Kwame Nkrumah University of

Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

LE 361: Research Methods I

Literature Review

Anthony Adjei-Twum, PhD

Department of Land Economy
Faculty of Built Environment, CABE
 RESEARCH PROCESS
Research Problem

Literature Review

Research Questions

Research Design

Data Collection

Data Analysis
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Discussion & Report Writing

 Learning Outcome

By the end of lecture, you should be able to:

Understand what literature review is.

Understand the importance of literature
review.
Understand the steps involved in conducting
literature review.
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 Meaning of Literature Review

A written summary of
journal articles, books Organizes the
and other documents literature into
that describes the past subtopics , and
and current state of documents the
information on the need for a
topic of your research proposed study
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study.
 Importance of Literature Review

To document how your study adds to the existing

literature
Helps you learn how other researchers compose their
research studies
You conduct a literature review to convince your
assessment committee that you know the literature on
your topic and that you can summarize it
To provide evidence that your study is needed
Builds your research skills of using the library and being
an investigator who follows leads in the literature
Helps you find useful examples and models in the
literature for your own research
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 Synthesize and
Steps Involved In summarize
Conducting Literature Through abstracting
or taking notes and
Review
visual diagram Write a literature
review
For review
Organize the
From several types literature
of materials and
databases Critically evaluate
and select the
literature
Use in search
for literature Locate literature
about a topic
Identify key www.knust.edu.gh

terms
 Identifying key terms
Write a preliminary working title and select 2-3 key
words that capture the central idea
Pose a short, general research questions that you would
like to answer and select 2-3 key words that summarise
the primary direction of the study.
Use words that authors report in literature.
Look in a catalog of terms that much your topic; Visit
online database available in college or university
libraries.
Go to Bookshelves in a college and university library.
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 Locate literature about a topic
Physical searching

Use academic
libraries Computer access and computerized
databases search Houses online journals of
various databases E.g. Emerald the Sage
Beginning Science Direct Google Scholar, ERIC,
literature search PsycINFO, EBSCO, Sociofile, Jstor, etc.

Literature that report original or primary

Use primary
research work
secondary
sources
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Literature that summarizes primary sources
Sources of Materials for Literature Review (Types of Literature)
Early Stage Papers posted on Web site, professional association
Material newsletters drafts of papers for conference
presentation
Indexed Conference papers, dissertations theses
professional association papers college and
Publications university publications

Journal Articles Refereed, non refereed,

Low Standards -primary source international, national, regional,
state
Books Research studies, essays

Encyclopedias,
Summaries research reviews
High Standards handbooks, abstracts
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Using the Internet as a Resource for a Literature
Review - Advantages
1. There is easy access to material since the researcher
can search any time of the day.
2. Web sites have a breadth of information on most
topics.
3. Web sites provide a network that researchers can
contact about their topic and research problem.
4. Web sites can be searched easily using a search
engine and keywords.
5. Selected research studies can be printed immediately
from Web sites.
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Using the Internet as a Resource for a Literature
Review – Disadvantages

1. Research posted to Web sites is not reviewed for

quality by “experts.
2. The research found on Web sites may have been
plagiarized without the searcher’s knowledge.
3. Research studies may be difficult to find and time
consuming to locate.
4. Web site literature may not be organized or
summarized in a way that is useful. www.knust.edu.gh
 Critically evaluate and select the literature
Is It a Good,
Accurate Source?
 Rely as much as possible on
journal articles published in
credible journals.
 Use a priority system for
searching the literature: refereed
journal articles, non refereed
journal articles, books
conference papers, dissertations,
theses, non-reviewed articles,
Web sites.
 Look for “research” studies to
include in your literature review.
 Include both quantitative and
qualitative research studies in
your review.
Is It Relevant?
 Topic relevance: Does the literature
focus on the same topic as your
proposed study?
 Individual and site relevance: Does the
literature examine the same individuals
or sites that you want to study?
 Problem and question relevance: Does
the literature examine the same
research problem that you propose to
study? Does it address the same
research question you plan to address?
 Accessibility relevance: Is the literature
available in your library or can you
download it from a Web site? Can you
obtain it easily from www.knust.edu.gh
the library or a
Web site?
 Organize the literature
Reproducing, Taking Notes and Abstracting
Downloading, and Filing Studies

Make copies of the Researcher identifies important ideas

articles , scan the about the article or material
articles, or download and writes rough notes about each source
the articles (as html or of information, focusing on:
pdf files) and develop a) Research problem
some system to easily b) Research questions or hypotheses
retrieve the information c) Data collection procedure
d) Results of the study
Note:
i. Create an abstract of your own; do not
use the abstract of the article
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 Notes Taking and Abstracting of Studies
Data Collection Procedure:
Creswell, J.W., & Brown, M. L. (1992). How
The authors collected semi-Structured
chairpersons enhance faculty research: A
interview data from 33 chairpersons
grounded theory study. The Review of
located in a variety of disciplines and
Higher Education, 16(1), 41 62.
types of institutions of higher education.
Research Problem: Chief academic officers and faculty
The authors mention that past research has development personnel on the
addressed the correlates of scientific campuses nominated these chairs for
achievement and the research the study.
performance of faculty. However, a
unexplored correlate is the role of the
chairperson in influencing faculty scholarly Findings
performance. The authors identified from the
interviews seven major
Research Questions:
categories of roles engaged in by
The central research question is implied in the
the chairpersons: provider,
title to the study: “How do chairpersons enhance
enabler, advocate, mentor,
faculty research?” More specifically, the authors
encourager, collaborator, and
asked chairs to discuss an Issue involved in assisting
challenger. www.knust.edu.gh
faculty members in the department in his or her
professional development.
 Write a literature review
Using an appropriate
style to write complete Employing specific
references for these writing strategies
summaries

End-of-text references Extent of the review

Within-text references The type of review

The concluding
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Levels of headings
statement of the review
 Writing complete references: End-of-text references
using HAVARD SYSTEM

Jamaludin, A. A., Mahmood, N. Z., Keumala,

N., Ariffin, A. R. M., and Hussein, H. (2013).
Journal Energy audit and prospective energy
Article conservation: Studies at residential
college buildings in a tropical region.
Facilities, 31, 158-173.

