SECONDARY DATA

The literature review chapter

 Primary Data
(empirical data)

Collection of data for research from

original sources (respondents).

Your secondary data is someone else’s

primary data (if they did the research)
Secondary data (The Literature Review)
 Secondary data (literature review)

 to provide the intellectual context for your own work,

enabling you to position your project relative to other
work
 to identify opposing views
 to put your work into perspective
 to identify information and ideas that may be relevant
to your project
 to identify methods that can be relevant to your project
 demonstrate your understanding

Benefits
* time saving * cost-effective
 Uses of Secondary Data

1. Problem recognition
Concern into problem.
Environmental scanning.

2. Problem clarification
Makes problem more researchable.
Information to write the proposal.
Helps design methodology.

3. Problem solution
May not need to collect primary data.
 Exploring existing literature

What is the current state of knowledge about your topic

• what has been published on your research topic

· identify gaps

· how previous research has been conducted

· how the literature impacts on your research

problem

Data must be pre-screened for relevance.

Evaluated for accuracy.
If secondary data does not solve the problem,
primary data must be collected.
 Exploring existing literature

The literature is a written summary of the findings from your literature

search.

Becomes a part of your research proposal.

Becomes one or more of the early chapters of the final research report.

It is not a description of the research studies but a critical appraisal, with

defined areas of weaknesses and identified trends.

It should demonstrate how the literature relates to your own research and
identify deficiencies or omissions in previous research.
 Sources of secondary data

• books
• articles in peer reviewed journals
• articles in non-peer reviewed journals
• thesis
• conference proceedings
• magazines, newspapers
• business reports
• published statistics
• companies annual reports and internal records
• government publications (ASX; ABS)
• electronic databases
• the internet
The literature review should start as soon as possible and continue
until the business report is written.

Search can be manual or on-line.

Organisation specific literature (eg annual report) may not be on-

line.

Some organisational data is sensitive and difficult to obtain (eg

personnel, absenteeism figures etc)

More readily available data - annual reports,

newsletters, periodicals, previous reports.
 Texts

Limited as sources, take years to write and prepare for

publication so often out of date.

The library

1. Books are grouped according to subject area.

· Organization theory 658 PUG
(letters refer to first three letters of first author’s name)
…. Some books cover a number of topics - see also:
Psychology Sociology

2. interlibrary loans
3. published bibliographies
 Peer Reviewed Academic Journals

Published several times a year, more up to date.

Literature often discussing previous research

including, an explanation of what the research
intended to do/find, how the author went about
it (methodology), summary of results and
conclusions.

• based on rigorous research

• the meaning of ‘peer reviewed’
• relatively up to date
 Use of abstracts

Use of abstracts
(search by author or key words)

Key word search gives a list of references with the

key words in title and/or abstract.

Abstracts are a summary of the article - useful to

scan for relevance.

Do not restrict search to management abstracts.

 Snowballing

Refers to the use of the reference lists at the

back of the journal article or text, for further
literature useful to your search.

Also useful to follow up particularly relevant

citations.

If doing this, keep a note of what the citation

said and page number if given.
 On-line Databases
Markets and sells information to remote users such
as universities and corporate institutions. Costly

Select database
- ebscohost
- Emerald

Searching in databases
Key words (include synonyms and American
spelling)
 Information sources

4. The Internet
– ‘Google’ can be a blunt tool for literature searching.
– Use correct referencing for Internet sources – see slide 5.20
– Specialist sites:
• CABI: www.leisuretourism.com
• Sport Management Information Centre:
www.unb.ca/web/sportmanagement
• World Tourism Organisation: www.world-tourism.org/publications/
• + bibliographic sites listed earlier.
 Keeping records of readings
Hard or soft filing system

alphabetical index (cross referenced)

Index cards
Word documents
Computer programs e.g. ENDNOTE

Keep a bibliography or list of references as

you work.
 Reporting appropriately

• Differences between:
– Smith believes ... thinks ... is of the opinion ...
– Smith argues ...
– Smith establishes …
– Smith observes ...
– Smith speculates ...
– Smith puts forward the possibility that ...
– Smith concludes ...
• Textbooks vs original sources
Making sense of the literature
 Literature review summary/conclusions

• Your literature review should have conclusions on:

– the state of knowledge
– gaps/limitations in knowledge
– So what? – implications for proposed research.
 References and Citations

References: Detailed description of the source

from which you obtained information. Listed at
the end of report in Harvard system.

