Theory and the review of the related literature

1
Marut Damcha-om

• As soon as you have chosen a topic for your research, thesis or

dissertation, you should look for the theory linking your topic with an
available body of knowledge. Theory as defined by Keringer(1973) is “a set of
interrelated constructs (concepts), definitions, and propositions that presents a
systematic view of phenomena by specifying relations among variables, with
the purpose of explaining and predicting the phenomena.”

• Functions of Theory

• In search of the theory, you gather information mostly from the related
literature. You consult books, journals, magazines, theses, dissertation,
newspapers, conference proceedings, government/corporate reports,
Internet, CD-ROMS and other sources for this theory. It is important that
you look for the theory because it performs some functions such as those
listed below :

1. It identifies the start for the research problem by

Presenting the gaps, weak points, and inconsistencies in the previous
researches. This provides the study with a conceptual framework, justifying the need
for investigation.
2. It puts together all the constructs or concepts that are related with the
researcher’s topic. The theory then leads you into the specific questions to ask in your
own investigation.
3. It presents the relationships among variables that have been
investigated. This process enables you to view the topic on hand against the findings
earlier bared. These findings therefore have the function of explaining the
phenomena. In this particular case, it is the research, thesis or dissertation topic that is
the center of the phenomena.
Let’s take creativity as an example of a thesis topic. In the course of
the search for theory to explain creativity, you may find literature, both conceptual
and research, which present discussions about differing views on the meaning of
creativity, about the processes involved in it, and about its relationship to age, sex,
scholastic achievement, mental ability, personality, problem solving, reflective
thinking, self concept, socio-economic status, composition writing, or you may find
some literature about the teachers perceptions of a creative student. The process
places creativity into its right perspective amid theory which directs you into the
identification of the variable or variables in which an inconsistency exists. You may
now investigate this variable or variables along with creativity.

The Review of Related Literature

1
Associate Professor, Ph.D. in Rural Development, Freelance
 The review of related literature is the major process by which you can arrive at
past theory. It is your immediate concern to look for these sources, to put the literature
in to some organized form, and to use this literature in your study. Gay(1976) says
that the review of related literature involves the systematic identification, location,
and analysis of documents containing information related to the research problem.
The review of related literature performs some functions that are indicated below:

1. It provides the conceptual or theoretical framework of the planned

research.
2. It provides you with the information about past researches related to the
intended study. This process prevents unintentional duplication of these
past researches and leads you into what needs to be investigated.
3. It gives you a feeling of confidence since by means of the review of related
literature you will have on hand all constructs related to your study. You
therefore are an authority on the subject as far as mastery of information is
concerned.
4. It gives you information about the research methods used, the population
and sampling considered, the instruments used in gathering the data, and
the statistical computation in previous research. It is believed that with a
fruitful review of the literature not very much guidance from your adviser
is necessary since the related literature can answer all the questions that
you need to ask related to the foregoing stages in research.
5. It provides findings and conclusions of past investigations which you may
relate to your own findings and conclusions

The previous discussion assumes that you have a topic in mind already and
that you are now surveying the related literature for the conceptual or
theoretical framework. The review of the related literature can function in a
situation in which you have not chosen a topic yet. This survey is necessary
in order that you may find a suitable topic. There are a lot of researchers who
have been able to identify their problem in this way. These are those who find
it difficult to recognize a problem from among those that they meet as they go
about their daily chores in the specific field.
The review of the literature after you have selected a thesis is more
definite and concentrated. Your tendency at the start of this review is to grab
any opportunity for the literature in a library or elsewhere including materials
in a private library. This is a normal thing for you to do since you are only too
eager to accumulate a body of knowledge related to your research. Some
researchers, however, find their review seemingly futile. This happens when
the topic is novel and therefore there is very little research literature on it yet.
Not with standing, one is sure that there is some related conceptual literature
that has already been written. You should note and review this.