Junghans, A. (2013). Discussion of Facilities

Management as lead user and
innovation driver towards improvement
Conference of energy efficiency and user comfort of
Paper buildings. In: THEN, D. S. www.knust.edu.gh
S. (ed.) CIB
World Building Congres 2013. Brisbane
Book (a
YIN, R. K. (2014). Case Study Research: Design and
single
Method. London: Sage Publications.
author)

Langston, C. A. & Ding, G. K. C. (eds.) (2001).

Edited Sustainable Practices in the Built
Book Environment. Oxford:
Butterworth-Heinemann.

Schreier, M. (2014). Qualitative Content

Book Analysis. In: Flick, U. (ed.) The SAGE
Section Handbook of Qualitative Data www.knust.edu.gh
Analysis. Los
Angeles: Sage Publications. pp. 170-183.
 Mayring, P. (2014). Qualitative Content
Electronic Analysis: Theoretical Foundation, Basic
Book Procedures and Software Solution.
Klagenfurt.

Book (other Saunders, M. and Lewis, P. (2018). Doing

than first Research in Business and Management. (2nd
edition) edn). Harlow: Pearson.

Burns, A.C., Veek, A. and Bush, R.F. (2017).

Online book Marketing Research (Global edn).Harlow: Pearson.
[Accessed 6 Apr. 2018 from MyLibrary.com]
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 Spillinger, R. S. (2000). Adding Value to the
Facility Acquisition Process: Best Practices
for Reviewing Facility Designs. Federal
Report
Facilities Council Technical Report.
Washington D. C.: National Academies of
Sciences.

NOTE: Refer to Appendix… of

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2019).

Research Methods for Business Students (8th
Edn). Harlow: Pearson.
For further examples
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Writing complete Within-text Citation –citation NOT part
of the sentence

Single Energy is described as the “golden

Author, thread” that bonds economic growth,
social equity, and environmental
single source
sustainability (Frei 2013).

Multiple
Energy price appears to be more
Authors, single volatile than other commodities
source (Ebrahim et al. 2013). www.knust.edu.gh
Writing complete Within-text Citation –citation NOT part
of the sentence

The Theory of Interpersonal Behaviour

Two makes explicit provision for the role of
Authors, emotions in the decision making process
single towards the performance of a behaviour,
source considered in TRA and TPB as part of the
attitude (Moody and Siponen 2013).
Numerous definitions of facilities
management have been provided over the
Multiple years, stipulating the objectives and scope
sources of FM (Cotts et al. 2010; Atkin and Brooks
2009; Barrett and Baldry 2003; www.knust.edu.gh
Tay and Ooi
2001; Becker 1990).
 Writing complete Within-text Citation where citation is
part of the sentence

According to Wiggins (2010), FM

Single
executes its functions by developing,
Author,
coordinating and managing all non-core
single source
businesses of an organisation.

McGregor and Then (1999, p. 15) refer to

facilities as “the infrastructure that
Two Authors, supports the people in the organisation
single source in their endeavours to achieve business
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goals”.
 Levels of Headings

 Headings provide logical subdivisions of the

text.

 Headings provide important clues for readers

that help them understand a study.

 The choice of heading levels in a literature

review depends on the number of
subdivisions of topics you use.
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 Employing Specific Writing Strategies
The concluding
Extent of the The type of
statement of the
review review
review
 It summarizes the
major themes
 Thematic found in the
review of the literature
 How long
literature
should my
 It provides a
literature
 Study-by-study rationale for the
review be?
review of the need for your study
literature or the importance
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of the research
problem
 Extent of Will depend on the type of
the review research report you are
writing

This may be looked at in terms of

VOLUME and in terms of YEARS past.
 For journal article , the extent of the literature review varies ,
more attention is given in quantitative than in qualitative
 For research plans or proposals a less comprehensive literature
review may be adequate, although guidelines may be set by
advisors or reviewers
 The literature review establishes the framework for a study
and documents the importance of the research problem.
 Dissertations and theses require extensive review of the
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literature , which often comprehensively

 Types of Review
Thematic review of the
literature
Researcher identifies a theme
and briefly cites literature to
document this theme
the author discusses only the
major ideas or results from
studies rather than the detail of
any single study
It is frequently in journal
articles but students also use it
for dissertations and theses in
graduate programs.
Study-by-study review
of the literature
A detailed summary of each study
is grouped under a broad theme.
It appears in journal articles that
summarize the literature and in
dissertations and theses
Authors link summaries (or
abstracts ) by using transitional
sentences , whilst organizing the
summaries under subheadings to
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reflect themes and major
divisions.
 The concluding The concluding statement of
statement of the a literature review serves
review several purposes
1. Summarizes the major themes found in the literature
2. It provides a rationale for the need for your study or
the importance of the research problem
3. Suggest reasons why the current literature is deficient
and why additional research is needed on your topic
4. writers mention three or four reasons that play a
significant role in research because they often lead
into the purpose statement , research questions, and
hypotheses
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The End
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