Lecture 6_Literature Review

The Meaning of Literature Review

A literature review surveys books, scholarly articles, and any other sources relevant to
a particular issue, area of research, or theory. By so doing, it provides a description,

summary, and critical evaluation of these works in relation to the research problem

being investigated. Literature reviews are designed to provide an overview of sources

a researcher has explored while researching a particular topic and demonstrate to the
readers how the research fits within a larger field of study.

According to Snyder (2019) literature review can broadly be described as a more or

less systematic way of collecting and synthetizing previous research. It gives an

overview of current knowledge that helps identify relevant theories, methods, and

gaps in the existing research. This implies that literature review helps a researcher to

identify what has been established, discredited and accepted in the supply chain field;

areas of controversy or conflict among different schools of thought; problems or issues

that remain unsolved; emerging trends and new approaches; and how you extend,

build upon, and depart from previous research. Therefore, literature review can be said

to be an in-depth survey of scholarly sources on a specific topic.

According to the University of Southern California, the most common types of

literature review include the following;

Argumentative Review. This form examines literature selectively in order to support

or refute an argument, deeply imbedded assumption, or philosophical problem

already established in the literature. The purpose is to develop a body of literature that
establishes a contrarian viewpoint. Given the value-laden nature of some supply chain

research [e.g., procurement reform; supplier diversity], argumentative approaches to

analysing the literature can be a legitimate and important form of discourse. However,

note that they can also introduce problems of bias when they are used to make
summary claims of the sort found in systematic reviews.
Integrative Review. Considered a form of research that reviews, critiques, and

synthesizes representative literature on a topic in an integrated way such that new

frameworks and perspectives on the topic are generated. The body of literature
includes all studies that address related or identical hypotheses or research problems.

A well-done integrative review meets the same standards as primary research in regard

to clarity, rigor, and replication. This is the most common form of review in the social

sciences.
Historical Review. Few things rest in isolation from historical precedent. Historical

literature reviews focus on examining research throughout a period of time, often

starting with the first time an issue, concept, theory, phenomena emerged in the

literature, then tracing its evolution within the scholarship of a discipline. The purpose
is to place research in a historical context to show familiarity with state-of-the-art

developments and to identify the likely directions for future research. For example,

research on the evolution of the procurement and supply chain management

profession can take a historical perspective.

Methodological Review. A review does not always focus on what someone said

[findings], but how they came about saying what they say [method of analysis].
Reviewing methods of analysis provides a framework of understanding at different
levels [i.e., those of theory, substantive fields, research approaches, and data collection.

This approach helps highlight ethical issues which you should be aware of and consider

as you go through your own study.

Systematic Review. This form consists of an overview of existing evidence pertinent

to a clearly formulated research question, which uses pre-specified and standardized

methods to identify and critically appraise relevant research, and to collect, report, and

analyse data from the studies that are included in the review. Typically, it focuses on a
very specific empirical question, often posed in a cause-and-effect form, such as "To

what extent does A contribute to B?"

Theoretical Review. The purpose of this form is to examine the corpus of theory that
has accumulated in regard to an issue, concept, theory, phenomena. The theoretical

literature review helps to establish what theories already exist, the relationships

between them, to what degree the existing theories have been investigated, and to

develop new hypotheses to be tested. Often this form is used to help establish a lack
of appropriate theories or reveal that current theories are inadequate for explaining

new or emerging research problems. The unit of analysis can focus on a theoretical

concept or a whole theory or framework.

Narrative literature review. This is also known as traditional literature review which
is a comprehensive, critical and objective analysis of the current knowledge on a topic.

Onwuegbuzie and Frels (2016) identify four common types of narrative literature

reviews:

• General literature review which gives a review of the most important and critical
aspects of the current knowledge of the topic. It forms the introduction to a research

study

• Theoretical literature review that looks at how theory shapes or frames research

• Methodological literature review describing the research methods and design

outlining the strengths and weaknesses of the methods used and provide future

direction

• Historical literature review that examines research throughout a period of time, often

starting with the first time a concept, issue, phenomena, theory emerged in the

literature, then tracing its evolution within the scholarship of a discipline.

