Research Methodology

ENGI 3215

Chapter 3

Reviewing the literature

Dr. Sari Abusharar

Associate Professor
Civil Engineering Department
Faculty of Applied Engineering and Urban Planning
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 Outline of Presentation
 Introduction

Rationale for conducting the literature review

 Knowing the sources of information

 Understanding how the library works

 Note-taking

 Organizing the literature review

 Critical appraisal 2
 Introduction

What is a literature review?

 It is an essential stage in conducting a research project.
 It amounts on average, to between 20 and 25 percent of a
dissertation content.
 Certain dissertations subjects may require a literature review
amounting up to 50 %of the content.
 The literature review involves reading and appraising what other
people have written about your subject area.
 It can be both descriptive and analytical.
 It is descriptive in that it describes the work of previous writers
and it is analytical in that it critically analyses the contribution of
others with the view of identifying similarities and
contradictions made by previous writers. 3
 Introduction

There are five main activities involved in undertaking a literature

review:
Knowing the sources of information.

Understanding how the library works.

Collecting existing knowledge on the subject,

reading and note-taking.

Systematically organizing the literature.

Appraising and writing up the literature review.

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 Rationale for undertaking a literature review

In order to be able to make an original contribution to knowledge

in your research area, the literature review should demonstrate
that you have a comprehensive understanding of existing
knowledge.
The literature review serves two purposes:

First, it seeks systematic reading of previously published and

unpublished information relating to your area of investigation

Second, the literature review will help you to improve your

research study by looking into previous research design or
questionnaires to design your own study more effectively.

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What should I do before writing the literature review?

Clarify

.
Find models

Narrow your topic

Consider whether your sources are current

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How can I write a good literature review?

Remember the purpose

Read with a purpose

Write with a purpose

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 Some traps to avoid:

Trying to read everything

Reading but not writing!

Not keeping bibliographic information!

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The basics of good writing

Plan your writing

Ignore the language

Write and rewrite!

Keep writing!

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 Knowing the sources of information
(1) Primary literature sources
Academic research journals (refereed)
Refereed conferences
Dissertation/theses
Reports/occasional papers
Government publications
(2) Secondary literature sources
Textbooks
Trade journals, newspapers and magazines
(3) Reference guides‫أدلة مرجعية‬
Dictionaries and glossaries
Encyclopaedias
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Handbooks
 Knowing the sources of information

(1) Primary literature sources

Is the most accurate source of information as it publishes original
research.
The following publications fall within these primary sources:
 Academic research journals (refereed)

These are good especially for up-to-date information. They are

frequently used in literature reviews because they offer a
relatively concise, up-to-date format for research, and because all
reputable (‫ )ﺣﺴﻦ الﺴمعة‬journals are refereed.

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 Knowing the sources of information

 Refereed conferences

• The main aim of these conferences is discussing current

developments in your field of study.

• The majority of international conference papers are based on

‘primary’ research and are accepted for publication after they
have been refereed by at least two members of the paper
review committee.

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 Knowing the sources of information

 Dissertation/theses

• They enable you to have an idea about the content of the

work, methodology adopted and the structure and style of
writing up.

• You can benefit from the list of references and bibliography

that are attached at the back of the work

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 Knowing the sources of information

 Reports/occasional papers

• Its have a great use to you because they are comprehensive

and often publish up-to-date information.

• Moreover its sufficiently prestigious (‫ )مرموق‬for the researchers

concerned to favor them as a method of disseminating (‫)ﻧﺸر‬
their results.

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 Knowing the sources of information

 Government publications

Government documents may be classified as :

a) government administration records.

b) research records for specialists, including a considerable
number of statistics and data of value to science and business.

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 Knowing the sources of information

(2) Secondary literature sources

those that cite (‫ )يﺴتﺸهد‬from primary sources such as textbooks, and
newspaper articles.

 Textbooks

• Textbooks are much easier to obtain than other references.

• One significant difference between books and journals is that
research work published in a journal is comparatively more recent.
• It takes less time to have a paper published in a journal than it takes
to publish a book

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 Knowing the sources of information

 Trade journals, newspapers and magazines

• These are mass media sources of information which often

summarize research or provide views on a particular subject

• Caution should be taken in reporting the findings of mass

media sources. Such sources are usually un-refereed and may
easily distort meaning.

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 Knowing the sources of information
(3) Reference guides ‫أدلة مرجعية‬

Reference guides are very useful sources of information for short and
quick answers to basic questions. The function of the reference
guides is to introduce the basic information about a particular subject
area.

