Comments on improving the guide are welcome.

Comments on improving the guide are welcome.

Prepared by: Romie F. Littrell

National Research University Higher School of Economics

St. Petersburg, The Russian Federation

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&

Centre for Cross Cultural Comparisons

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Developed in support of research and writing at

IBW-Fachhochschule Aalen, Germany from 4 September 2000, & Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand, Revision & Update: 24 February 2016

NRU-HSE-SPb: 2019

COPYRIGHT NOTICE. This copying and distribution of any copyrighted material is done for an educational purpose under the New Zealand Copyright Act 1994 No 143 (as at 07 July 2010) and subsequent amendments. The printed, copied, or electronically distributed or appended document(s) may contain copyrighted material. You may not copy or distribute verbatim any substantial part of this material to any other person. Where this material is provided to you in electronic format you may only print from it for your own use. You may not make a further copy for any other purpose. Failure to comply with the terms of this warning may be copyright infringement and hence illegal. Exceptions to these restrictions may be granted by documented permission of the copyright holder indicated on the original version of the material.

Acknowledgements:

Many students in Germany and New Zealand who have suggested improvements.

Dr. Gayle Morris, Associate Dean, Learning and Teaching, Auckland University of Technology, for suggestions making the document more accessible to students at all levels.

Offered only as a help to students and researchers, summarising information compiled from various sources, sometimes directly quoted without fully cited acknowledgement; check Internet links provided for more information. Major sources should take a look at yourself is the excellent information at the various websites listed below. The links are changed from time to time by their source universities, so you may have to search the overarching website.

Contents

Critically Analysing Information Sources and a Guide for a Literature Review: A General Guide for Term Papers, Producing Information for Presentations, and Theses and Dissertations. 1

INTRODUCTION.. 2

WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW?. 2

REASONS FOR DEVELOPING SKILLS IN LITERATURE REVIEW... 3

Why Do a Literature Review?. 3

THE PROCESS OF PRODUCTION OF THE RESULTS OF YOUR REVIEW... 3

GIVING NAMES TO THE PROCESSES. 4

THIS SECTION IS PRIMARILY A COMPILATION OF INFORMATION FROM THE VARIOUS, PRESENT AND PAST, SOMEWHAT FRAGMENTED WEB SITES, PRIMARILY FROM CORNELL UNIVERSITY, USED WITH PERMISSION.. 7

THE PROCESS OF SELECTING USEFUL INFORMATION.. 9

I. INITIAL APPRAISAL.. 10

DEFINITIONS: 11

SCHOLARLY.. 11

SUBSTANTIVE NEWS OR GENERAL INTEREST. 11

SENSATIONAL.. 12

INCORPORATING A LITERATURE REVIEW IN A RESEARCH ESSAY ASSIGNMENT 14

Appendix A.. 16

YOU MAY FIND THIS USEFUL, MAYBE NOT, PROCESS TO PROVIDE STRUCTURE.. 16

Force Field: Other Uses. 20

Tree Diagram.. 20

 

INTRODUCTION

 

I use literature review generically, with literature indicating existing published information. Prior to switching my career to university teaching, I worked for several decades in sales, marketing, and systems engineering support for information technology companies, including owning and managing a small IT sales and marketing business, and working for IBM, Xerox, Unisys, Docutel/Olivetti, and InterContinental Hotels Group, as well as teaching and research posts at universities. In every one of these organisations I had at various times, career-critical assignments that required locating, accessing, and reading sources of information, analysing and synthesising the information, summarising, drawing conclusions, and making plans and recommendations. This guide is intended to help you prepare for these kinds of tasks.

 

In any research and writing endeavour, a review of prior, relevant literature is an essential feature. An effective review creates a firm foundation for establishing available knowledge and advancing knowledge. In academia it facilitates theory development, closes areas where a large volume of research exists, and uncovers areas where research is needed. In business practice review of prior knowledge can indicate what has worked and failed in the past, and your analysis, synthesis, and conclusions can indicate what might work in the future. Detailed discussion of the definition of a literature review begins on p. 4 below.

