Effective literature review in research

Effective literature review in research

1. 1 Effective Literature Review in Research Dr . Khalid Mahmood Professor University of the Punjab

2. Professor of Information Management at University of the Punjab, Pakistan Post-doctoral research fellow at University of California, Loss Angeles, USA 150+ publications Supervised many doctoral, M.Phil. and master theses Worked for various research journals as editor, reviewer and editorial board member Conducted many trainings on research writing and publishing About me 2

3. Acknowledgment I have prepared this presentation with the help of many books, presentations and Websites. I pay my sincere gratitude to all authors, professors and experts for their efforts and contributions. 3

4. 4 Literature review - Definition A body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge on a particular topic A comprehensive survey of publications in a specific field of study or related to a particular line of research A summary of existing published literature made by experts who select and weigh findings available from the literature A summary and interpretation of research findings reported in the literature A process and documentation of the current relevant research literature regarding a particular topic or subject of interest

5. 5 Purposes of literature review Define and limit problem Develop familiarity with topic Limit research to a subtopic within larger body of knowledge Place study in historical perspective Analysis of way in which study relates to existing knowledge Avoid unintentional and unnecessary replication Awareness of prior studies so as to avoid unneeded replication Replication is reasonable if it is needed to verify prior results, investigate results that failed to be significant, or relate problem to a specific site

6. 6 Purposes of literature review… Select promising methods and measures Knowledge of and insight into specific research designs for investigating a problem Awareness of specific instruments, sampling procedures, and data analyses Relate findings to previous knowledge and suggest future research needs Relating prior research to what is known places current study in perspective This knowledge allows researcher to focus problem on what is not known Develop research hypotheses Suggestions for specific research hypotheses

7. 7 Meta-analysis Quantitatively combines the results of studies that are the result of a systematic literature review. Capable of performing a statistical analysis of the pooled results of relevant studies. Literature review designs Narrative review Selective review of the literature that broadly covers a specific topic. Does not follow strict systematic methods to locate and synthesize articles. Systematic review Utilizes exacting search strategies to make certain that the maximum extent of relevant research has been considered. Original articles are methodologically appraised and synthesized.

8. 8 When we need to do a literature review At the beginning of the research project Proposal Chapter 2, 1 & 3 Constantly update during research When writing discussion and conclusion chapters

9. 9 What is literature Books Journals Conference papers Theses and dissertations Bibliographies Maps Internet Indexes/Abstracts Audio-visual material CDs/DVDs Electronic databases Government reports Magazines Newspapers Grey literature Interviews and other unpublished research

10. 10 Three types of literature

11. Steps in narrative review Identifying a topic Searching and finding literature Evaluating literature Reading literature critically Analyzing literature Synthesizing literature Writing and presenting literature review 11

12. Searching and finding literature Bibliographic information, abstract and full text Formal and informal sources of literature Print and online literature 12

13. Evaluating literature Evaluation for relevance Index of a book, chapter or section headings, abstract of an article, introduction and conclusion, references or bibliography Evaluation for reliability Audience, authority, bias, currency, scope 13

14. Critical reading Passive vs. active reading Previewing Reading Taking notes Responding critically 14

15. Analyzing literature Varying definitions of key terms Methodology used Enough evidence for claims? Findings consistent with those of similar studies? 15

16. Synthesizing literature How does each reading relate to your topic and purpose? Define your argument/thesis. Identify major trends or patterns emerging from the readings. Reassemble your notes based on the results of readings, using organizational aids such as post-its, flags, etc. Create a detailed topic outline 16

17. 17 Sample topic outline Psychological Aspects of Organ Donation: Individual and Next-of-Kin Donation Decisions I. Introduction A. Establish importance of topic (cite statistics on scarcity of organs). B. Delimit the review to psychological components of decisions. C. Describe organization of the paper, indicating that the remaining topics in the outline will be discussed. II. Individual decisions regarding posthumous organ donation A. Beliefs about organ donation B. Attitudes toward donating C. Stated willingness to donate D. Summary of research on individual decisions III. Next-of-kin consent decisions A. Beliefs about donating others’ organs. B. Attitudes toward next-of-kin donations. C. Summary of research on next-of-kin consent decisions IV. Methodological issues and directions for future research A. Improvement in attitude measures and measurement strategy. B. Greater differentiation by type of donation. C. Stronger theoretical emphasis. D. Greater interdisciplinary focus. V. Summary, Conclusions, and Implications A. Summary of points I-IV. B. Need well-developed theoretical models of attitudes and decision making. C. Current survey data limited in scope and application points to need for more sophisticated research in the future. D. Need more use of sophisticated data analytic techniques. E. Conclusion: Psychology can draw from various subdisciplines for an understanding of donation decisions so intervention strategies can be identifiable. Desperately need to increase the available supply of donor organs.

