Nile University of Nigeria

Department of Business Administration

MBA 801 Research Methodology
Lecture: Three

Topic: LITERATURE REVIEW

1. What is Literature Review?

A literature review is a select analysis of existing research, which is relevant to a research

idea or topic, showing how it relates to what is to be investigated. It explains and justifies
how the investigation may help answer some of the research questions or gaps in the area
of research. This include:
v A critical look at the existing research that is significant to the work that you are
carrying out.
v Effective evaluation of related literature on a research topic
Generally, reviewing literature follows a systematic process with a view to identifying
the existing body of knowledge on a particular topic.

a) The Purposes of Literature Review

The two major reasons for reviewing literature are to help a researcher generate and
refine research ideas, and to critically review the existing literature relating to the chosen
topic. For instance, the content of critical review is to ensure that the covered relates
clearly to the research question and objectives, captures significant theories of recognized
scholars, and they are of recent research. Reviewing the literature critically will provide
the foundation on which your research is built. There are also many occasions or
purposes when literature review might be required. One of such is in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the award of an academic degree. In fact, what literature
review also accomplishes includes:

• Helps to determine whether the topic is worth studying and provides insight into ways
in which the researcher can limit the scope to a needed area of inquiry.
• Used to frame the problems in the study area

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 • It shares with the reader the results of other studies that are closely related to the one
being undertaken.
• It relates a study to the larger, ongoing dialogue in the literature, filling in gaps and
extending prior studies.
• It provides a framework for establishing the importance of the study as well as a
benchmark for comparing the results with other findings.
• It helps to add to the body of literature on a topic.
• It equip researchers with skills to structure an effective literature review
• It help the researcher to critically assess research materials
• Develop strategies for structuring a literature review
• Demonstrate critical awareness of areas of discipline, and
• Lead to shape the method of the research.
However, there are some variations in the use of literature in both quantitative, qualitative
or mixed methods strategies.

b) Forms of Literature Review

In general, literature review can take several forms, regardless of whether the research
design is quantitative, qualitative or mixed approach. However, in practice, the most
commonly used forms of literature review are to:
• Integrate what others have done and said,
• Criticize previous scholarly works,
• Build bridges between related topics, and
• Identify the central issues in a field.

With the exception of criticizing previous scholarly works, most dissertations and theses
serve to integrate the literature, organize it into a series of related topics and summarize
the literature by pointing out the central issues. For instance, in qualitative research,
inquirers use the literature in a manner consistent with the assumptions of learning from
the participant, not prescribing the questions that need to be answered from the
researcher’s standpoint. One of the chief reasons for conducting a qualitative study is that
the study is exploratory. This usually means that not much has been written about the

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 topic or the population being studied, and the researcher seeks to listen to participants and
build an understanding based on what is heard.
The use of the literature in qualitative research varies considerably. In theoretically
oriented studies, such as ethnographies, the literature on a cultural concept or a critical
theory is introduced early in the report or proposal as an orienting framework. In
grounded theory, case studies, and phenomenological studies, literature is less often used
to set the stage for the study. But in quantitative research, a substantial amount of
literature is used at the beginning of a study in order:
• To provide direction for the research questions or hypotheses.
• To introduce a problem or to describe in detail the existing literature in the area
of study.
• To introduce a theory to explain expected relationships that will be used, and
suggest why it is a useful theory to examine.

At the end of a study, the researcher is expected to revisit the literature and make
comparisons between the results of the study with the existing findings in the literature.
In this case, the quantitative researchers use the literature deductively as a framework for
the research questions or hypotheses.

In mixed methods study, the researcher uses either a qualitative or a quantitative

approach to the literature, depending on the type of strategy being used. In a sequential
approach, the literature is presented in each phase in a way consistent with the method
being used. For example, if the study begins with a quantitative phase, then the
investigator is likely to include a substantial literature review that helps to establish the
rationale for the research questions or hypotheses. If the study begins with a qualitative
phase, then the literature is substantially less, and the researcher may incorporate it into
the end of the study—an inductive approach. However, the decision as to which form to
use is based on the audience for the study and what they would be most receptive to.
c) Literature Sources
The literature sources available can be classified into the following three categories:

i. Primary literature sources are the first occurrence of a piece of work. They

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 include published sources such as reports and some central and local government
publications such as White Papers and planning documents. They also include
unpublished manuscript sources such as letters, memos and committee minutes that
may be analysed as data in their own right.
ii. Secondary literature sources such as books and journals are the subsequent
publication of primary literature. These publications are aimed at a wider audience.
They are easier to locate than primary literature as they are better covered by the
tertiary literature.

iii. Tertiary literature sources, also called search tools, are designed either to help to
locate primary and secondary literature or to introduce a topic. They therefore
include indexes and abstracts as well as encyclopaedias and bibliographies.

