Chapter 2

Literature Review,
Formulation of Research Problems
and
Hypotheses

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2.1 Literature Review

The review of the literature is defined as a broad/

comprehensive, in-depth, systematic, and
critical review of scholarly publications, unpublished
scholarly print materials, audiovisual materials, and
personal communications.
Literature work is an evolving and ongoing task
that is updated and revised throughout the process of
writing the thesis/ dissertation.
▪Consider Research Gap

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►A thorough literature study is an
indispensable component of all
research works.
►It familiarizes you with both
researches which have already been
done in your field.
►A competent literature review
confirms you as someone who is
competent in the subject area;
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The literature review helps you to:
→Select a research problem or theme
→Discover inconsistencies, wrong designs
and incorrect statistical conclusions
→Define the boundaries of your study
→Formulate your hypotheses with sharper
insight

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literature review ….

→Ensures that you are not “reinventing the

wheel”; helps to avoid unnecessary
repetition of research already undertaken.
→Consider or adapt your procedures and
instruments used in earlier studies
→See your own problem in better perspective
through a clear understanding

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MANAGEMENT, MBA PROGRAM; BUSINESS
 literature review ….

→Better evaluate the significance of your

findings
→Carry out your research more
purposefully, and
→Gives credits to those who have laid the
groundwork for your research,

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Steps of Searching the Literature
Determine concept/ issue/ topic/ problem
Conduct computer (and/or hand) search
Weed out irrelevant sources
Organize sources
Retrieve/ regain relevant sources
Conduct preliminary reading and weed out irrelevant
sources
Critically read each source (summarize & critique each
source)
Synthesize critical summaries

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A Good Literature Review is:
Focused - The topic should be narrow. You should
only present ideas and only report on studies that are
closely related to topic.
Concise - Ideas should be presented economically.
Don’t take any more space than you need to present
your ideas.
Logical - The flow within and among paragraphs
should be a smooth, logical progression from one idea
to the next.

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Developed - Don’t leave the story half
told.
Integrative - Focus on the big picture.
What commonality the studies share? How
are studies different from others?
Current - Your review should focus on
work being done on the cutting edge of your
topic.

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➢Important points in the literature:
Adequacy - Sufficient to address the
statement of the problem and the specific
objectives in detail
Logical flow and organization of the
contents
Adequate citations
The variety of issues and ideas gathered
from many authors

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MBA PROGRAM; BUSINESS RESEARCH
There are many sources of
literature including:
▪ journals,
▪ books,
▪ reports,
▪ abstracts, and
▪ electronic websites, etc…

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 Searching the Literature Should Answer:

✓What is already known and what has

already been done in this area?
✓What concepts and theories are relevant?
✓What research methods and strategies have
been used in this area?
✓Are there any controversies/inconsistencies?
in findings?
✓Are there unanswered questions?

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Small Beginnings in RRL
An initial scan:
Identify five articles that speak to your particular
research topic
Compose a short, descriptive summary of each
article (purpose, method, findings, significance)
Discuss this collection of five articles in relation to
theories and methods used, consistency,
contradiction, controversy and extract your own
conclusions; and
Review how this may aid your particular study.

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Warning about the Internet
• Search engines find sites but do not
evaluate them
• Dictionaries and encyclopaedias are
fine for basic definitions, but little
else
• Many Internet sites serve a
commercial purpose, so don’t be
taken in by propaganda

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 academic
• Rely on sites (usually .ac or .edu),
government sites ( .gov), not-for-profit
institutions (.org), in that order.
• Download and save all material found on the
Internet.
• Save the website and write access date of the
material
• Sites are dynamic and you may not find the data a
second time. Your institution may also require proof
when defending your thesis.

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Referencing Your Work:
A source is, usually, referenced in
two parts:
▪ the citation, in your text at the
point of use;
▪ full publication details, in a
reference list, or bibliography, at
the end of your dissertation or
report.

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Follow your institution’s guidelines
for referencing protocols and
terminology;
If no clear guidelines are offered, use
the Harvard system;

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 Reading assignment:
Referencing conventions
Foot note
End note
Harvard style
APA style

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Plagiarism:
Crime and Punishment

Plagiarism means pretending that we,

ourselves, wrote what others actually
wrote;

Plagiarism might be accidental:

▪ not using quotation marks for direct quotes
might be careless rather than deceitful;
▪ forgetting to cite a source in the text;

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Plagiarism might not be seen for
what it is:
▪ recycling our own material from
previously submitted work;
▪ not referencing ourselves as the
author of our own older work.

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▪Plagiarism is always a crime, since it
destroys the foundations of the research
edifice;
▪Institutions vary in terms of the
seriousness with which they view the
offence:
- punishment can range from resubmission
to expulsion/ throwing out,
- but reputation is always lost.

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Layout of Literature
Definitions of concepts and terms (2.1)
Theoretical Literature (2.2)
Empirical Literature (2.3)
Conceptual/Theoretical framework (2.4)

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2.2 Research Problem
►A problem is a gap between what actually exists
and what should have existed
►The significance of a problem can be measured by
the gap
►A research problem is part of a research process
that reflects a gap in understanding.
►Research problem statement is usually written as
an introduction part of a scientific research paper.

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Con...
►Research may start with the discovery
of an opportunity to be exploited or a
problem to be tackled in order to
facilitate business decision making.