 Dictionaries and glossaries ‫القواميس والمعاجم‬

These provide a definition of terms and can be useful in helping

you clarify your thoughts.

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 Knowing the sources of information

 Encyclopaedias ‫الموسوعات‬
These give a concise description of the main aspects of a topic.

 Handbooks ‫كتيبات‬
• The function of handbooks is similar to encyclopedias, except that
they are more current.

• Its have limitations in that they are written by and for other
scholars with similar interests and vocabularies .

• These usually assume that the user understands the methods and
logic of particular disciplines, and they may not have subject
indexes 19
 Understanding how the library works

Important points that you need to bear in mind while conducting a

literature research:

1. Find the most relevant published materials quickly.

2. Avoid getting ‘bogged down ‫’ تغريز‬.
3. Get into the habit of recording information derived from your
reading so that it can be easily found and understood weeks,
months or years later.

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 Understanding how the library works

Each library should contain the following:

1. Library catalogue.
2. Abstracts/indexes. ‫ فهارس‬/ ‫الملخصات‬
3. Citation indexes.
4. Microfiche/microfilm.
5. CD-ROM, on-line database, Internet/World Wide Web

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 Understanding how the library works

 Library catalogue

• This lists all the material which the library has in stock
including books, journal titles, videos, etc.

• Typical computer-screen information displays record about

location of book, title of book, author’s name, number of
pages, year of publication and library code number

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 Understanding how the library works

 Indexes and abstracts ‫ فهارس‬/ ‫الملخصات‬

• Indexes and abstracts can help you to trace ‫ يتتبع‬articles in

journals.

• They both give the title, author and issue/volume details, but
abstracts also include a short summary, often less than 200
words, of the article.

• An abstract gives you information about the problem and the

survey findings

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 Understanding how the library works
Citation index
• Its reports alphabetical lists by author of papers cited in
published articles.

• This source provides standard bibliographic information on

individual articles written in a particular time period.

• Their permuted (rearrangement) subject index classifies each

of these articles by significant words used in each article’s title,
and the citation index lists by author or by referenced articles.

• Its important because it graphically depicts ‫ يوصف‬scientific

networks by quantifying who cites whom.
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 Understanding how the library works

Microfiche and microfilm

Most libraries have these facilities which means that copies of
some newspapers, journals and theses are kept on film, either
flat (microfiche) or more usually on reels ‫( بكرات‬microfilm).

CD-ROM
They give the information needed to trace an article, i.e. the
journal you will find it in, the date it appeared, the author and
title details. However, some also give the full text of the article.

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 Note-taking

•It is the best means to recapitulate (‫ )تلخيص‬what you have reviewed.

• When taking notes, you should focus on the main issues

addressed and the main arguments (‫الجدال‬/‫ )الحجج‬put forward.

• In this context, note-taking forms the basis for the construction of

a literature review framework

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 Note-taking

• To enable you to get the most out of the literature, it might be

useful if you address each piece of literature with the
following questions:

1. What do I know already?

2. What am I looking for in this source; what do I think I need?
3. What is useful or different in this source, given my existing
knowledge and interest?

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 Note-taking

Sample summary
note-taking form

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 Organizing the literature review

• The summary and abstract for each article become important for
quickly sifting out the irrelevant (‫ )غربلة ما ليس له ﻋﻼﻗة بالموضوع‬from the
relevant research. For those that appear relevant, you then
proceed to read the entire text.

• Therefore, it is absolutely essential to start from day one of your

research to maintain a literature file to store the material that you
collect.

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 Organizing the literature review

However, whether it is a dissertation, a thesis or a research

project, the principle of structuring the literature file is the same:
1. Subdivide your file into a number of topical areas.

2. In each of these sections you will include all the literature review
that falls under the relevant topic area together with your
summary note-taking form.

3. Create an index sheet at the front of the file.

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Organizing the literature review

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 Critical appraisal of literature review

It critically examines the contribution of other people’s work with

the view to identify the following:

1. Similarities in the statements made by previous writers;

2. Common issue(s) raised by ‫ المثارة‬previous writers;
3. Differences or contradiction ‫ التناﻗضات‬of statements made by
previous writers;
4. Criticisms (‫ )انتقادات‬made by previous writers.

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 Summary

The literature review is one of the

earliest stages in the research process
and it amounts to a significant
proportion of a dissertation content.
This review basically searches for
material that is relevant to the subject
of your dissertation with the intention
to describe and analyze what has been
written by others.

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Thanks for your attention

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