The use of these literature sources will depend on the set out research question(s) and
objectives. Figure 1 presents a summary of the three sources,

Figure 1: Sources of Literature Review

Source: Saunders, et al., 2007

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d) How to Conduct a Literature Review/Steps in Conducting Literature Review

A literature review means locating and summarizing the studies about a topic. Often these
are research studies (since you are conducting a research study), but they may also
include conceptual articles or opinion pieces that provide frameworks for thinking about
topics. There is no single way to conduct a literature review, but in order to capture,
evaluate, and summarize the literature the following steps or stages are recommended:

v Begin by identifying key words and phrases, which is useful in locating relevant
materials in academic sources.
v Focus initially recent studies/ journal articles including databases that are typically
reviewed by social science researchers, such as ERIC (Educational Resources
Information Center), EBSCO, the Social Science Citation Index, Google Scholar,
industry data and other internal documents and records of organizations.
v Reading through abstract to judge if an article to assess suitability of an article.
v Set a priority on the search for Journal articles and Books because they are easy to
locate and obtain.
v Skim this initial group of articles or chapters, and duplicate those that are central to
your topic. Throughout this process, simply try to obtain a sense as to whether the
article or chapter will make a useful contribution to your understanding of the
literature.
v Begin designing a literature map: One of the first tasks for a researcher working
with a new topic is to organize the literature. This organization enables a person to
understand how the proposed study adds to, extends, or replicates research already
completed. It is a good idea used as a tool when organizing a review of the literature
for making presentations to graduate committees, summarizing the literature for a
scholarly presentation, or composing an article for journal publication. By planning
and grouping of the literature on the topic, it helps to illustrate how your particular
study will contribute to the literature, positioning your study within the larger body of
research. “This map is a visual summary of the research that has been conducted by
others, and it is typically represented in a figure. Maps are organized in different ways:
by way of a hierarchical structure with a top-down presentation of the literature,

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 ending at the bottom with the proposed study, flowchart in which the reader
understands the literature as unfolding from left to right with the farthest right-hand
section advancing a proposed study, and by use of a series of circles; each circle
represents a body of literature and the intersection of the circles as the place in which
the future research is indicated. The central idea is that the researcher begins to build a
visual picture of existing research about a topic.

v Also begin to draft summaries of the most relevant articles. These summaries are
combined into the final literature review that you write for your proposal or research
study.
v Ensure greater part of the literature are recent and include precise reference to the
literature.
v The identification and definition of terms that readers will need in order to understand
a proposed research project or study. A definition of terms section may be found
separate from the literature review, included as part of the literature review, or placed
in different sections of the study. However, whether a term should be defined is a
matter of judgment, but define a term if there is any likelihood that your readers may
not understand your thoughts. In defining the terms, do not use everyday language
except; where accepted language is not available in the research literature.
v Try to see the “big picture”—your literature review should respond to your research
question (RQ).
v Do not include everything you have read.
v Balance summary and analysis as you write.
v Keep in mind your purpose for writing:
- How can the review benefit audience?
- How does the review contribute to your study?
v Be meticulous about citations, which is an acknowledgement in the test of the original
source from which the information was obtained and referencing (Many types of
referencing but we suggest the use of American Psychological Association (APA)
referencing system)

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v Avoid acts of plagiarism (Plagiarism is the act of taking someone’s words, ideas or
other information and passing them off as your own without acknowledging the
original source.