 

The results of a literature review in business or academia should not be only a descriptive report, but an analysis of the issues or research topic you have chosen, bringing together the results of the analysis (synthesis), reflection on and discussion of the analysis and synthesis, and drawing and justifying your conclusions, and a plan for the future. See Appendix A for highly structured techniques for analysis.

 

Why Do a Literature Review?

 

A crucial element of all research degrees is the review of relevant literature. So important is this chapter that its omission represents a void or absence of a major element in research (Afolabi 1992). According to Bourner (1996) there are good reasons for spending time and effort on a review of the literature before embarking on a research project. These reasons include:

• To identify gaps in the literature
• To avoid reinventing the wheel (at the very least this will save time and it can stop you from making the same mistakes as others)
• To carry on from where others have already reached (reviewing the field allows you to build on the platform of existing knowledge and ideas)
• To identify other people working in the same fields (a researcher network is a valuable resource)
• To increase your breadth of knowledge of your subject area
• To identify seminal works in your area
• 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 demonstrate that you can access previous work in an area
• To identify information and ideas that may be relevant to your project
• To identify methods that could be relevant to your project

 

As far as the literature review process goes, ultimately the goal for students is to complete their review in the allocated time and to ensure they can maintain currency in their field of study for the duration of their research (Bruce 1990).

 

 

Learning how to determine the relevance and authority of a given resource for your research is one of the core skills of the research process. For more assistance with the research process, consult your instructor or a reference librarian.

 

GIVING NAMES TO THE PROCESSES “Synthesis of information is something we do every day” (Drew University On-Line Resources for Writers)   “Whenever you report to a friend the things several other friends have said about a film or CD you engage in synthesis.”   In business, “Whether one is proposing to open a new store or expand a product line, the report that must inevitably be written will synthesize information and arrange it by topic rather than by source.”   For university papers, “Your primary purpose is to show readers that you are familiar with the field and are thus qualified to offer your own opinions. But your larger purpose is to show that in spite of all this wonderful research, no one has addressed the problem in the way that you intend to in your paper. This gives your synthesis a purpose, and even a thesis of sorts.” An excellent source: For a thorough discussion see Drew University On-Line Resources for Writers: http://www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/synthesis.html The following cut & pasted from: http://www.stolaf.edu/people/huff/classes/Conflict/analysis.html by Chuck Huff, Professor of Psychology, St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, USA Some hints on how to make your analysis paper excellent Students are often frustrated when I mark their papers "please give more detail." I admit the comment doesn't tell you much about what sort of detail I would like to see (but it does fit in the margin nicely). Here is a guide to the kinds of ways one can add "detail" to a paper without simply repeating yourself.   Allan Bloom has posited a "taxonomy of educational objectives" that helps us discriminate different kinds of detail. Underneath each of these sorts of detail, I give an explanation of it and an example. Each single example sentence would never stand by itself in a paper, but represents what might be the topic sentence of a paragraph. Stuff towards the top of this list is detail that is less impressive than stuff towards the bottom. Knowledge: Recognition of a concept and ability to define it. "Conformity is the change in a person's behavior brought about by the real or imagined presence of others." This definition suggests knowledge that the concept "conformity" can be described in a particular way. Giving more than one definition does not add to knowledge, unless comparisons are made between them. Giving a simple example can be a form of definition too. Simple examples suggest knowledge, and some comprehension, complex ones suggest application. Comprehension: Clear evidence that the nuance of knowledge is recognized. The ability to use a concept in a sentence toward some end is also evidence of comprehension. "Persuasion is a kind of social influence with a slightly different approach than that of conformity." Comprehension is more than awareness of a simple definition, it also involves the ability to understand the meaning of a concept and use it appropriately. Application: The use of a concept to understand a complex real-world problem. A simple example is not an application. Application requires the use of the concept in a careful and thoughtful manner, in a manner that takes into account the complexity of both the concept and the situation. "Conformity in the Challenger disaster took on various forms, depending upon the relation of the decision maker to positions of power." Analysis: This involves the ability to understand the internal structure of a concept and to manipulate that structure to show how the concept is put together. "Conformity can take on several different aspects (compliance, identification, internalization) but these aspects are not as easy to separate as the simple list suggests; they flow into each other and even transform each other at times." Just showing the connections or structure is the beginning, but manipulating the structure to show its flexibility or fragility is deeper analysis. Synthesis: Taking two or more concepts and showing their similarities, differences, contrasts, contradictions, or combinations. "Some prejudice is really a form of conformity, or is at least motivated by a desire to fit in." Again, showing the contrast is just the beginning; you can also show why it matters, or how it can be resolved, or why it is interesting (see Analysis). (NOTE from author: Research synthesis is the practice of systematically distilling and integrating data from a variety of sources in order to draw more reliable conclusions about a given question or topic. Evaluation: Is this concept up to the task its designers' set for it? Where does it fall short? What does it leave out? What implications does it have for other concepts or issues? If it is useful for one purpose, might it be useful for other, similar purposes? "Conformity can easily be over-applied to explain almost any social decision; perhaps this is because its definition is too vague."

