Bibliography of some of the cited references and other relevant sources

 

§ Afolabi, M. (1992) 'The review of related literature in research' International journal of information and library research, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 59-66.

§ Bourner, T. (1996) 'The research process: four steps to success', in Greenfield, T. (ed), Research methods: guidance for postgraduates, Arnold, London.

§ Bruce, C. S. (1990) 'Information skills coursework for postgraduate students: investigation and response at the Queensland University of Technology' Australian Academic & Research Libraries, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 224-232.

§ Bruce, C. (1993) 'When enough is enough: or how should research students delimit the scope of their literature review?', in Challenging the Conventional Wisdom in Higher Education: Selected Contributions Presented at the Nineteenth Annual National Conference and Twenty-First Birthday Celebration of the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia Inc., HERDSA, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. pp. 435-439.

§ Bruce, C. S. (1994) 'Research student's early experiences of the dissertation literature review' Studies in Higher Education, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 217-229.

§ Bruce, C. (1994) 'Supervising literature reviews', in Zuber-Skerritt, O. and Ryan, Y. (eds), Quality in postgraduate education, Kogan Page, London.

§ Bruce, C. S. (1997) 'From Neophyte to expert: counting on reflection to facilitate complex conceptions of the literature review', in Zuber-Skerritt, O. (ed), Frameworks for postgraduate education, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW.

§ Caspers, J. S (1998) 'Hands-on instruction across the miles: using a web tutorial to teach the literature review research process' Research Strategies, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 187-197.

§ Cooper, H. M. (1988) 'The structure of knowledge synthesis' Knowledge in Society, vol. 1, pp. 104-126

§ Cooper, H. M. (1989) Integrating research: a guide for literature reviews, 2nd ed, Sage Publications, Newbury Park, Ca.

§ Leedy, P. D. (1997) Practical research: planning and design, 6th ed, Merrill, Upper Saddle River, N.J.

§ Libutti, P.& Kopala, M. (1995) 'The doctoral student, the dissertation, and the library: a review of the literature' Reference Librarian, vol. 48, no. 5, pp. 5-25.

§ Mauch, J. E.& Birch, J. W. (1993) Guide to the successful thesis and dissertation: a handbook for students and faculty, 3rd ed, Marcel Dekker, New York.

Appendix A

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

Structured Techniques for Analysis

Relations Diagram (or Interrelationship Digraph)

 

• Relations Diagrams are drawn to show all the different relationships between factors, areas, or processes. Why are they worthwhile? Because they make it easy to pick out the factors in a situation which are the ones which are driving many of the other symptoms or factors. For example, a relations diagram of urban poverty might start out something like this:

 

 

Instead of one item following another in a logical sequence, each item is connected to many other pieces, showing that they have an impact on each one. Once all the relevant connections between items have been drawn, the connections are counted. Those with the most connections will usually be the most important factors to focus on. I in a fairly tangled situation, this is a powerful means of forcing a group to map out the interactions between factors, and usually helps bring the most important issues into focus.

 

To create a Relations Diagram:

 

1. Agree on the issue or question.

2. Add a symbol to the diagram for every element involved in the issue.

3. Compare each element to all others. Use an "influence" arrow to connect related elements.

4. The arrows should be drawn from the element that influences to the one influenced.

5. If two elements influence each other, the arrow should be drawn to reflect the stronger influence.

6. Count the arrows.

7. The elements with the most outgoing arrows will be root causes or drivers.

8. The ones with the most incoming arrows will be key outcomes or results.

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.

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