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 Pre-conditions in Selecting a
Research Problem
When selecting a research problem (title) you need to
investigate the following ideas:
➢ Personal Interest:
▪ The problem that you are trying to select should be meaningful
and interesting to you.
▪ It should have personal importance that contributes to the
development of your knowledge.

➢ Research Competency:
▪ You have to analyze your research competency to manage the
difficulties inherent in the research problem (topic).
▪ It is advisable if you consider a problem in your field of study or
specialization.

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Con...
➢ The Nature of the Problem:
▪ The problem that you select should be new and
researchable.
▪ It should be investigated empirically.
▪ It is much more exciting to explore new topics to find new
knowledge and information.
➢ Relevance (Importance) of Research Topic:
▪ As a researcher you have to examine whether the problem
(topic) you have selected is applicable or not to solving
practical problems.
▪ You need to check whether the topic is timely or not.
▪ Doing research on live issue is important.

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Con...
➢Time:
▪ In selecting your topic, check the amount of time
your topic requires against what you have to invest.
▪ Consider a research topic that can be investigated
and completed in relatively short time.
➢Availability and Access to Data:
▪ You have to check whether the data necessary to
answer the research questions are available or not.
▪ In the same way, check the accessibility of
documents and records.

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Con...
➢Cost of the Study:
▪ If your research demands supplies, materials, per
diem, and travel expense, you have to set a
reasonable budget, which can be accepted with no
hesitation, by those who are interested to fund your
project.
➢Ethical Consideration:
▪ You have to control and make your research free as
much as possible from unethical and illegal acts
that may cause physical and psychological damage
in your study samples.

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Sources of Research Problems
▪You may be asking yourself;
“So where do I find a problem that need a research?”

▪Most scholars agree that the sources of research

problems are three:

✓ Personal Experience, but not enough

✓ Scientific literature
✓ Theories and Principles

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Con...
Personal Experience:
✓ Researchers identify research problems from
personal observation or discussion with experts
and stakeholders.
✓ If you are a pioneer researcher, it is advisable and
acceptable to begin the process of identifying a
research problem by examining your personal
interest, experience and goals.
✓ Your professional experience has a paramount
importance.

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Con...
Scientific literature:

✓ Researchers read findings of published

research papers and notice that some
issues are not covered.

✓ This could end up identifying a research

problem.

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Con...
Theories and Principles:
✓The deductions that can be made from various
theories with which you are familiar provide an
excellent source of problems.
✓Limitations of standard theories could lead to
research problem identification.
✓There are many relevant theories in
management, such as theories of motivation
and leadership, from which problems can be
drawn.

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The Process of Problem Definition

Defining a research problem involves the

following interrelated steps
► Ascertain the decision maker's objectives
► Understand the background of the problem.
► Isolate and identify the problem rather than its
symptoms.
► Determine the unit of analysis.
► Determine the relevant variables.
► State the research questions (hypotheses) and
research objectives.

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Assignment II:
-Choose thematic area (Business)
-Review related literatures (Sufficiency)
-Identify at least five researchable
problems
-Evaluate each problem and come up with
the best one.

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 Reading
Assignment
Theoretical/ Conceptual Framework

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 2.3 Hypothesis Development
→Hypothesis is a tentative explanation of
observable phenomena.
→Hypothesis states the researcher's
expectations concerning relationship among
variables in the research problem.
→Hypotheses are a set of proposed solutions
or explanations, which the researcher is
obliged to test on the bases of already
known facts.

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❖A hypothesis provides basic guide/
direction/ frame work to the researcher. It is
a tentative solution/proposition/explanation
❖Research hypotheses are statements that
can be empirically tested.
❖In social science hypothesis formulation
may be replaced by research questions and
objectives.

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Types of Hypothesis

✓In general there are two types of hypotheses:

➢ Descriptive and
➢ Relational.

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Con...
✓Descriptive hypothesis deals with
tentative conclusion about one case.
✓For example, “In Ethiopia, power
generation investment is increasing.”
o In this example, Ethiopia is the case and
investment is the variable.
✓Descriptive hypothesis could be
formulated to test “truthfulness” of rules,
conclusion, etc.

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Con...
✓Relational hypothesis deals with
correlational or causal relationship
between two variables with respect to
some case.
✓For example, “In Ethiopia, increased
investment in power sector leads to
increased economic growth”.
o In this example, Ethiopia is the case and
investment and economic growth are the
two variables.

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 Con...
ΩNot all researches have research hypothesis though.
o For instance, exploratory researches use
research question instead of hypothesis.
✓ This is because, exploratory researches lack
sufficient prior researches.
o Similarly, descriptive researches commonly use
research question instead of hypothesis.
o In effect, hypothesis design is most common in
explanatory researches.

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Con...
►In relational hypothesis two competing hypotheses
are formulated namely null hypothesis and
alternative hypothesis.

►The null hypothesis hypothesizes that there is no

relationship between two variables.

►It is usually labeled as H0.

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Con...

►Alternative hypothesis, as the name implies, is

alternative to the null hypothesis.

►If the null hypothesis is rejected then the alternative

hypothesis is accepted.

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Characteristics of a Useable Hypothesis

A fruitful hypothesis is distinguished by the following

characteristics:

1) A hypothesis should be empirically testable

2) The hypothesis should be conceptually clear
3) The hypothesis should be closest to things
observable

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Con...
4) The hypothesis must be specific
5) The hypothesis should be related to a
body of a theory or some theoretical
orientation

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