Article S13.2 Developing a Literature Review for a Doctoral Thesis Vivian LEE, Ida TANG Xin En Research Students, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, Malaysia vlee[at]swinburne.edu.my Suggested Citation: Lee, V., & Tang, I. X. E. (2016). Developing a literature review for a doctoral thesis. Research World, 13, Article S13.2. Retrieved from http://www1.ximb.ac.in/RW.nsf/pages/S13.2 Note. This is a report on a training session for postgraduate research students held at Swinburne Sarawak on October 26, 2016. The session was titled “Developing a Literature Review for a Doctoral Thesis.” It was led by Professor Santina Bertone of the Faculty of Business and Law, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia. Professor D. P. Dash and Dr Heidi Collins provided editorial guidance for this report. The session focused on the importance of conducting a well-organised literature review and strategies for tackling the process. Topics covered in the session are detailed below. 1. Why Do We Need a Literature Review? Before embarking on a research project in any field, doing a literature review is a crucial process to help a researcher understand past and current developments in the field. By exploring the existing knowledge in the field, one will be able to identify an opportunity to contribute to scholarly discussions. This is particularly important as it helps to ensure that the study to be undertaken makes a theoretically significant (for a discussion on the word significant, see Tromovitch, 2015) and original contribution to knowledge and/or professional practice—two requirements often stated as requirements of a doctoral degree (Poole, 2015). By reviewing other’s work, researchers also get to know some of the do’s and don’ts of research, which can help them gain awareness of potential challenges and pitfalls in their work. Literature reviews provide information about the approaches and methods employed in previous studies, thus guiding researchers in determining appropriate approaches and methods for their own studies. 2. Focusing a Literature Review Having a clear and relevant focus is crucial when doing a literature review. Once the broad research topic has been selected, it is useful to identify the databases of academic literature that will be relevant. When searching for literature, including international literature from the last 10-20 years is important for providing an overview of recent progress in the field, although older seminal works should also be included. If a topic requires a multidisciplinary approach, researchers should include literature from a broad range of fields (for a discussion of multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity, see Youngblood, 2007). In addition to the need to search for relevant literature in scholarly publications, it is worth noting that not all findings are reported in peer-reviewed articles. It is suggested that aside from reviewing the available scholarly literature, developing scholarly networks is a helpful means to explore the “backstories” or unpublished results. Attending conferences and having conversations with a broad range of academics and research fellows can help. Additionally, grey literature (literature which is not from peer-reviewed sources) may provide relevant information in some cases. This can include newspapers and magazines, or government, industry, and consultant reports. 3. Keeping it Well Organised Being well organised and keeping accurate records of a literature review is an important skill researchers should develop, so that the process is undertaken efficiently and effectively. Once relevant databases are identified, searches should be performed thoroughly and sequentially through the databases. One effective way to identify relevant literature is to screen through titles and abstracts, eliminating irrelevant sources without having to read entire articles. When relevant articles are located, it is important that contents are summarised and records made, so that effort is not wasted. By being well-organised and categorising literature under themes, researchers can reduce their search time and avoid being overwhelmed by information. To help achieve this, brief notes should be made about articles, highlighting those that are most relevant. It can be helpful to compare the notes made in terms of key concepts, research approaches, and research results, so that one can outline a framework of ideas for further investigation (Jesson & Lacey, 2006). In the process of a literature search and review, new relevant key words that are stumbled upon should be followed up and, if necessary, new searches should be initiated. It was also noted that it is especially useful to seek review articles, which cover the history of a field and the current debates within it. Concept mapping (Novak & Caņas, 2008) is a technique to organise and represent knowledge as the review progresses. 4. Being Critical and Aware Researchers are encouraged to be critical of the literature they read. Some students in the audience expressed doubt about whether they can criticise experienced researchers’ work. This lead to a discussion of what it means to conduct a critical review (Jesson & Lacey, 2006). Examples of ways in which researchers can be critical include interrogating definitions, scrutinising assumptions, and seeking unexplained phenomena. Questions can be raised as to whether the research processes were suitable and executed thoroughly. When doing literature review, it is important that researchers keep an open mind. One should comprehend the key concepts in the literature before evaluating its strengths and weaknesses (Booth, Colomb, & Williams, 2003). One of the techniques of conducting a literature review is to engage constantly with the key concepts, models, frameworks, and theories in the literature. A researcher can consider the strengths and weakness of the concepts, models, frameworks, and theories, and decide how these may apply to their own research. This process can inform the specification of research questions or hypotheses. It can also inform the choice of research approach and methods. 5. Starting to Write Starting to write can be difficult for students. One technique recommended is to start with a two-page project brief, comprising the major research elements. This brief would include the title, objectives, key literature themes, research questions, research approach and methods, and expected contribution to knowledge. Such a brief can be discussed with supervisors, other scholars, and student peers. From this brief start, a full research proposal can be developed. Developing the habit of writing regularly was recommended, as echoed in Murray’s (2011) advice favouring a “snack-writing,” rather than “binge-writing,” approach. 6. Maintaining a Bibliography Finally, students were reminded to start maintaining a bibliography from Day 1 of their research. Bibliographic software, such as Endnote and Mendeley, were discussed as being valuable for maintaining accurate, searchable bibliographic records. 7. Conclusion Doing a literature review for a postgraduate research project is a process that is ongoing throughout the entire candidature journey, and is a skill that should be developed continuously. By sharing experiences and techniques for developing literature reviews, students can be encouraged and supported to tackle this large, but important task. References Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., & Williams, J. M. (2003). The craft of research (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press. Jesson, J., & Lacey, F. (2006). How to do (or not to do) a critical literature review. Pharmacy Education, 6(2), 139-148. Murray, R. (2011). How to write a thesis (3rd ed.). Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press. Novak, J. D., & Caņas, A. J. (2008). The theory underlying concept maps and how to construct and use them [Technical Report IHMC CmapTools 2006-01 Rev 2008-01]. Pensacola, FL: Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. Retrieved from http://cmap.ihmc.us/docs/theory-of-concept-maps Poole, B. (2015). The rather elusive concept of ‘doctorateness’: A reaction to Wellington. Studies in Higher Education, 40(9), 1507-1522. Tromovitch, P. (2015). The lay public’s misinterpretation of the meaning of ‘significant’: A call for simple yet significant changes in scientific reporting. Journal of Research Practice, 11(1), Article P1. Retrieved from http://jrp.icaap.org/index.php/jrp/article/view/477/411 Youngblood, D. (2007). Interdisciplinary studies and the bridging disciplines: A matter of process. Journal of Research Practice, 3(2), Article M18. Retrieved from http://jrp.icaap.org/index.php/jrp/article/view/104/101 Published Online: February 01, 2017 Copyleft Xavier Institute of Management, Xavier Square, Bhubaneswar 751013, India Research World (ISSN 0974-2379) http://www1.ximb.ac.in/RW.nsf/pages/Home | ||
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