It is also advisable to summarize the literature, assemble the literature review, or

organizing it by important concepts, and end the literature review with a summary of the
major themes and suggest how your particular study further adds to the literature and
addresses a gap in the themes. It is at this point as well that you could advance a critique
of the past literature and point out deficiencies in it and issues in its methods to justify
your study.

e. Summarizing and Synthesizing

There is the need to summarize and/or synthesize the key findings of each article:
§ What are the key arguments, key characteristics, key concepts or key figures?
§ What is the argument/theory?
§ What methodologies are used?

f. Comparing and Critiquing

v Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the work:
- What is new, different, or controversial?
- What views need further testing?
- What evidence is lacking, inconclusive, or too limited
- What research designs or methods seem unsatisfactory?
v How do the different studies relate?
- Are there contradictions between papers/ authors?
- Has one study improved on another?

g. Structure or Outline for Literature Review

In the business and management sciences, the outline of the review may vary from
University to the other. However, at the minimum, a good review will consists of the
following:

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 v An introduction telling the reader what topics and issues are covered and the
organization of the chapter.
v Section headers organized under the following
Ø Conceptual framework: (How to develop a conceptual framework)
• Is used to explain the key concepts, factors or variables to be studied as
well as their relationships.
• First, identify the key words used in the subject area of your study
• One after the other, take one key concept or term and brainstorm all
other issues that might be related and thereafter select those that seem
most relevant.
Ø Theoretical framework: in this section, you will need to:
• Examine existing theory/theories, which seek to inform the
reader’s understanding of the phenomenon under investigation.
Theory as a ‘lens’.
• For example, a researcher conducting a study on the “effect of
motivation on employee’s productivity will be expected to
examine the motivational theories and state which of them is the
basis for the study.
Ø Empirical review of prior studies: Begin by reading related articles,
identify what they have in common and how they differ. For each of the
articles, write down on:
• The objectives of the study,
• The methodology
• The major findings
• Weaknesses and strengths
In all the three sections, you cite as you go the sources from where you obtain
information (articles, reports, other previous studies etc.).
v Summary to reiterate the main points to the reader providing an overview of the
review. Note: this is not a place to introduce a new material.

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How Do You Cite?
There are two parts to citing according to American Psychological Association (APA)
guide:
Ø Brief In-text citations within the body of your work
Ø Alphabetically, provide list of full citations in the References page at the end of
your work

Why Should I Cite?

§ Citing identifies sources used in a research paper/project or dissertation
§ It gives credit to those researcher, authors, and writers whose words or ideas are
borrowed –thus acknowledging their role in shaping your research.
§ It helps to avoid charges of plagiarism.

h. Referencing and Citation Styles

Referencing is the standardized style to acknowledge a source of information used.
Although, there are many different referencing styles used around the world for different
types or purposes, it is essential to follow the style specified to your type of study. In
academic research, it is morally and legally important to acknowledge someone else’s
ideas or words used. Referencing correctly enables the marker or reader of your study to
locate the source of the information, verify the information or read further on the topic.

In academic research study, a style manual is used to provide guidelines for creating a
scholarly style of a manuscript, through a consistent format for citing references, creating
headings, presenting tables and figures, and using nondiscriminatory language. When
identifying a useful document, a researcher is expected to make a complete reference to
the source using an appropriate style. Although many academic institutions and even
publishers specify the appropriate style manual to use for citing references (APA,
Harvard, MLA, Chicago, Vancouver, Oxford, among others), in the absence of specific
style, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA, 2010) is
the most popular style manual recommended.

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Here, the style considerations involve in-text, end-of-text, heading, and figures and tables
use. Some suggestions for using style manuals for scholarly writing includes:
§ When writing in-text references, keep in mind the appropriate form for types of
references and pay close attention to the format for multiple citations.
§ When writing the end-of-text references, note whether the style manual calls for
them to be alphabetized or numbered. Also, crosscheck that each in-text reference
is included in the end-of-text list.
§ The headings are ordered in a scholarly paper in terms of levels. First, note how
many levels of headings you will have in your research study. Then, refer to the
style manual for the appropriate format for each. Typically, research proposals
contains between two and four levels of headings.
§ Where footnotes are used, consult the style manual for their proper placement. If
you include them, note whether they go at the bottom of the page, the end of each
chapter, or at the end of the thesis or dissertation.
§ Tables and figures have a specific form in each style manual. Note such aspects as
bold lines, titles, and spacing in the examples given.

In summary, the most important aspect of using a style manual is to be consistent in the
approach throughout the manuscript of the study.

NOTE: A copy of APA guideline is herewith provided and should be used in all
assignments and the research project.

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