can include an exploration of similarities and differences between studies, an assessment of methodological effectiveness and the use of tables to record and compare the studies. Computer software packages suitable for analysing text are sometimes used.Aiming to be as objective as possible about research to remove bias. In social science research it may be more appropriate to explicitly acknowledge the effects of bias.Updating in order to remain relevant. Detailed records are maintained of the review process, allowing it to be updated or repeated.

Boaz, A., Ashby, D. and Young, K. (2002) Systematic Reviews: What Have They Got to Offer Evidence Based Policy and Practice? ESRC UK Centre for Evidence Policy and Practice: Working Paper 2. http: //www. evidencenetwork. org/Documents/wp2. pdf (date accessed 10/11/04).Mohd Noor Abdul Hamid, Universiti Utara Malaysia

Systematic Literature ReviewStage 1- Planning the ReviewPhase 0Identification of the need for a reviewPhase 1Preparation of a proposal for a reviewPhase 2Development of a review protocolStage II - Conducting the ReviewPhase 3Identification of researchPhase 4Selection of studiesPhase 5Study quality assessmentPhase 6Data extraction and monitoring progressPhase 7Data synthesisStage III - Reporting and dissemination.Phase 8The report and recommendationsPhase 9Getting evidence into practice

Tranfield, D., Denyer, D. and Smart, P. (2003) Towards a Methodology for Developing Evidence-Informed Management by Means of Systematic Review. British Journal of Management 14 207-222.Mohd Noor Abdul Hamid, Universiti Utara Malaysia

Systematic Literature ReviewSTAGE 1: PLANNING THE REVIEWForm a review panel encompassing a range of experts in the areas both methodology & theory.Conduct scoping studies, to assess the relevance and size of literature and delimit the subject areas or topic need to consider cross disciplinary perspectives and alternative ways in which a research topic has previously been tackled.Scoping study may also include a brief overview of the theoretical, practical & methodological history debates surrounding the field and sub-fields of study.Outcome: Rationale (or the need for the review)Objectives of the review (based on the research questions)The review panel & review schedule A review protocol a plan helps to protect objectivity by providing explicit description of steps to be taken.


Systematic Literature ReviewSTAGE 1: PLANNING THE REVIEWReview protocol a plan helps to protect objectivity by providing explicit description of steps to be taken. The aim is to produce a protocol that does not compromise researchers ability to be creative in the literature review process, whilst also ensuring reviews be less open to researchers bias.These may includes:The search strategy for identification of relevant study:- types of documents to be reviewed (e.g. journal articles, reports, books, conference papers, thesis, magazines, websites etc.)Exclusion and inclusion criteria of studies in the review. Example:- based on language (e.g. documents in English only)- based on timeline or duration (e.g. documents published in the last 1o years)- based on study location (e.g. documents or studies in Asia only)- based on quality of the study (e.g. studies that are published in Q1 journals only)- and so on based on the needs of your study.Mohd Noor Abdul Hamid, Universiti Utara Malaysia

Systematic Literature ReviewSTAGE 1: PLANNING THE REVIEWReview protocol example of inclusion and exclusion criteria


Systematic Literature ReviewSTAGE 1: PLANNING THE REVIEWReview protocol example of inclusion and exclusion criteria


Systematic Literature ReviewSTAGE 2: CONDUCTING THE REVIEWPhase 3 : Identification of ResearchIdentification of keywordsKeyword are developed based on each of the review objective.The keywords may come from the scoping study, the literature and discussion among the review team and in certain cases may involved the research participants.Search strings is formed based on the keywords identified to be used in database search. Each database may have their own guidelines on how the search strings could be composed in order to get the desired result.b) Identification of relevant database:The search strings is used to perform preliminary search in order to identify which databases to focus on this is normally based on databases that return the highest number of relevant articles/documents.Mohd Noor Abdul Hamid, Universiti Utara Malaysia

Systematic Literature ReviewSTAGE 2: CONDUCTING THE REVIEWPhase 3 : Identification of ResearchThe search strategy should be reported in detail sufficient to ensure that the search could be replicated.


Systematic Literature ReviewSTAGE 2: CONDUCTING THE REVIEWPhase 4 : Selection of StudiesThe search strings are entered into the database.The (automatic) exclusion and inclusion criteria are applied in the search.Results of the search are evaluated using the manual exclusion and inclusion criteria. This normally require the review team to skim through the documents (especially the tile and abstract) to determine the relevancy of the documents/articles to the review objectives. Results (i.e. the articles) can be categorised into three categories, i.e. (i)Highly Relevant, (ii) Irrelevant and (iii) Uncertain.Each review team member should evaluate the search result to achieve consensus on the relevancy of each articles in the search result.Reference management software such as EndNote, Procite & Mendeley may help researcher to organize the result more efficiently.Mohd Noor Abdul Hamid, Universiti Utara Malaysia

Systematic Literature ReviewSTAGE 2: CONDUCTING THE REVIEWPhase 4 : Selection of StudiesAfter the initial screening of the search result, the review team may be able to identify more keywords from the literature to conduct further search.It also allow seminal papers or books and grey literature (e.g. government reports) to be identified.Mohd Noor Abdul Hamid, Universiti Utara Malaysia

Systematic Literature ReviewSTAGE 2: CONDUCTING THE REVIEWPhase 5 : Study Quality AssessmentInvolved a thorough read of the studies which have been identified as highly relevant to the study to assess their quality. Among criteria that could be use include:



Only articles that pass the quality assessment criteria are included in the review and analysed in depth to identify the best evidence for the studyMohd Noor Abdul Hamid, Universiti Utara Malaysia


Only articles that pass the quality assessment criteria are included in the review and analysed in depth to identify the best evidence for the studyMohd Noor Abdul Hamid, Universiti Utara Malaysia

Systematic Literature ReviewSTAGE 2: CONDUCTING THE REVIEWPhase 6 & 7 : Data Extraction & Synthesis and Monitoring Progress

The following information are extracted from the articles that pass the quality assessment criteria.Each literature search is refined and updated from time to time.Mohd Noor Abdul Hamid, Universiti Utara Malaysia

Systematic Literature ReviewSTAGE 3: REPORTING & DISSEMINATIONA good systematic review should make it easier for researcher to understand the research by synthesizing extensive primary research papers from which it was derived.Two-stage report might be produce:a. Full descriptive analysis who are the authors? how many of the core contributions are from USA, UK etc? what is the age profile of the articles? etc.b. Thematic analysis through aggregative or interpretative approach outlining that which is known and established from data extraction forms of the core contributions. Extent to which consensus is shared across various themes. Identify key emerging themes & research questions.Mohd Noor Abdul Hamid, Universiti Utara Malaysia

Chapter 2 incorporating theory and conducting literature search and review

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