Citations: An acknowledgment within the text of the

source from which you have obtained information.
 References to the literature: referencing
systems

• Why reference?
– Evidence of scholarship
– Indication of how new knowledge is related to existing
knowledge
– Enable the reader to check/follow up sources.
 Generic reference format

• A book or report:
– Author(s), Initials (Year) Title of Book or Report in
Italics. Place of publication: Publisher.
• NB. Publisher is not the same as printer.
• An article from a periodical (journal/
magazine/newspaper):
– Author(s), Initials (Year) Title of article. Title of
Periodical in Italics, Volume number (Issue
number), Page numbers.
 Reference format - examples

• For examples see Fig. 5.8

• NB. Internet references should include all the
standard information as well as website.
– Date and place often difficult but should be checked
for.
 Author–date/APA system

• In the text:
• de Araujo and Bramwell (2002) observe that many
governments endorse the use of partnership arrangements in
planning for tourism development. “By encouraging regular,
face-to-face meetings among various participants, partnerships
have the potential to promote discussion, negotiation, and the
building of mutually acceptable proposals about how tourism
should develop” (de Araujo & Bramwell, 2002, pp. 1138-1139).
• Reference list:
Argyris, C. (1993). On organisational learning. Cambridge, Mass:
Blackwell Publishers.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (1999). Framework for Australian
Tourism Statistics. Chapter 1. The conceptual framework: Defining
tourism. Retrieved 03/05, 04, from
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/0/5AA223EA8A78A311
CA25697E0018FBFF?Open
Author–date/APA system

 Reference list:
Pansiri, J. (2005). Pragmatism: A methodological approach to
researching strategic alliances in tourism. Tourism and Hospitality:
Planning & Development, 2(3), 191-206.
Creswell, J. W., Clark, V. L. P., Gutmann, M. L., & Hanson, W. E. (2003).
Advanced mixed methods research designs. In A. Tashakkori & C.
C. Teddlie (Eds.), Handbook of mixed method in the social and
behavioral research (pp. 209-239). Thousand Oaks, California:
Sage Publication.
Republic of Botswana. (2002). Botswana National ecotourism Strategy.
Gaborone: Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Department of
Tourism.
Botswana Tourism organisation. (2011). Welcome to Botswana.
Retrieved 11/10, 2011, from
http://www.botswanatourism.co.bw/welcome.php
Botswana Tourism Board. (2010). Discover Botswana. Gaborone:
Botswana Tourism Board.
 Referencing issues
• Second-hand references
– Reference your source, not the original
• Excessive referencing
– Every mention of an author’s name does not require a
reference
– If summarising the work of author ‘X’, insert a heading;
‘The work of ‘X’’
• Latin
– et al. - et alia = 'and the others‘ (if more than two authors)
– op. cit - opere citato = 'in the work cited'.
– ibid. - ibidem = 'the same‘ - In the foot/endnote system ref to
previous foot/endnote
 Referencing issues

The scope, context and parameters of the

literature

• Time - between certain dates.

· Geography - town, city, region, country.

· Discipline context - eg. performance appraisal

systems in accounting firms.
 Referencing issues
Criteria for secondary data

• Timeliness - up to date?

· Relevance - to the problem?

· Reliability - falsified reports, under-reporting,

misrepresentation.

· Accuracy - validity and reliability, gleaned from

its source and methodology.
 Frequent errors in a literature review

 A series of abstracts only, or a general description of the contents of the

article without attempt to relate to current project
 the inclusion of general text books eg HRM, management, marketing texts
 only articles that support the study are included
 does not state the relevance of the article to the project
 does not attempt to address the literature in an integrated and
synthesised discussion
 Structure of the review

Funnel approach (SLT, p.48)

1. Start at the general level before narrowing
2. Provide a brief overview of key ideas
3. Summarise, compare and contrast the work of the key writers
4. Narrow down to highlight the most relevant material for your
research
5. Provide a detail account of this work
6. Highlight issues where your research will provide new insight (the
research gap)
7. Lead the reader into subsequent sections of your proposal
Funnel approach

General

Specific
The GAP
The research issues which remain
unanswered by the literature
The questions that remain
The justification for conducting your own
primary research