 

Caution

 

When you’re reading publications other than the original source by the original author, remember this quote from Socrates:

 

“Once a thing is put into writing, the composition, whatever it may be, drifts all over the place, getting into the hands not only of those who understand it, but equally of those who have no business with it; it doesn’t know to address the right people and not to address the wrong. And when it is ill-treated and unfairly abused it always needs the help of its parent [i.e., the author] to come to its help, being unable to defend or help itself.” – Socrates, Phaedrus (275e), trans. Hackforth

 

See also: James G. Hunt, George E. Dodge, Leadership deja vu all over again, The Leadership Quarterly, Volume 11, Issue 4, Winter 2000, Pages 435-458.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W5N-42Y1649-2&_user=860968&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000046400&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=860968&md5=4dcc3ffb139f87f070e5818a4064da29

 

Another useful quote to remember: “Some of the research literature on almost every topic is misleading or trivial.” -- http://www.gwu.edu/~litrev/

Some Sources That May be of Use

Drew University On-Line Resources for Writers: http://www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/synthesis.html

 

Cooper, Harris; Hedges, Larry V.; Valentine, Jeffrey C. (2009). The Handbook of Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis, Russell Sage Foundation. (Auckland University of Technology Location: City Campus Main Collection, Call Number: 001.42 HAN

Good tutorials concerning literature reviews are available at these websites:

 

http://www.gwu.edu/~litrev/

http://guides.library.cornell.edu/criticallyanalyzing

 

Good information with examples are provided at:

 

http://www4.caes.hku.hk/acadgrammar/litrev/main.htm

Links to Other Sites

How to Write a PhD Thesis

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/thesis.html

 – There are English, Spanish, and French versions

An extensive list of websites discussing writing and presenting; I have not thoroughly checked and verified the sites, but for those I have, some are excellent, some are useless:

http://www.csc.ncsu.edu/faculty/xie/advice.htm

I. INITIAL APPRAISAL

 

A. Author

1. What are the author's credentials--institutional affiliation (where he or she works), educational background, past writings, or experience? Is the book or article written on a topic in the author's area of expertise? You can use the various Who's Who publications for the U.S. and other countries and for specific subjects and the biographical information located in the publication itself to help determine the author's affiliation and credentials.
2. Has your instructor mentioned this author? Have you seen the author's name cited in other sources or bibliographies? Other scholars cite respected authors frequently. For this reason, always note those names that appear in many different sources.
3. Is the author associated with a reputable institution or organization? What are the basic values or goals of the organization or institution?

B. Date of Publication

1. When was the source published? On Web pages, the date of the last revision is usually at the bottom of the home page, sometimes every page.
2. Is the source current or out-of-date for your topic? Topic areas of continuing and rapid development, such as the sciences, demand more current information. On the other hand, topics in the humanities often require material that was written many years ago. At the other extreme, some news sources on the Web now note the hour and minute that articles are posted on their site. Articles identified as “seminal”, seminal article or seminal book are important works that establish a new theory or model or direction of research. For example Geert Hofstede’s 1980 book, Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values is a seminal work. When writing a literature review on a topic you usually include any relevant seminal or classic papers. You should also read them.

