Reviewing the Literature

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One of the essential preliminary tasks when you undertake a research study is to go through

the existing literature in order to acquaint yourself with the available body of knowledge

in your area of interest.

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Literature review has the following functions

.1It brings clarity and focus to your research problem

.2It improves your research methodology

.3It broadens your knowledge base in your research area

.4Contextualise your findings

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Bringing clarity and focus to your research problem

the literature review can play an important role in shaping your research problem because reviewing the literature helps you

to understand the subject area better and helps you to conceptualise the research problem clearly.

Also, by doing that, you learn what aspects of your subject area have been examined by others, what they have found out about these aspects, what gaps they have identified, and

what suggestion they have made for further research.

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Improving your research methodology

Going through the literature acquaint you with the methodologies that have been used by others to find answers to research questions similar to the one you are investigating.It tells you if others have used procedures and methods similar

to the one that you are proposing, which procedures and methods work well and what problems they have faced.

By becoming aware of any problems and pitfalls, you will be better positioned to select a methodology that capable of

providing valid answers.

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Broadening your knowledge base in your research area

The most important function of the literature review is to ensure you read widely around

the subject area.It is important to know what other researchers have found in regard to the same questions, what theories have been put and what gaps

exist in the relevant body of knowledge,

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Enabling you to contextualise your findings

Undertaking a literature review will enable you to compare your findings with those of others by examining how your findings

fit into the existing body of knowledge, how do answers to your research questions compare with what others have

found?, what contributions have you been able to make? How are your findings different from those of others?

It is important to place your findings in the context of what is already known in your field of enquiry.

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There are four steps in conducting a literature review

.1Searching for the existing literature in your area of study

.2Reviewing the selected literature

.3Developing a theoretical framework

.4Developing a conceptual framework

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Searching for the existing literature

It is imperative that you have at least some idea of the broad subject area and the

problem you wish to investigateThen you have to compile a bibliography for

this broad area.To prepare the bibliography, you can use

books, journals, and the internet

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Reviewing the selected literature

•Start reading the selected books and articles critically to pull themes and issues that are

relevant to your study.•Use separate sheets of paper for each theme

or issue you identify.

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Developing a theoretical framework

In writing about such information you should start with the general information, gradually

narrowing it down to the specific

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Developing a conceptual framework

•The conceptual framework is the basis of your research problem

•It focuses on the section(s) which become the basis of your study.

•The conceptual framework grows out of the theoretical framework and relates to the

specific research problem

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Structure of literature review

•Introduction•Gives a quick idea of the topic of the literature review, such as the

central theme or organizational pattern .

•Body•Contains your discussion of sources.

•Conclusions/Recommendations•Discuss what you have drawn from reviewing literature so far. Where

might the discussion proceed?

Organization of literature review

•A general organization looks like a funnel

–Broader topics–Subtopics–Studies like yours

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How to organize studies

•Chronological–By publication date–By trend•Thematic

–A structure which considers different themes•Methodological

–Focuses on the methods of the researcher, e.g., qualitative versus quantitative approaches

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Making links between studies

Agreements •Similarly, author B points to …•Likewise, author C makes the case that …•Author D also makes this point …•Again, it is possible to see how author E agrees with author D…

Disagreements•However, author B points to …•On the other hand, author C makes the case that …•Conversely, Author D argues…•Nevertheless, what author E suggests…

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Citation styles•Information prominent citation

Example:–For viscoelastic fluids, the behaviour of the time-dependent

stresses in the transient shear flows is also very important (Boger et al., 1974).

•Author prominent citationExamples:

–Close (1983) developed a simplified theory using an analogy between heat and mass transfer and the equivalent heat transfer

only case.–Several authors have suggested that automated testing should

be more readily accepted (Balcer, 1989; Stahl, 1989; Carver & Tai, 1991).

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Active or passive voice

•You should use, where appropriate, both active and passive voice

•As a general rule, use active voice unless there is good reason not to

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Reporting verbs•Argue•Assert•Assume•Challenge•Claim•Contend•Contradict•Describe•Dispute•Emphasize•Establish•Examine•Find•Maintain

•Note•Object•Observe•Persuade•Propose•Prove•Purport•Recommend•Refute•Reject•Remark•Suggest•Support

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Verb tenses – Present•A statement about what the thesis, chapter or section does

Examples:–This thesis presents a report of an investigation into.…… –This chapter thus provides a basis for the next.–In this section, the results from the first set of experiments are

reported.•A statement of a generally accepted scientific fact

Examples:–There are three factors that control the concentration of aluminum in

seawater.

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Verb tenses – Present•A review of current research work, or research work of

immediate relevance to your study.Example:

–Schulze (2002) concludes that hydraulic rate has a significant effect on future performance.

•Comments, explanations and evaluative statements made by you when you are reviewing previous studies.

Examples:–Therefore, this sequential approach is impractical in the real world

where projects are typically large and the activities from one stage may be carried out in parallel with the activities of another stage.

–The reason for this anomalous result is that the tests were done at low hydraulic rates at which the plastic packing was not completely wetted.

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Verb tenses – Past

•Report the contents, findings or conclusions of past research

Examples:–Haberfield (1998) showed that the velocity of many enzyme

reactions was slowed down if the end product had an increased paramagnetism.

–Allington (1999) found that the temperatures varied significantly over time.

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Verb tenses – Present perfect

•In citations where the focus is on the research area of several authors

Examples:–Several studies have provided support for the suggestion that the

amount of phonological recoding that is carried out depends on orthographic depth (Frost, 1994; Smart et al, 1997; Katz & Feldman,

2001, 2002).–Joint roughness has been characterized by a number of authors

(Renger, 1990; Feker & Rengers, 1997; Wu & Ali, 2000).•To generalize about the extent of the previous research

Examples:–Many studies have been conducted in this field.–Few researchers have examined this technique.–There has been extensive research into.........

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Pitfalls

•Vagueness due to too much or inappropriate generalizations

•Limited range•Insufficient information•Irrelevant material•Omission of contrasting view•Omission of recent work