BUSINESS RESEARCH

METHODS

LECTURE 3

A REVIEW OF THE RELEVANT

LITERATURE

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 MEANING OF THE
LITERATURE REVIEW

 “The selection of available documents (both published

and unpublished) on the topic, which contain
information, ideas, data and evidence written from a
particular standpoint to fulfill certain aims or express
certain views on the nature of the topic and how it is to
be investigated, and the effective evaluation of these
documents in relation to the research being proposed” –
Chris Hart (2010)

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 THE NATURE OF LITERATURE
CRITICAL REVIEW
 The essence of a critical review demands the researcher
to do the following:
 Evaluate an academic material or text such as an article,
report, essay or book
 It is the information and knowledge in the text that has
got to be evaluated.
 There should be a criteria for evaluating the text

 In doing a critical review, the research is supposed to

perform two tasks:
 Summary and
 Evaluation
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 POSSIBLE CRITERIA FOR A REVIEW
 Is the question the article attempts to answer relevant,
novel, suitable, or fascinating?
 Who would regard the article or book as useful and why?

 Does the article offer new responses or analysis to an old

question?
 Is the article comprehensive or short, simple or complex?

 Does the author provide extensive, strong, weak,

relevant, persuasive or contradictory evidence to support
the answer?
 Are the conclusions arrived at final, limited, qualified or
initial? 4
 THE LITERATURE REVIEW

There are two main reasons for conducting

a literary review:

 Theinitial preliminary review which forms part

of your research proposal helps you to generate
your initial research ideas and objectives. It
should justify the need for your research.

 Thensecond, normally defined as the critical

review, is a part of your main research project. 5
 THE PURPOSE OF THE
CRITICAL REVIEW (1)

 To prove or reveal your library searching

skills
 To demonstrate command and authority of
the subject area and appreciation of the
problem
 To make a case for the research topic,
design and methodology
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 THE PURPOSE OF THE CRITICAL
REVIEW (2)
 To show evidence of your depth of reading
undertaken and understanding of the issues
influencing the research topic

 To prevent you from repeating work that has

already been done

 Tohelp you further refine your research

questions and objectives – research is an iterative
process
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 THE PURPOSE OF THE CRITICAL
REVIEW (3)
 To establish the current relevant theory around your
research topic – this will enable you make sense of the
information you uncover

 To highlight research possibilities that have been

overlooked in research to date –identifying anomalies
and gaps in knowledge, and discovering
recommendations for further research

 To provide an insight in the research strategies used to

date that are appropriate to your research questions and
objectives
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 THE PROCESSES WITHIN
THE CRITICAL REVIEW

1. Establishing the literary sources available

2. Critically evaluating that literature

3. Establishing where further research is needed

4. Recording the literature

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 THE STRUCTURE OF THE
CRITICAL REVIEW (1)
Traditionally it contains three
elements:
A critique of existing works on the topic
Critically analyse the different research work
through which the topic has been studied and the
issues different authors have highlighted as a
result of their work. Identify the different ways
that key definitions, concepts, and models have
been used to develop theory.
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 THE STRUCTURE OF THE
CRITICAL REVIEW (2)
Conclusions about work done to
date on the topic
Draw general conclusions about the overall
direction of work on the topic. Draw specific
conclusions by identifying gaps, fallacies, flaws
and failures in previous work in order to show
the legitimacy of your own approach.

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 THE STRUCTURE OF THE
CRITICAL REVIEW (3)

Justification of your proposed

research

 Your literature review should end with a

justification for your research and provides the
link to the Research Plan

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 LITERATURE REVIEW VERSUS
SECONDARY DATA
Literature Review Secondary Data
Books and review Data collected by others:
(historical and overview)  Researchers - Economic and
Social Data Service (ESDS),
Theoretical peer-reviewed consultancies, Industry bodies
(for example, tobacco
journal papers
industry/oil and gas)
(current thinking)
IMF, WHO
Conference papers
 Research Organisations (Mintel)
Empirical peer-reviewed
 Government statistics
journal papers
 Websites
(current thinking)
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 WHAT SHOULD THE CRITICAL
LITERATURE REVIEW ACHIEVE
Your review will be effective if it:
1. Shows a clear understanding of the topic.

2. Cites and critiques all key landmark studies.

3. States clear conclusions about previous research using

appropriate evidence.

4. Shows the variety of definitions and approaches to the

topic area.
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WHAT SHOULD THE CRITICAL
LITERATURE REVIEW ACHIEVE

5. Reaches sound recommendations using coherent

argument that is based on evidence.

6. Shows a gap in existing knowledge.

7. Develops, through gradual refinement, a clear research

problem.

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 HELPFUL POINTS FOR WRITING THE
LITERATURE REVIEW
 Skim read the article – Note the key questions the
articles attempts to answer the basic answer it provides
 Quickly consider the evaluation criteria

 Give the article a second reading and note the significant

points in terms of the arguments, evidence, conclusions
and evaluation by applying your criteria
 Read related articles, pick the differences or similarities
and explain them
 Sketch your review by matching the description with the
evaluation criteria
 Start writing your review 16
 Information Skills
How do I find?
Books Library catalogue
E-books On the e-Library - Ebrary, Net library or MyiLibrary and on the library
catalogue

Journal articles Cross-searching on e-Library,, CIAO, Business Source Complete, Sage,

Emerald

Journal titles Library catalogue or ‘find e-journal’ on the e-Library

Financial Financial database such as FAME, Company reports
information
Market research Databases such as GMID and Mintel
reports

Newspaper articles LexisLibrary, Financial Times

Statistics Library catalogue, e-library,
Company Databases such as Business Source Complete (use enhanced business
information searching interface), Mintel, Global Market Information Database 17
(GMID),LexisLibrary and FAME
 CAUTION!

The critical literature review is not

simply an historical review of the
topic or a catalogue of previous books
or articles

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