Day 2

Literature Review&
Theoretical Framework
The ResearchProcess
Critically Reviewing the Literature
A literaturereview is “the
selection of available
documents (both
published & unpublished)
on the topic,which
containinformation,
ideas, data and evidence
written from a particular
standpoint tofulfill
certain aims or express
certain views on the
nature of the topicand
how it is to be
investigated,and the
effective evaluation of
these documentsin
relation to the research
being proposed” (Hart,
1998 , p. 13).
The need for a Critical LR
 Research is not done in a vacuum.
 Other researches on similar topics can be numerous or
even overwhelming.
 Need to choose the relevantresearch for reference for
the research at hand.
 LR will bring the researcher to the current state of theory
& methodology.
 It serves to refine the research at hand.
 It helps identify identical research so that it will not be
repeated. This is because undertaking research projects
are costly & time consumingendeavour.
Content of LR

 Critical literature review & research gap

 Research philosophy & underpinningtheory
 Hypotheses Development(Quantitative)

Checklist
 Have you ensured that the literature covered relates
clearly to your RQ & RO?
 Have you covered the most relevant & significant
theories in the area?
 Have you include up-to-date relevant literature?
The Significance of LR in your study
 Providing a justification for the research problem
(Chapters 1 & 2)
 Documenting what is & is not known about the topic
(Chapters 1 & 2)
 Identifyingthe theory / conceptual framework (Chapter
2)
 Providing research methods & analysis guidelines
(Chapter 3)
 Interpretingresults (Analysis & Discussion - Article)
 Literature SearchStrategy

Search Parameters
1. Subject (e.g., Economics, Business Management);
2. Author/s (e.g., Azlan Amran);
3. Publication period;
4. Language of publication (e.g., English);
5. Economic sector (e.g., manufacturing);
6. Geographical area (e.g., Malaysia);
7. Literature type (e.g., refereed journals, books, online journals, etc.)
Searching using Databases
Searching using Databases
Searching using Search Engine
Assessing the utility of an article using the Abstract
LiteratureReview Process
LiteratureReview Structure
LiteratureReview- Example (to avoid)
LiteratureReview- Example (to avoid)
LiteratureReview- GOODExample
LiteratureReview- GOODExample
 LiteratureReview- GOODExample

Entrepreneurship and family businesses in Thailand

(2018)
The literature indicates that the likelihood of becoming an entrepreneur is higher
for a person who has a family member who is an entrepreneur (e.g. Laband and
Lentz 1983; Dunn and Holtz-Eakin 2000; Taylor 2001; Djankov et al. 2006a;
Lindquist et al. 2015). Potential explanations include role model or
entrepreneurial preferences, capital accessibility, and learning by doing. In the
past several years, there has been more interest in the role of family business
ownership in business survival (e.g. Van Praag 2003; Fairlie and Robb 2007;
Millan et al. 2012). Most studies find that simply having an entrepreneur in the
family does not increase the chance of business survival. This result suggests
that living in a family operating a business does not necessarily pass on
significant entrepreneurial ability. However, such insignificant influence could
arise from the fact that most who live in business-operating families may not
work in those businesses (in our data, only 34 per cent of individuals who live in
a family operating a business worked in that business).
 LiteratureReview- GOODExample

To the best of our knowledge, only Fairlie and Robb (2007) have sufficient data
that would allow investigation of whether working in a family-owned business
increases the likelihood of the survival of a start-up, and they find that it does
matter. However, with their limited data, they could not tell whether working more
would help firm survival.

Our key contribution is in adding to this area of the literature, since our data
contain valuable information on the intensive margin in the form of working hours
in family-owned businesses. This paper also fills a gap in the literature by
considering not only the transmission of knowledge or expertise between parents
and children but also between spouses. Most empirical studies in this area have
focused primarily on the impact of the parent's entrepreneurship on the children's
decision to start a business (e.g. Colombier and Masclet 2008; Djankov et al.
2006a; Dunn and Holtz-Eakin 2000; Lindquist et al. 2015) but only a few have
investigated entrepreneurship transmission between spouses (e.g. Aldrich and
Cliff 2003; Parker 2008; Ozcan 2011). Furthermore, owing to data limitations,
none of them analyse the impact of working in the spouse's business on
business survival. With more comprehensive data, this study analyses the
decision to start businesses more formally than Fairlie and Robb (2007).
 LiteratureReview- GOODExample

Drivers of technical efficiency in Malaysian banking: a

new empirical insight (2015)
The findings from banking efficiency analyses have been classified into three
broad groups according to their contribution: (1) to inform government policy by
assessingthe effects of deregulation, mergers, or market structure on efficiency;
(2) to address research issues by describing the efficiency of an industry, ranking
its firms, or checking how measured efficiency may be related to the different
efficiency techniques employed; or (3) to improve managerial performance
(Berger and Humphrey 1997). So far, there are four survey papers on the
analysis of banking efficiency. Berger and Humphrey (1997) reviewed 130
studies and found that 42 of them have used the data envelopment analysis
(DEA) approach. Berger (2007) reviewed 100 papers on the application of
frontier techniques in assessing the performance of banks. Fethi and Pasiouras
(2010) reviewed 196 studies and found that 151 of them have used a DEA-like
approach in measuring efficiency, productivity, and growth in banking. Finally, the
survey by Paradi and Zhu (2013) is focused on the application of DEA in
analysing bank branch efficiency.
Citations
 Citation is an in-text and bibliographic reference.
 Purpose is to maintain academic integrity by acknowledging the
works of others on the topic.
 Reason is to avoid plagiarism.
 Helps readers determine the importance of the materials used.

