Chapter 4

Literature Review and Critical

Reading
• The importance of a literature review
• What should the literature review do?
• Types of literature review
• Some general points in literature reviewing
• Obtaining literature sources
• Searching the literature
• Assessing the quality of literature
• An example of a literature review
• Critical reading
 The Importance of a Literature Review
• Has the work already been done?
• Who are the experts in the field?
• What are the main theoretical perspectives?
• What are the common research methods in the
topic?
• What are the main problems in researching the topic?
• Are there any major controversies in this topic area?
• Is the topic open to hypothesis testing?
• Is the topic a trivial one?
Has the Work Already Been Done?
• you need to consider changing your topic or
changing its focus.
• it is still important to check that a piece of research
already published is not so close to yours that
undertaking your research would not be
worthwhile.
• this means that the literature review and dealing
with the first question above are factors that need
to start immediately after you have identified a
possible research topic.
 Who Are the Experts in the Field?
• it is very difficult to identify any experts, but there
are areas where it is not.
• in the field of macroeconomics it would be very
difficult to avoid the work of J.M.
• Keynes because this author has published widely on
this topic and proposed an important theoretical
model of how an economy works.
• In the field of ‘Bureaucracy in Organisations’, it is
crucial that the work of Max Weber is consulted as
well as critiques of his work.
 What Are the Main Theoretical
Perspectives?
• Whatever the research topic you have
identified, you need to construct a conceptual
framework within which you will study the
topic.
• Without theory, it is almost impossible to
interpret data.
What Are the Common Research Methods
in the Topic?
• 1. Is the published research in this topic mainly
of a qualitative or a quantitative nature?
• 2. If qualitative, what is its most common basis?
• 3. If quantitative, what is its most common
basis?
• 4. Is the published research usually a mix of
qualitative and quantitative methods?
 What Are the Main Problems in
Researching the Topic?
• Without a review of the literature, you cannot
possibly know this.
• There may be many problems and several common
problems in researching your research topic.
• One of the most common problems is data.
• Another problem which can arise is the absence of a
clear theoretical framework in the published
research.
• how can you test a hypothesis or attempt to answer
your research questions?
Are There Major Controversies in This Topic
Area?
• The controversies may be methodological,
theoretical or empirical.
 Is the Topic Open to Hypothesis Testing?

• A hypothesis needs to be clear, unambiguous,

focused and testable using an accepted
statistical method.
 Is the Topic a Trivial One?
• If any one person or any one organization has
a ‘problem’, then it will never be trivial to
them.
4.3 What Should the Literature Review Do?

• It should enable you to sharpen and focus your initial research

questions or even suggest new research questions.
• It should provide you with a wide and in-depth knowledge of
the theoretical, empirical and methodological issues within
your chosen research topic. It should provide a ‘bridge’
between your research questions and your research findings.
• It should enable you to speak with authority on your research
topic and the wider subject area.
• It should enable you to compare your research methods,
theoretical framework and findings with work already done.
• It should enable you to set the scope and range of your
research topic.
Linking to Your Research Questions
• It will allow you to discard ideas considered trivial in
the literature.
• It will enable you to discard any questions the
literature shows are extremely difficult to deal with.
• It will allow you to frame your research questions in
the context of the main theories present in the
literature.
• It will enable you to identify research questions
which potentially can fill a gap in knowledge
identified in the literature.
 Linking to Your Research Methods
• it is very important to be aware of the main
research methods employed in your chosen
research topic.
• The literature review will help you identify how you
should be designing your research project in order
to answer the research questions you have posed.
• An understanding of what works well and what
does not work well in terms of method is crucial to
identifying an efficient and effective research
method of your own.
• a good understanding of methods in a
particular research area will enable you to
identify areas for future research and to be
realistically modest in your assessment of your
own findings.
 Linking to Your Theoretical Framework
• data comes and goes, the relationship
between variables changes, society changes
and therefore the primary function of
academic research is to continually move
theory forward—because in the end, it is all
that we really have in terms of our
‘knowledge’ of the world.
 Linking to Your Research Findings
• Which research questions have been
satisfactorily dealt with?
• Which have not been satisfactorily dealt with,
and why?
• Which have not been answerable at all, and
why?
 4.4 Types of Literature Review
• An evaluative review
• This focuses on providing a discussion of the literature in terms
of its coverage and contribution to knowledge in a particular
area.
• An exploratory review
• to find out what actually exists in the academic literature in
terms of theory, empirical evidence and research methods as
they pertain to a specific research topic and its related wider
subject area.
• An instrumental review
• used exclusively as a source of information on how to conduct
a piece of research on a highly specific research problem
 4.5 Some General Points in Literature
Reviewing
• Is there a theoretical framework?
• If so, what is it and how does it fit into this topic?
• Does the work provide links to other work in the topic?
• Is there an empirical aspect to the work?
• If so, what is its basis?
• Does the work relate to a specific social group?
• Does it relate to a particular place?
• How applicable might it be outside the latter two?
• How old is the work?
• Is it still valid?
• What does the previous research tell us about
this topic?
• What does it not tell us?
• What are the key weaknesses in terms of
theory, methods and data?
 4.6 Obtaining Literature Sources
• sources including journals, books, reports,
abstracts and electronic websites.
• Searching for the appropriate literature can be
very time consuming and you need to be very
specific when using library search engines,
Internet search engines and other databases.
 4.7 Searching the Literature
• Literature search involves a systematic and
methodical search of published sources of
information to identify items relevant to a
particular need.
• The ‘literature’ involved may be in the form of
books, journal articles, videos, cassette tapes,
conference papers, reports, theses, patents,
standards or other types of information
source.
 Why Do a Search? •
• To help in topic selection
• To discover information that you can use in
your actual project
• To provide knowledge of the subject area in
general, for background and contextual
information.
 4.14 Critical Questions
• Summary and Definition Questions
• What is (are) …?
• Who …?
• When …?
• How much …?
• How many …?
• What is an example of …?
 Analysis Questions
• How …?
• Why …?
• What are the reasons for …?
• What are the functions of …?
• What is the process of …?
• What other examples of …?
• What are the causes/results of …?
• What is the relationship between … and …?
• How does … apply to …?
• What is (are) the problem(s) or conflict(s) or issue(s) …?
• What are possible solutions/resolutions to these problems or conflicts or
issues …?
• What is the main argument or thesis of …?
• How is this argument developed …?
• What evidence or proof or support is offered?
• What are other theories or arguments from the authors?
 Hypothesis Questions
• If … occurs, then what happens …?
• If … had happened, then what would be
different …?
• What does theory X predict will happen …?
 Evaluation Questions
• Is … good or bad?
• Is … correct or incorrect?
• Is … effective or ineffective?
• Is … relevant or irrelevant?
• Is … clear or unclear?
• Is … logical or illogical?
• Is … applicable or not applicable?
• Is … proven or not proven?
• Is … ethical or unethical?
• What are the advantages or disadvantages of …?
• What is the best solution to the problem/conflict/issue?
• What should or should not happen?
• Do I agree or disagree?
• What is my opinion of …?
• What is my support for my opinion?