COURSE OUTLINES

Unit I
Definition and Applications of Business
Research
Unit II
Research Design
Unit III
Sampling
Unit IV
Introduction to Hypothesis Testing

 LITERATURE

REVIEW

LITERATURE REVIEW

After defining a problem, the researcher has to do literature survey

connected with the problem

Literature survey is a collection of research publications,

books and other documents related to the defined problem.

Why Literature Review??

To Prevent Duplication of work

To find out what others have learnt and reported
To further refine your problem statement
Increase knowledge of various types of methodologies that
could be useful in your study
Give arguments in support of your research

Reasons for reviewing the literature

1.

2.

3.

Bring clarity and focus to your research problem

Improve your methodology
Broaden your knowledge base in your research area

Procedure for reviewing the literature

Search for existing literature

Review the literature selected
Develop a theoretical framework
Develop a conceptual framework
Write up the literature reviewed

SOUCES OF LITERATURE REVIEW

Community and District/
provisional level information.

Journals/
Published
Articles

Review
Articles

Internet
Literature
Review

Proceedings
of
Conferences
/workshops

Advanced
level
books

National Level information through

national Libraries, premier
research institutes, Department of
Statistics.
Information from Ministries,
bilateral and multilateral
organisations (Eg: WHO, World
Bank, UN organisations)
Published/ Unpublished thesis.

THE THREE KEY POINTS OF A LITERATURE

REVIEW
Tell me what the research says (theory).
Tell me how the research was carried out
(methodology).
Tell me what is missing, ie the gap that your
research intends to fill.

You need a good literature review because it:

demonstrates that you know the field.
justifies the reason for your research.
allows you to establish your theoretical framework
and methodological focus. Even if you are
proposing a new theory or a new method, you are
doing so in relation to what has been done.
The literature review becomes your springboard for
the whole thesis

WRITING THE INTRODUCTION

In the introduction, you should:

Define or identify the general topic, issue, or area of concern, thus
providing an appropriate context for reviewing the literature.
Point out overall trends in what has been published about the topic;
or conflicts in theory, methodology, evidence, and conclusions; or
gaps in research and scholarship; or a single problem or new
perspective of immediate interest.
Establish the writer's reason (point of view) for reviewing the
literature; explain the criteria to be used in analyzing and comparing
literature and the organization of the review (sequence); and, when
necessary, state why certain literature is or is not included (scope).

FINDING AND DEFINING A RESEARCH PROBLEM

you need to start by identifying a question that

demands an answer, or

A need that requires a resolution, or a riddle

that seeks a solution, which can be developed
into a research problem: the heart of the
research project

DEFINING RESEARCH PROBLEM

The first and foremost step in research
process
Selection of the problem

Defining the problem

Formulating the problem

Researcher must know: What a problem is?
It is like the identification of a destination
before undertaking a journey.

WHAT IS A RESEARCH PROBLEM?

A research problem is one which requires
a researcher to find out the best solutions
for the given problem, i,e., to find out by
which course of action the objectives can
be attained optimally in the context of a
given environment. There are several
factors which may result in making the
problem complicated. For instance, the
environment.
Research problem is like the foundation of
a building

SELECTING THE PROBLEM

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS
1-Subject must not have been overdone
(it will be a difficult task to throw any new
light in such a case.)
2-Subject must not be Controversial
3-Problem should not be too narrow or too
vague

The subject should be familiar and feasible

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
The importance of the subject,
the qualifications and the training of a
researcher,
the costs involved,
the time factor
The selection of a problem must be preceded
by a preliminary study.

IDENTIFYING A RESEARCH TOPIC AND PROBLEM

Theory Of
Ones
Interest

Daily Life
Problems

Technological

Changes

Recent
Trends

Unexplored
Areas

This is the most crucial step

Confusion is often but a step towards clarity

Most research in the humanities revolves around four P

s.

Interest: select a topic that really interest you

Magnitude: researcher should have sufficient knowledge about

the research process to be able to visualise the work involved in
completing the proposed the study.

Measurement of concepts: make sure you are clear about its

indicators and their measurement.

Level of expertise: make sure you have an adequate level of

expertise for the task you are proposing.

Relevance : select a topic that is of relevance to you as a

professional.

Availability of data : before finalizing your topic make sure your

secondary data are available.

Ethical issues: how the ethical issues can affect the study
population and how ethical problems can be overcome should be
thoroughly

examined at the problem formulation stage.

In choosing a research problem, the two crucial determinants to

keep in mind are:

Your interest in the subject area; and
Manageability of the study within you own constraints

Steps
Identify broad area of interest in your academic/professional field
Dissect the broad area into sub-areas
Select a sub-area or areas in which you would like to
conduct your research

Raise research questions that you would like to answer

through your study
Formulate objectives
Assess
Double check

The formulation of objectives

Objectives are the goals you set to
attain in your study
Objectives should be listed under two headings:
Main objectives and sub-objectives
The main objective is an overall statement of the thrust of your
study
The sub-objectives are the specific aspects of the topic that you
want to investigate within the main framework of your study.

PROBLEM TREE KEEP ASKING WHY?

Unskilled Labor

Inefficient Irrigation

Unsuitable Climate

Inefficient Water harvesting

Water Scarcity

Lack of crop varieties

adapted to climate

Unsuitable Crops

Farming Patterns do not

Return nutrients

Low Labor
Productivity

Study on
Ensuring
Food Safety
and Security

Farmers cant afford

fertilizers

Low Land
Productivity

Poor Soil

Farmers unaware of
best practices

Some examples:
To find out the number of children living below
the poverty line in Sri Lanka
To ascertain the impact of immigration on family
roles among immigrants

To measure the effectiveness of a retraining

program designed to help young people

DEFINING AND FORMULATION OF PROBLEM

Defining the Problem is more important than its solution !
Research Question:
Is Television more effective in increasing the performance
level of students?

Specify Variable!
Performance and Effectiveness

Research Study:
To study the effectiveness of Television on the performance
of school students aged 9-19 of XYZ school

STEPS INVOLVED IN RESEARCH PROCESS

Selection of a Research Topic
Definition of a Research Problem
Literature survey and Reference collection
Assessment of current status of the topic chosen
Formulation of hypothesis
Research Design

Actual investigation- Collect Data

Data Analysis- Test Hypothesis
Interpretation of Result
Report Making