Example:
• According to Amran et al. (2012) ….
• Amran and Ooi (2014) mentioned that ….
• … may generate environmental problems and deforestation (Atabani
et al., 2012).
• …. a major source of biodiesel are caused by non-technical problems
(Kes & Tomas, 2007).
Citations

APA in-text citations

Referencing Style
APA 7th Edition (2020)
American Psychological Association (APA)

Example:
• Hair, J. F., Ringle, C. M. & Sarsedt, M. (2011).PLS-SEM: Indeed a Silver
Bullet. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 19(2), 139–151.
• Hair,J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M. & Sarstedt, M. (2014).A Primer
on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM).
Thousand Oaks: Sage.
APA Website
Theoretical Framework
TheoreticalFramework
• A theoretical framework represents your beliefs on how
certain phenomena (or variables or concepts) are related
to each other (a model) & an explanation of why you
believe that these variables are associated with each
other (a theory).

• A framework involves the identification of the network of

relationships among the variables.

• From the framework, hypotheses can be developed to

examine whether the theory is valid or not.
TheoreticalFramework
There are two kinds of frameworks used in academic research –
theoretical frameworks & conceptual frameworks.

A theoretical framework is developed based on an underpinning theory

that can be applied to research & investigation.

Theory of PlannedBehaviour(Azjen, 1991)

appliedto the understandingof Purchase Intentions of
Socially Responsible Products

A conceptual framework is constructed when the theoretical framework is

already available. A conceptual framework is a model that extracts
variables from various other models or frameworks and puts them
together in a clear & coherent structure.
Conceptual Framework
 What is Conceptual Framework

It represents an integrated way of looking at a problem under

study (Liehr & Smith, 1999).

It is seen as an outline of courses of action or preferred

approach to a thought to be carried out in a research study
(Dixon, Gulliver & Gibbon, 2001).

Miles and Huberman (1994, p.18) opine that conceptual

frameworks can be ‘graphical or in a narrative form showing
the key variables or constructs to be studied and the presumed
relationships between them’.
Importance of Conceptual Framework in Research

It aids the researcher to identify and construct his/her

worldview and approach to the topic of study (Grant &
Osanloo, 2014).

It brings together related concepts to explain or predict a given

event or give a detailed understanding of the research problem
and its asserted solution (Liehr & Smith, 1999).

It accentuates the reasons why a research topic is worth

studying, the assumptions of a researcher, the scholars s/he
agrees with and disagrees with and how s/he conceptually
grounds his/her approach (Evans, 2007).
 How To Construct a Conceptual Framework

Mostly, diagrams are created to clearly define the constructs

or variables of the research topic and their relationships are
shown by the use of arrows.

Researchers are at liberty to adopt existing frameworks, but

have to modify it to suit the nature of the context of their
research as well as the nature of their research questions
(Fisher, 2007).

Fisher adds that a good conceptual framework must also be

expressed in writing for it to be understood clearly.
 Features of conceptual frameworks

The main features of conceptual frameworks are as follows:

1. A conceptual framework is not merely a collection of concepts but, rather, a
construct in which each concept plays an integral role.

According to Miles and Huberman (1994), a conceptual framework “lays out

the key factors, constructs, or variables, and presumes relationships among
them” (p. 440).

To discourage loose usage of the term conceptual framework, conceptual

frameworks should be based not on variable or factors but on concepts alone.
 Features of conceptual frameworks

2. A conceptual framework provides not a causal/analytical setting but,

rather, an interpretative approach to social reality.

3. Rather than offering a theoretical explanation, as do quantitative models,

conceptual frameworks provide understanding.

4. A conceptual framework provides not knowledge of “hard facts” but,

rather, “soft interpretation of intentions” (Levering, 2002, p. 38).
 Features of conceptual frameworks

5. Conceptual frameworks are indeterminist in nature and therefore do not

enable us to predict an outcome.

Levering (2002) has suggested that “the idea that human behavior can be
explained and predicted is roughly based on the concept of external factors
being caught in an accidental cohesion, and the idea that human actions can
be understood, but not predicted, is based on the concept of freedom” (p. 38).

6. Conceptual frameworks can be developed and constructed through a

process of qualitative analysis.
Differences Between Theoretical Framework and
Conceptual Framework

Theoretical framework is curled from an existing theory or

theories in the literature that has already been tested and
validated by others and is considered as an acceptable theory
in the scholarly literature (Grant & Osanloo, 2014).

Conceptual framework is the researcher’s understanding of

how the research problem will be explored, the specific
direction the research will have to take, and the relationship
between the different variables in the study.
 Where To Place The Conceptual Framework in A
Thesis

Since the theoretical perspectives of the main variables or constructs of a

study are rigorously reviewed in chapter two of a thesis, the conceptual
framework are mostly placed in the chapter two.
Summary
• A literature review ensures that
the research effort is positioned
relative to existing knowledge &
builds on this knowledge.

• The development of a theoretical

framework is crucial in deductive,
theory‐testing, causal research
(but not in exploratory or
descriptive research where one
does not develop a theoretical
framework to develop & test
hypotheses.