The Purpose of Literature Review

Reviewing literature can be time consuming, costly, and frustrating, but rewarding in
research. It is an integral part that plays the following roles in research process.
• Demonstrate understanding of a given topic: Literature review helps to demonstrate

the understanding of the subject matter. This means identifying, summarizing and

critically assessing past research that is relevant to work.

• Setting a theoretical framework: Literature review is a crucial part in formulation of a

theoretical framework, which comprises the concepts and theories that your research

will be based upon and against.

• Justify research: Literature review helps to justify need of a particular study and setting

research question. Looking at past research allows researchers to identify gaps in the
literature, which a study will then attempt to fill or address.

Developing a methodology: Literature review helps researchers to examine similar

studies that have been conducted in the past to identify their strengths and
weaknesses and thus make sure the most appropriate methods, data sources and

analytical techniques are selected in a study.

• Support own findings: Literature review helps researchers to write their reports as they

provide a crucial point of reference. If the findings replicate past research, the study is

said to support existing theories.

• Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory prior studies.

• Identify areas of prior scholarship to avoid duplication of effort.

• To identify new ways to interpret prior research.

• Describe the relationship of each work to others under consideration.

• Locate your own research within the context of existing literature.

Qualities of a Good Literature Review

A good literature review is not simply a list that describes or summarizes several

articles. It must show the following qualities.

• It should have a balance between sources supporting and sources opposing a

particular argument or aspect.

• It should be narrow enough to avoid irrelevant information from your research.

• It must be wide enough to offer enough information that is required on the subject.

• It should be conducted from reliable sources e.g., journals, books, articles, etc that
are peer-reviewed.

• The sources should be authoritative and relevant.

• It must be driven by and directly related to the research question being addressed.

• It must follow the stipulated formatting style.

• It should identify prior studies and models that support the current topic.

• It should clearly address the research question and the theoretical framework.

• It must define key terms, concepts and phrases used in a study.

Ways to Organize Literature Review

Chronological - If your review follows the chronological method, you could write

about the materials according to when they were published. This approach should only
be followed if a clear path of research building on previous research can be identified

and that these trends follow a clear chronological order of development. For example,

a literature review that focuses on continuing research about the emergence of

German economic power after the fall of the Soviet Union.

By Publication - Order your sources by publication chronologically, then, only if the

order demonstrates a more important trend. For instance, you could order a review of

literature on environmental studies of brown fields if the progression revealed, for

example, a change in the soil collection practices of the researchers who wrote and/or
conducted the studies.
Thematic [“conceptual categories”] - Thematic reviews of literature are organized

around a topic or issue, rather than the progression of time. However, progression of

time may still be an important factor in a thematic review

Methodological - A methodological approach focuses on the methods utilized by the

researcher. For the Internet on business project, one methodological approach would

be to look at cultural differences between developed and emerging markets. Or the

review might focus on the marketing impact of the Internet on particular businesses.

A methodological scope will influence either the types of documents in the review or

the way in which these documents are discussed.

Other Sections of Literature Review - Once you have decided on the organizational
method for your literature review, the sections you need to include in the paper should

be easy to figure out because they arise from your organizational strategy. In other

words, a chronological review would have subsections for each vital time period; a

thematic review would have subtopics based upon factors that relate to the theme or
issue. However, sometimes you may need to add additional sections that are necessary

for your study, but do not fit in the organizational strategy of the body.

Sources of Literature Review

The following is a list of acceptable sources of literature, from what is considered most
acceptable to least acceptable sources.

• Peer reviewed journal articles (papers). These are articles that are written by
experts in a given field and are reviewed by several other experts before they can be

published in a journal. The article goes through a rigorous, blind review process of

peer review i.e., two or more experts in a given field featured in the article have to

review it before it can be accepted for publication.

• Edited academic books. This is a collection of articles or chapters written by different
authors on the same subject. The works are original, not published elsewhere. They are
an ideal source when searching for information focusing on a single subject or a

collection of works in a particular genre.

• Articles in professional journals or magazines. They are also referred to as articles

in practitioner journals or trade journals. These articles are addressed to a particular

professional audience such as supply chain management, lawyers, accountants, and so

forth, and published by a professional organization. They mostly contain research

articles, reports, and practical articles applicable to the profession.