D. Publisher

Note the publisher. If a university press publishes the source, it is likely to be scholarly. Although the fact that the publisher is reputable does not necessarily guarantee quality, it does show that the publisher may have high regard for the source being published.

E. Title of Journal

Is this a scholarly or a popular journal? This distinction is important because it indicates different levels of complexity in conveying ideas. If you need help in determining the type of journal, see below. Or you may wish to check your journal title in the latest edition of Katz's Magazines for Libraries (Uris Ref and Olin Ref Z 6941.K21) for a brief evaluative description.

 

SCHOLARLY

SENSATIONAL

II. CONTENT ANALYSIS

 

Having made an initial appraisal, you should now examine the body of the source. Read the abstract to determine the author's intentions. For books, scan the table of contents and the index to get a broad overview of the material it covers. Note whether bibliographic references are included (if they are not, then it is not a scholarly publication). Read book chapters that specifically address your topic. Scanning the table of contents of a journal or magazine issue is also useful. As with books, the presence and quality of a bibliography at the end of the article may reflect the care with which the authors have prepared their work.

A. Intended Audience

 

What type of audience is the author addressing? Is the publication aimed at a specialized or a general audience? Is this source too elementary, too technical, too advanced, or just right for your needs?

B. Objective Reasoning

1. Is the information covered fact, opinion, or propaganda? It is not always easy to separate fact from opinion. Facts can usually be verified; opinions, though they may be based on factual information, evolve from the interpretation of facts. Skilled writers can make you think their interpretations are facts.
2. Does the information appear to be valid and well researched, or is it questionable and unsupported by evidence? Assumptions should be reasonable. Note errors or omissions.
3. Are the ideas and arguments advanced more or less in line with other works you have read on the same topic? The more radically an author departs from the views of others in the same field, the more carefully and critically you should scrutinize his or her ideas.
4. Is the author's point of view objective and impartial? Is the language free of emotion-arousing words and bias?

C. Coverage

1. Does the work update other sources, substantiate other materials you have read, or add new information? Does it extensively or marginally cover your topic? You should explore enough sources to obtain a variety of viewpoints.
2. Is the material primary or secondary in nature? Primary sources are the raw material of the research process. Secondary sources are based on primary sources. For example, if you were researching Konrad Adenauer's role in rebuilding West Germany after World War II, Adenauer's own writings would be one of many primary sources available on this topic. Others might include relevant government documents and contemporary German newspaper articles. Scholars use this primary material to help generate historical interpretations--a secondary source. Books, encyclopaedia articles, and scholarly journal articles about Adenauer's role are considered secondary sources. In the sciences, journal articles and conference proceedings written by experimenters reporting the results of their research are primary documents. Choose both primary and secondary sources when you have the opportunity.

D. Writing Style

 

Is the publication organized logically? Are the main points clearly presented? Do you find the text easy to read, or is it stilted or choppy? Is the author's argument repetitive?

 

E. Evaluative Reviews

1. Locate critical reviews of books in a reviewing source, such as Book Review Index, Book Review Digest, OR Periodical Abstracts. Is the review positive? Is the book under review considered a valuable contribution to the field? Does the reviewer mention other books that might be better? If so, locate these sources for more information on your topic.
2. Do the various reviewers agree on the value or attributes of the book or has it aroused controversy among the critics?
3. For Web sites, consider consulting one of the evaluation and reviewing sources on the Internet.

Title

Author Name(s)

Author affiliation

 

• Abstract: this should not be cut and pasted from the introduction and/or conclusion but composed to reflect the intent of the paper, the process, and the conclusions. Many journals restrict the abstract to 150 words. The abstract is a concise summary of the key points of your manuscript.

 

• Introductio n: Tell us what you are going to do here, how you are going to do it, and why it should be done.