One research professor tells a story of a class he was handling. When the day
came for him to collect the students’ related literature for their individual thesis, one
of them looked very sad because he had nothing to submit to him. He could not find
any literature related to his work. This resulted from the fact that this student thought
that the related literature meant only research literature. He missed the point that
there surely was available a massive body of conceptual literature. Fox(1969)
distinguishes research literature from conceptual literature . The former refers to
published reports of actual research studies done previously while the latter consists
of articles or books written by authorities giving their opinions, experiences, theories
or ideas of what is good and bad, desirable and undesirable within the problem area.
Thus, in the case of the aforementioned student who was not able to show any related
literature to his teacher, he did not realize that conceptual literature may also be used
for his conceptual framework. Moreover, he should not despair at the dearth of the
research literature on his first visit to the library because through persistent effort he
will stumble upon more substantial conceptual and research literature.
The library is usually the main source of both conceptual and research
literature. A good tip for you is that you should be ready to spend the whole day or
even day in a library browsing over books, magazines, periodicals or theses for
possible literature. Flitting visits to libraries will not give you beneficial results. If you
are to make use of the library adequately you cannot do this with only a cursory look
into it.
As you explore the reading material in the library, you examine both
conceptual and research literature. Your main concern as soon as you see a piece of
literature is the question of relevance. To determine whether it is relevance or
irrelevance to your study will demand judgment on your part.
You are therefore advised to take down notes on both directly related and
indirectly related literature. Sometime in the future you may discover that the latter
may also be related to your topic after all. If you do not take them down, you might
find difficulty looking for the material when you need it later. Besides, it is easier to
throw away literature when it is not needed.
Fox (1969) suggests that the beginning researcher may start reviewing
conceptual literature since it is more readily available than research literature.
Encyclopedias of general areas and/or specialized areas will be good sources for
conceptual literature . Books and yearbooks may also provide the conceptual
literature. After having reviewed a number of encyclopedias and books, you are now
equipped with a preliminary view of the topic.
Another source which usually gives a fruitful search is the index to the
literature. Index comes from the Latin word indicare which means “to point out”
(Gates,1969). The index does not provide information; it indicates where the
information can be found. The index of the book points out the content of the book by
listing the page or pages where a certain information can be found. The card catalog
in a library is made of individual catalog cards. Each catalog card shows a call
number and the bibliography of the material.
In addition to the card catalog and the index of a book, there are other
indexes which can help you in finding some literature. These are the indexes to
periodical literature, indexes to materials appearing in newspapers, indexes to
literature appearing in collections or anthologies, and indexes to reference books.
Examples of indexes are Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature, Education Index,
Social Sciences and Humanities Index, International Index, Circulation Book Index,
and Current Index to Journals in Education. These indexes have been prepared for
use of researchers like you. In our country, these indexes are available in m ost
libraries. What is not always available are the sources pointed out in these indexes.
Abstracts do help researchers too especially in their search for research
literature. Some abstracts available in big libraries in the country are Dissertation
Abstracts, Child Development Abstracts, Psychological Abstracts, Sociological
Abstracts, and Master’s Theses in Education.
 Finally, theses and dissertation are valuable sources of research literature. The
abstract of each thesis may give you a bird’s eye view of the entire thesis so that if the
abstract indicates that the investigation is related to your study, you may pursue the
whole research report.

Reviewing Research Literature

The first reading of a research literature is exploratory in nature, that is, the
researcher wishes to determine if the investigation really bears some relation to his
research topic. In this instance, you must demonstrate a critical and evaluative mind
since you have to do some judgment regarding the profitability of the material. You
have to be alert to develop this ability. At first try, it may be difficult but through
subsequent encounters with the research literature, your task will be easier.
It is suggested that you do some outlining of the salient areas of the
investigation on index card, one source to a card. Note taking must start with a
bibliographical entry of the material on the topmost left hand corner of the first index
card. This bibliography should be accurately written. The next thing you note down
are the problems or questions of the investigation that you are reviewing. This is
follow by the methodology which presents the methods and procedures done in the
research.
It is particularly important for you, then, to note down specific techniques
inasmuch as from this area you get insights into what you will do in your own
research. It is worthwhile to pay attention to sampling procedures done, the
instruments used, and even to statistical tools employed.
The next points that you should review are the results, conclusions, and
recommendations. From the results and conclusions, you get to accumulate gaps and
inconsistencies among the constructs you are reviewing. Or you meet similarities in
some other findings of research investigations. By and large, you formulate a theory
based on your massive review of related research literature.

The questions below should be kept in mind when you review research
literature. They can save as guide for your fruitful survey.

1. Do you think that the problem questions stated in the study you are
reviewing are researchable?
2. Do the hypotheses lend themselves to testing?
3. Do the accumulated literature indicate gaps and inconsistencies which the
researcher of the research hopes to fill?
4. Are the variables adequately described?
5. What data gathering instruments have been used? Are they reliable and
valid tools?
6. Are the target and sampling populations already presented?
7. Where the hypotheses tested and correctly interpreted ?
8. Are the results logical?
9. Are the conclusions recommendations data-based?
 References

Fox, David J .(1969). The Research Process in Education. New York: Holt,
Rinehart and Winston, Inc.

Gay,L. R. (1976). Educational Research. Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill

Publishing Company.
Kerlinger, Fred N. (1973). Foundation of Behavioral Research. (2 nd ed.)
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.

Further information on the literature review may be found in:

Cooper, H. (1998). Synthesizing Research: A Guide for Literature Reviews.

Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.
(call number H62 C5859)

Galvan, J.L. (1999). Writing Literature Reviews.

Los Angeles: Pyrczak Publishing.
(call number H61.8 G3)

Macauley, P. (2001). The Literature Review.

Geelong, Victoria, Australia: Deakin University.
Retrieved 15th October 2001 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.deakin.edu.au/library/findout/research/litrev.php

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center. (2001). Writer's

Handbook: Academic Writing: Reviews of Literature.
Madison, Wisconsin: Author.
Retrieved 15th October 2001 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/ReviewofLiterature.html