Review of Literature

MS 206
Lets Get Started!
 A literature review is the review of a collection of
published research relevant to a research
question.
 Researchers are often eager to begin data
collection and may spend less time on the
literature review than is needed.
 All good research and writing is guided by a
review of the relevant literature.
 The literature review has two components: the
actual literature search and the writing of the
review.
Why?
 Regardless of the research methodology used, the
purpose of the literature review remains the same.
 It is an essential test of the research question
against that which is already known about the
subject.
 Literature review reveals whether or not a
research question has already been answered by
someone else.
 If it has, often the question needs to be changed
or modified, so that an original contribution to the
research is made.
Questions to be asked during a
literature review
 What is known about the subject?
 What is the chronology of the development of
knowledge about the subject?
 Are there any gaps in knowledge of the subject?
Which openings for research have been identified
by other researchers? How can these gaps be
bridged?
 Is there a consensus on relevant issues? Or is
there significant debate on issues? What are the
various positions?
 What is the most fruitful direction for the research
as the result of the literature review? What
directions are indicated by the work of other
researchers?
Remember...
 Ultimately, the relevance, significance and
importance of a research subject are
determined by the researcher.
Merits
 Literature search should eliminate the possibility
of needless duplication.
 Since your research must be an original
contribution, you quickly learn what has already
been done satisfactorily and might be avoided.
 A proper literature review should save
considerable time by building on what is already
known as well as using tested methodology,
including instruments.
 In assessing the merit of previous studies: their
soundness, relevance, design quality, and findings
and conclusions, you can learn from the errors of
others and avoid pitfalls. Pitfalls and barriers may
be identified in earlier research and avoided.
More...
 Literature search, especially in the findings and
recommendations of others, often provides more
and more persuasive justification for research on
the problem.
 Researchers often identify gaps or areas where
more research is needed.
 Literature search provides context, especially in
the history of research on the problem.
 Replication or redoing earlier research is a
relatively painless way to make a notable
contribution to the literature while becoming
more grounded in the problem and the research
methodology.
 How to do a bibliography
How to do a bibliography/reference
section at the end of an essay or
report?
What’s in Store?
 What is the difference between a bibliography and
a reference section?
 Why is it important to be accurate when putting
together your bibliography?
 The definition of ‘plagiarism‘
 Why creativity is not part of writing a
bibliography?
 Oh yes, how to do a basic one, using the Harvard
system!
Bibliography or Reference section?
Reference section Bibliography
 Refers to any book,journal,  A list of all books, CDs,

newspaper, CD or internet internet sites,journals or

site you have quoted in newspapers you used for
research – whether quoted
your essay or report. in your essay/report or
not.
Bibliography
 A bibliography is a list of sources you have used in
the course of writing your essay, assignment or
report and is given simply as a list at the end of your
work.
 References are listed alphabetically in order of the
authors’ names.
 If you have more than one book, article, report etc,
by a particular author list them chronologically, and
then by letter e.g.(2000a,2000b) if more than one
item has been published during a specific year.
 FINSBERG,J BERGER,J.,(1972).Ways of seeing.
London : Penguin Books.
 CROW,T.,(1996).Modern Art in the Common Culture.
New York: Random House.
 FINSBERG,J.,(2000b).Art since 1940.2nd ed. York
:Laurence King.
Rules
 Books
 Include the following information. The order is:
 Author(s), editors(s) or the institution responsible
for writing the book (in capital letters)
 Date of publication (in brackets)
 Title and subtitle (if any) underlined or
highlighted or in italics but be consistent
throughout the bibliography
 Series and individual volume number (if any)
 Edition (if not the first)
 Place of publication (if known)
 Publisher
What information do you need to
get started?
The exact:
 Title of the book, magazine, journal, newspaper article,
CD, internet site
 The author (or authors) when possible
 The publisher
 The publication date
 The place of publication
More..
 Author Date Title Edition Place Publisher

 GREEN,D.C.(1995). Electronics.3rd ed. Harlow: Longman .