 

• Thesis: Definition of a Thesis Statement: a debatable point or claim. This claim requires some proof—some supporting evidence or explanation, and that is what makes this a debatable point. See: http://www.englishdiscourse.org/thesis.definition.html

 

• Literature Review: Summary of research articles relevant to your thesis, both pro and con.

 

• Analysis and Synthesis of Findings from the Literature Review:

 

• The analysis is an examination and exposition of the findings of the body of research you have reviewed relating to your thesis and their relationships. Analysis is the investigation into the operations of an organisation or collective to expose the causes behaving the results achieved, and the effects of those results on the business, organisation, or collective.

 

• Synthesis is the combination and summary of the often complex and sometimes contradictory findings in to a simpler or more basic statement of the findings.

 

• Gaps in the Research Literature: What gaps in the research in the area exist? What information did you look for but were unable to find.

 

• Conclusions and Discussion: What conclusions are you able to draw from your review, and why are you able to draw them? There should be no new information introduced in the conclusions.

 

• References – references identify documents that you have actually read and cited in the paper. If you are using information about an original source that is a summary from some other source, this should be properly noted in the citation in the body of the paper.

 

Appendix A

Affinity Diagramming

 

§ Affinity diagramming is designed to sort a raw list, using "gut feel" to begin to categorize the raw ideas. It is a next step beyond you initial literature search where you have found a vast collection of ideas, results, and opinions.

 

§ The affinity diagram, or KJ method (after its author, Kawakita Jiro), diagram was developed to discovering meaningful groups of ideas within a raw list. In doing so, it is important to let the groupings emerge naturally, using the right side of the brain, rather than according to preordained categories.

 

§ Usually, an affinity diagram is used to refine an initial literature review into something that makes sense and can be dealt with more easily.

 

In Seven New QC Tools, Ishikawa recommends using the affinity diagram when facts or thoughts are uncertain and need to be organized, when preexisting ideas or paradigms need to be overcome, and when ideas need to be clarified.

 

A sample affinity diagram is show below. On the left side of the window is a list of ideas. On the right side is the affinity diagram, in which ideas have been grouped into affinity sets. In this case, the sorting is in an advanced state, and affinity sets have already been given titles. It's important not to add the titles early in the sorting process.

 

Affinity Diagramming: Steps

 

To create an affinity diagram, you sort your ideas from your literature search list, moving ideas from the brainstorm into affinity sets, and creating groups of related ideas.

 

As you sort ideas:

 

1. Rapidly group ideas that seem to belong together.

2. It isn't important to define why they belong together.

3. Clarify any ideas in question.

4. Copy an idea into in more than one affinity set if appropriate.

5. Look for small sets. Should they belong in a larger group?

6. Do large sets need to be broken down more precisely?

7. When most of the ideas have been sorted, you can start to enter titles for each affinity set.

Cause & Effect Diagram

 

• The cause & effect diagram is the brainchild of Kaoru Ishikawa, who pioneered quality management processes in the Kawasaki shipyards, and in the process became one of the founding fathers of modern management.

 

• The cause and effect diagram is used to explore all the potential or real causes (or inputs) that result in a single effect (or output). Causes are arranged according to their level of importance or detail, resulting in a depiction of relationships and hierarchy of events. This can help you search for root causes, identify areas where there may be problems, and compare the relative importance of different causes.

 

 Causes in a cause & effect diagram are frequently arranged into four major categories, these categories can be anything. The categories you use should suit your needs. We often create the branches of the cause and effect tree from the titles of the affinity sets in a preceding affinity diagram.

 

The C&E diagram is also known as the fishbone diagram because it was drawn to resemble the skeleton of a fish, with the main causal categories drawn as "bones" attached to the spine of the fish, as shown below.

 

 

Cause & effect diagrams can also be drawn as tree diagrams, resembling a tree turned on its side. From a single outcome or trunk, branches extend that represent major categories of inputs or causes that create that single outcome. These large branches then lead to smaller and smaller branches of causes all the way down to twigs at the ends.