18. Synthesizing literature… Note on your topic outline relationships among studies: which researchers, what page, etc. support each point? Note consistency of results from study to study. Note discrepancies among studies and provide possible explanations such as dates of studies, different methodologies. Note landmark studies and if replicated. Note how individual studies help illustrate or advance theoretical beliefs. Note gaps or areas needing more research. Make sure your detailed outline follows a logical sequence of topics and subtopics. This will give your literature review the coherence it needs . 18

19. 19 Writing and presenting literature review A general organization looks like a funnel Broader topics Subtopics Studies like yours

20. 20 How to organize studies Chronological By publication date By trend Thematic A structure which considers different themes Methodological Focuses on the methods of the researcher, e.g., qualitative versus quantitative approaches

21. 21 Making links between studies Agreements Similarly , author B points to… Likewise , author C makes the case that… Author D also makes this point… Again , it is possible to see how author E agrees with author D… Disagreements However , author B points to… On the other hand , author C makes the case that… Conversely , Author D argues… Nevertheless , what author E suggests…

22. 22 Summary table It is useful to prepare. Such a table provides a quick overview that allows the reviewer to make sense of a large mass of information. The tables could include columns with headings such as Author type of study Sample Design data collection approach key findings

23. 23 Citation Sample Environment Method Conclusions Colour Bellizzi, Crowley and Hasty (1983) 125 Adults Furniture store Laboratory experiment Photographic slide simulations Warm and cool colours created different emotional responses. Customers view red retail environments as more negative and unpleasant than blue. Bellizzi, & Hite (1992) 70 Adult women 107 Students Televisions shown with different colour backgrounds Furniture stores Laboratory experiments Photographic slide simulations Study based on PAD affect measures and approach-avoidance behaviours. More positive retail outcomes occurred in blue environments than red. Music Smith and Curnow (1966) 1100 Supermarket shoppers Retail store Field experiment Time in store reduced with loud music but level of sales did not. Milliman (1982) 216 Shoppers Supermarket Field experiment The tempo of background music influenced the pace at which customers shopped. Slow tempo music slowed customers down but resulted in increased volume of sales. Hui, Dubé and Chebat (1997) 116 Students Bank branch - waiting for service. Laboratory experiment Video simulation The positive impact of music on approach behaviours is mediated by an emotional evaluation of the environment and the emotional response to waiting. Pleasurable music produced longer perceived waiting times. Lighting Areni and Kim (1994) 171 Shoppers Wine store Field experiment The investigation found that brighter in-store lighting influenced shoppers to examine and handle more of the merchandise in the store Summers and Hebert (2001) 2367 Customers Hardware store Apparel store Field experiment Confirmed Areni and Kims (1994) results. Increased levels of lighting will produce arousal and pleasure and increase the approach behaviours of customers. Summary table of literature Atmospherics in service environments

24. 24 Citation styles Information prominent citation Example: For viscoelastic fluids, the behaviour of the time-dependent stresses in the transient shear flows is also very important (Boger et al., 1974). Author prominent citation Examples: Close (1983) developed a simplified theory using an analogy between heat and mass transfer and the equivalent heat transfer only case. Several authors have suggested that automated testing should be more readily accepted (Balcer, 1989; Stahl, 1989; Carver & Tai, 1991).

25. 25 Reporting verbs Argue Assert Assume Challenge Claim Contend Contradict Describe Dispute Emphasize Establish Examine Find Maintain Note Object Observe Persuade Propose Prove Purport Recommend Refute Reject Remark Suggest Support

26. 26 Verb tenses – Present A statement about what the thesis, chapter or section does Examples: This thesis presents a report of an investigation into ……. This chapter thus provides a basis for the next. In this section, the results from the first set of experiments are reported. A statement of a generally accepted scientific fact Examples: There are three factors that control the concentration of aluminum in seawater. The finite rate coefficients have an effect on heat transfer through a horizontal porous layer.

27. 27 Verb tenses – Present A review of current research work, or research work of immediate relevance to your study. Example: Schulze ( 2016) concludes that hydraulic rate has a significant effect on future performance. Comments, explanations and evaluative statements made by you when you are reviewing previous studies. Examples: Therefore , this sequential approach is impractical in the real world where projects are typically large and the activities from one stage may be carried out in parallel with the activities of another stage. The reason for this anomalous result is that the tests were done at low hydraulic rates at which the plastic packing was not completely wetted.

28. 28 Verb tenses – Past Report the contents, findings or conclusions of past research Examples: Haberfield (1998) showed that the velocity of many enzyme reactions was slowed down if the end product had an increased paramagnetism. Allington (1999) found that the temperatures varied significantly over time.

29. 29 Verb tenses – Present perfect In citations where the focus is on the research area of several authors Examples: Several studies have provided support for the suggestion that the amount of phonological recoding that is carried out depends on orthographic depth (Frost, 1994; Smart et al, 1997; Katz & Feldman, 2001, 2002). Joint roughness has been characterized by a number of authors (Renger, 1990; Feker & Rengers, 1997; Wu & Ali, 2000). To generalize about the extent of the previous research Examples: Many studies have been conducted in this field. Few researchers have examined this technique. There has been extensive research into.........

30. 30 A good literature r eview is… Focused - The topic should be narrow. You should only present ideas and only report on studies that are closely related to topic. Concise - Ideas should be presented economically. Don’t take any more space than you need to present your ideas. Logical - The flow within and among paragraphs should be a smooth, logical progression from one idea to the next Developed - Don’t leave the story half told. Integrative - Your paper should stress how the ideas in the studies are related. Focus on the big picture. What commonality do all the studies share? How are some studies different than others? Your paper should stress how all the studies reviewed contribute to your topic. Current - Your review should focus on work being done on the cutting edge of your topic.

31. Best of luck for your research endeavors! 31