 Multiple authors: where there is more than one author.
 Two authors: cite both, in the order they appeared in the
original document.
 HOLLINS,G., and CUNNINGHAM,T.,(1996). A History of Europe.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 Three authors
 COUSINS,J.,FOSKETT,D., & GILLESPIE,C.,(1995).Food and
Beverage Management.2nd ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall.
 Four or more authors: it is normal to list the first author
followed by et al (and others)
 ARNOLD,J., et al(1994).Financial Accounting. Harlow: Prentice Hall
 Editors
 CHESTER,D.N.,ed.,(1951).Lessons of the British war economy.
Westport: Greenwood Press.
Citation
 Citation is the way a writer refers from the text to
the sources used (i.e. the references).
 There are two main citation / reference systems –
the Harvard and the Numeric.
 There is not a great deal of difference between
different systems of referencing.
 The Harvard system has become the most common
system internationally and has advantages of
flexibility, clarity and ease of use for author and
reader.
More..
 The Harvard system of citation is the most
straightforward, because initially all you need to
do is mention the author and year of publication in
the text of your work.
 The work of Harper (2002) indicates the difficulty in
maintaining standards in the manufacturing process.
 If the author’s name occurs naturally in the text,
the year follows in parenthesis (brackets).
 In a popular study Thomas (1999) has shown that
advertising does have an effect on people’s
perceptions of quality.
Yet More..
 If you are giving direct quotations you should
identify the page number(s).
 ”The most important issue is whether the rise of Hitler
was the inevitable outcome of postwar economic,
social and political forces?”(Hegel,1974 p78)
 When more than one reference is given at the same
point in the text, they should be listed
chronologically.
 ….as proposed by Harris (1989),Matthews (1991) and
Andrews (1994).
Why be accurate?

 You are using someone else’s work

 Your guide would often know the sources and will
notice inaccuracy
 Readers may want to look up something they don’t
know and will use your reference to find it
 It’s a mark of a conscientious student and a
bibliography/reference section counts in your
overall mark
What is ‘plagiarism?

 Plagiarism is an ‘academic’ word for stealing.

 It may be accidental but if you don’t reference your
research, you are suggesting that it is your own
work.
 Plagiarism is forgetting to reference someone’s
work, or copying someone’s work without saying
whose it is.
Don’t be creative…Do what you’re
told!
 This is harsh, but there is no room for creativity in
a bibliography/reference section
 Follow the guidelines set by your guide (often the
Harvard method) and don’t improvise
 Your marks for your bibliography (reference)
section are dependent on doing it right!
Basic Book Reference
• Last name of author, (comma)
• Initial of author. (full stop)
• Date of publication in brackets ( ), (comma)
• Title of publication underlined or in bold, (comma)
• Place of publication, (comma)
• Name of Publisher. (full stop)
This is what it should look like:
Thorpe, M. (1988), Adult Learning, Milton Keynes,
Open University Press.
Watch Your Step!!
 The Bottomless Pit
 Set a date to complete the literature search and move on.
 Stop when you are confident that you have been able to
identify, retrieve, and review the genuinely important
items on this topic.
 There must be closure and recognition that appropriate
new literature may appear later, but that you won't worry
about that.
 Being Too Specific
 Don't be so specific in your search that you conclude that
nothing has been done on your topic.
 You are responsible for identifying, retrieving, and
reviewing those studies which are closest to what you
propose to do.
More...
 Reliance on Digital Data Bases
 Full-text databases are convenient and save time.
 The literature needs to be comprehensive.
 Searcher convenience should not dictate the shape
of the literature search.
 Most data bases are not retrospective enough to
be comprehensive. In some cases, you may need
to visit other collections that hold needed items.
Some Tips for Literature Review
 Focus the search
 Having the research question written down, and on
hand, can prevent inefficient wandering into research
areas unrelated to the subject.
 When to narrow the search
 If too many citations appear for a question, then it is
too broad, and a more focused question needs to be
asked.
 When to broaden the search
 If few citations appear for a question, then the topic is
too narrow. Perhaps the question needs to be
broadened.
 Conduct a systematic search
 If little research has been done in an area, then a
systematic search is necessary.
 Take thorough notes
 Taking thorough notes saves research time, as
references can be quickly accessed again.
Yet More...
 Conduct a smart, targeted search
 Identify publications which print abstracts of articles and
books in the subject area (research papers previously
written in the subject area can help identify these
publications).
 Identify authors who are frequently cited and considered
leaders in the subject area.
 Identify keywords in the area of interest to help narrow
and refine database searches.
 Use databases
 Academic researchers find more information, more
efficiently, by reaching into scholarly journal databases
to build bibliographies for their papers and dissertations.