The tree structure has an advantage over the fishbone-style diagram. As a fishbone diagram becomes more and more complex, it becomes difficult to find and compare items that are the same distance from the effect because they are dispersed over the diagram. With the tree structure, all items on the same causal level are aligned vertically.

 

To successfully build a cause and effect diagram:

 

1. Be sure everyone agrees on the effect or problem statement before beginning.

2. Be succinct.

3. For each node, think what could be its causes. Add them to the tree.

4. Pursue each line of causality back to its root cause.

5. Consider grafting relatively empty branches onto others.

6. Consider splitting up overcrowded branches.

7. Consider which root causes are most likely to merit further investigation.

 

Force Field Analysis

 

Force Field Analysis is a simple but powerful technique for building an understanding of the forces that will drive and resist a proposed change. It consists of a two column form, with driving forces listed in the first column, and restraining forces in the second.

 

The force field diagram is derived from the work of social psychologist Kurt Lewin. According to Lewin’s theories, human behavior is caused by forces - beliefs, expectations, cultural norms, and the like - within the "life space" of an individual or society. These forces can be positive, urging us toward a behavior, or negative, propelling us away from a behavior. A force field diagram portrays these driving forces and restraining forces that affect a central question or problem.

 

A force field diagram can be used to compare any kind of opposites, actions and consequences, different points of view, and so on.

 

In the context of process improvement, driving forces could be seen as pushing for change while restraining forces stand in the way of change. A force field diagram is used to analyze these opposing forces and set the stage for making change possible.

 

Change will not occur when either the driving forces and restraining forces are equal, or the restraining forces are stronger than the driving forces. For change to be possible, the driving forces must overcome the restraining forces. Usually, the most effective way to do this it to diminish or remove restraining forces. It can be tempting to try strengthening the driving forces instead, but this tends to intensify the opposition at the same time.

 

The balance sheet structure of the force field diagram makes it applicable to situations other than comparing driving and restraining forces as well. For example, you could use it to list possible actions and reactions, compare ideal situations and reality, or in negotiation, weigh what you want from someone with what they would have to face if they agreed.

 

 

Setting up your force field analysis

 

1. Draw two columns, with one header running across both.

2. Write the planned change in the header area.

3. Label the left column "driving forces", and the right one "restraining forces".

4. List the forces in the two columns.

5. Encourage creative but realistic thinking.

6. Forces seek equilibrium. To encourage change, create asymmetry between forces.

7. Which of the restraining forces can be removed or weakened?

 

Force Field: Other Uses

 

You can also use a force field diagram to:

 

1. List pro's and con's.

2. List actions and reactions.

3. List strengths and weaknesses.

4. Compare ideal situations and reality.

5. In negotiation, compare the perceptions of opposing parties.

6. List "what we know" in the left column, and "what we don't know" in the right.

Tree Diagram

 

The tree diagram is one of the “7 Management and Planning Tools” described by Shigeru Mizuno. It is used to figure out all the various tasks that must be undertaken to achieve a given objective. If you use it carefully and thoroughly, it will give you a better understanding of the true scope of a project, and will help your team focus on specific tasks that are needed to get something done.

 

 

To successfully build a tree diagram:

 

1. Be sure everyone agrees on main goal before beginning.

2. Be succinct.

3. Think of the main tasks involved in accomplishing the goal. Add them to the tree.

4. For each task node, think of the sub-tasks that will be required, and add them to the tree.

5. Ask yourselves if there is anything that has been forgotten.

6. As you work through the project, towards the goal, change the colors of nodes that are finished, so that you can see an indication of progress.

The author makes no warranty, expressed or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, currency or usefulness of any material displayed or distributed through this guide for students, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights, and disclaims all warranties with regard to the information provided. Any reliance upon such information is at your own risk. In no event will the author be liable to you for any damages or losses whatsoever resulting from or caused by this document or its contents. DISCLAIMER OF ENDORSEMENT: Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement or recommendation by the author. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the author or his employer(s) and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. Cornell University has granted permission to reproduce or adapt the content of the Web page links used, http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/permission.html

 

Comments on improving the guide are welcome.