• Statistical data from governmental websites. This is an excellent source for

statistical data, e.g., Statistics related to the economy, society, and the environment.

• Website material from business associations. This can serve as a source for

statistics that you may need for literature review. Through these websites, business
associations drive new memberships, donations, and engagement that may be

valuable literature in a study.

• Opinion pieces or op-eds in reputable newspapers. Reputable media house also

publish well-considered opinions from their readers or editors regularly. Such articles
also go through editorial review or some form of peer review. Therefore, they can also

be quoted as authentic source of literature, especially relating to current affairs and

trends in a given sector or sub-sector.

Theoretical and Conceptual Framework

When writing literature, a researcher is required to define the ideas that inform his
work in general and very specific ways. This requires the use of theoretical and

conceptual frameworks to designate two different sets of ideas used in research.

The theoretical framework of a study refers to the larger assumptions in which the

researcher is working in the study. It provides a large, overarching structure of ideas

that the researcher can then draw from in beginning to analyse a phenomenon. The
theoretical framework usually introduces and describes the theory that explains why
the research problem under study exists. It will also allow readers to familiarize

themselves with the ideas on which a study is based, and a beginning point for critical

analysis. Additionally, theory offers significant guidelines and trails for the conduct of
research by pointing to areas that are most likely to be useful. In as much as a theory

summarizes known facts and predicts facts which have not yet been observed, it also

points to areas which have not yet been explored.

Conceptual frameworks are intended to help a researcher structure thought in a

logical, organized, and coherent manner (Antonenko, 2015). It comprises of the

specific ideas in which a researcher is working in the study. The specific ideas are

usually written or a visual representation of the expected relationships between

variables in a study. Therefore, conceptual framework will consist of the ideas that are

used to define research and evaluate data. Good conceptual frameworks will usually

capture the specific ideas in a way that is easy to remember and apply. The purpose of

the conceptual framework is also to guide thinking of a researcher when data is

collected and analysed to write a report.

Referencing Styles

Each referencing style requires a researcher to provide similar information such as the
author, the year the item was published, the page number if there is a quotation, the

title of the book or journal and so forth. However, specific referencing styles are

preferred by particular academic disciplines because they work better with the kind of

texts that are most commonly used in that discipline. The most widely used styles are
Harvard referencing style and the American Psychological Association (APA)

referencing style. Any recommended referencing style can be used but the most

important point is to be consistent in using a given style, i.e., without mixing different

styles.
The Harvard referencing style, which is preferred by all disciplines, consists mainly of

the authors' last name and the year of publication (and page numbers if it is directly

quoted) in round brackets placed within the text. Its bibliography is ordered
alphabetically with author surname. Most in-text referencing includes the author

surname(s) and year of publication plus page number if a direct quotation is given.

This means it is easy to find that reference in the surname(s) ordered bibliography

(Greener, 2008).
The American Psychological Association (APA referencing style) is preferred by the

Business Management and Psychology disciplines. It is an "author-date" style whereby

the citation in the text consists of the author(s) and the year of publication given wholly

or partly in round brackets. The other referencing styles are the Association of
Computing Machinery referencing style (ACM referencing style) which is preferred by

CIS and Creative Computing and the Oxford University Standard for the Citation of

Legal Authorities referencing style (OSCOLA referencing style) that is preferred for the

legal resources.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in the Literature Review

According to the University of Southern California Library (2015), these are the most

common mistakes made in reviewing social science research literature.

• Sources in your literature review do not clearly relate to the research problem;
• You do not take sufficient time to define and identify the most relevant sources to

use in the literature review related to the research problem;

• Relies exclusively on secondary analytical sources rather than including relevant

primary research studies or data;

• Uncritically accepts another researcher's findings and interpretations as valid, rather
than examining critically all aspects of the research design and analysis;
• Does not say how literature is “bounded” or describe the search procedures that were

used in identifying the literature to review (but seems to imply review is exhaustive);

• Reports isolated statistical results rather than synthesizing them in chi-squared or

meta-analytic methods; and,

• Only includes research that validates assumptions and does not consider contrary

findings and alternative interpretations found in the literature.