Slide 3.

Lecture 3
Critically reviewing the literature

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.2

Reasons for reviewing the literature

• To conduct a ‘preliminary’ search of existing

material

• To organise valuable ideas and findings

• To identify other research that may be in progress

• To generate research ideas

• To develop a critical perspective

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.3

The literature review process

Figure 3.1 The literature review process Source: Saunders et al. (2003)
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.4

The Critical Review (1)

Approaches used

Deductive -
Develops a conceptual framework from the
literature which is then tested using the data

Inductive -
Explores the data to develop theories which are
then tested against the literature

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.5

The Critical Review (2)

Key purposes

• To further refine research questions and objectives

• To discover recommendations for further research

• To avoid repeating work already undertaken

• To provide insights into strategies and techniques

appropriate to your research objectives

Based on Gall et al. (2006)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.6

Adopting a critical perspective (1)

Skills for effective reading

• Previewing

• Annotating

• Summarising

• Comparing and contrasting

Harvard College Library (2006)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.7

Adopting a critical perspective (2)

The most important skills are

• The capacity to evaluate what you read

• The capacity to relate what you read to other

information

Wallace and Wray (2006)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.8

Adopting a critical perspective (3)

Questions to ask yourself

Why am I reading this?

What is the author trying to do in writing this?

How convincing is this?

What use can I make of this reading?

Adapted from Wallace and Wray (2006)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.9

Content of the critical review

You will need to

• Include key academic theories

• Demonstrate current knowledge of the area

• Use clear referencing for the reader to find the

original cited publications

• Acknowledge the research of others

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.10

Is your literature review critical?

Complete the checklists to evaluate your

literature review

Saunders et al. (2009)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.11

Checklist 1 - Evaluate the content of

your critical literature review
• Have you ensured that the literature covered
relates clearly to your research question and
objectives?
• Have you covered the most relevant an significant
theories in the area?
• Have you covered the most relevant and significant
literature?
• Have you included up-to-date relevant literature?
• Have you referenced all the literature used?

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.12

Checklist 2 - Evaluate whether your

literature review is critical
• Have you contextualized your own research showing how your
research question relates to previous research reviewed?
• Have you assessed the strengths and weaknesses of the previous
research reviewed?
• Have you been objective in your discussion and assessment of other
people’s research?
• Have you included references to research that is counter to your own
opinion?
• Have you distinguished clearly between facts and opinions?
• Have you made reasoned judgements about the value and relevance
of others’ research to your own?
• Have you justified clearly your own ideas?

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.13

Checklist 2 - Evaluate whether your

literature review is critical
• Have you highlighted those areas where new research (yours!) is
needed to provide fresh insights and taken these into account in your
arguments. In particular:
• where there are inconsistencies in current knowledge and understanding?
• where there are omissions or bias in published research?
• where research findings need to be tested further?
• where evidence is lacking, inconclusive, contradictory or limited?
• Have you justified your arguments by referencing correctly published
research?

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.14

Checklist 3 - Evaluating the

structure of your literature review
• Does your literature review have a clear title which describes the focus of
your research rather than just saying ‘literature review’?
• Have you explained precisely how you searched the literature, and the
criteria used to select those studies included?
• Does your review start at a more general level before narrowing down?
• Is your literature review organised thematically around the ideas contained
in the research being reviewed rather than the researchers?
• Are your arguments coherent and cohesive – do your ideas link in a way
that will be logical to your reader?
• Have you used sub-headings within the literature review to help guide your
reader?
• Does the way you have structured your literature review draw your
reader’s attention to those issues which are going to be the focus of your
research?
• Does your literature review lead your reader into subsequent sections of
your project report?
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.15

Structure of the literature review

Three common structures

• A single chapter

• A series of chapters

• Throughout the report

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.16

Structuring the literature review

• Better to have a clear title which describes the

focus of your research rather than just saying
‘literature review’.
• You may use subheadings within the literature
review to help guide your reader.
• Start at a more general level before narrowing
down to specific research question
• Provide a brief overview of key ideas and themes

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.17

Structuring the literature review

• Summaries, compare and contrast the research of

key authors.
• You may organize your literature thematically
around the ideas contained in the research being
reviewed rather than the researchers?
• Narrow down to highlight previous research work
most relevant to your own research.
• Highlight those aspects where your own research
will provide fresh insight.

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.18

The key to a critical literature review

• Demonstrate that you have read, understood and

evaluated your material

• Link the different ideas to form a cohesive and

coherent argument

• Make clear connections to your research

objectives and the subsequent empirical material

Saunders et al. (2009)

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Slide 3.19

Categories of Literature Sources

• Primary (published and unpublished)

• Secondary

• Tertiary

Detailed in Tables 3.1 and 3.2 Saunders et al. (2009)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.20

Main secondary and primary

literature sources

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Slide 3.21

Literature sources available

Literature sources available

Saunders et al. (2009)

Figure 3.2 Literature sources available

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.22

The literature search strategy (1)

Write down

• parameters of your search

• key words and search terms to be used
• databases and search engines to be used
• criteria for selection of relevant and useful studies
And

Discuss these with a tutor (if possible)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.23

The literature search strategy (2)

• Define the research parameters

• Generate key words

• Discuss your research

• Brainstorm ideas

• Construct Relevance trees - use computer software

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.24

Conducting a literature search (1)

Approaches can include

• Searching tertiary literature sources

• Obtaining relevant literature

• Scanning and browsing secondary literature

• Searching using the Internet

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.25

Conducting a literature search (2)

Searching using tertiary literature

• Ensure key words match controlled index language

• Search appropriate printed and database sources

• Note precise details used – including search strings

• Note the FULL reference of each search found

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.26

Conducting a literature search (3)

• Printed sources

• Databases – use of Boolean logic and free text

searching

• Scanning and browsing

• Searching the Internet

Saunders et al. (2009)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.27

Conducting a literature search (4)

Searching the Internet

Saunders et al. (2003)

Figure 3.3 Searching the Internet
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Slide 3.28

Conducting a literature search (5)

Searching the Internet

Saunders et al. (2003)

Figure 3.3 Searching the Internet (Continued)
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.29

Evaluating the literature

• Define the scope of your review

• Assess relevance and value

• Assess sufficiency

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.30

Recording the literature

Make notes for each item you read

Record –

• Biographic details

• Brief summary of content

• Supplementary information

Sharp et al. (2002)

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Slide 3.31

Plagiarism
Four common forms

• Stealing material from another source

• Submitting material written by another

• Copying material without quotation marks

• Paraphrasing material without documentation

Adapted from Park (2003), cited in Easterby-Smith et al. (2008)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.32

NOTE:

Read our Referencing Guide and Avoiding Plagiarism tips – ask us by

writing on [email protected]

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