Chapter 4

Research method
The view of literature
An overview
The review of literature involves the systematic identification, location and analysis of
documents containing information related to the research problem being investigated.
What is literature?
All writings which are having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of
permanent or universal interest.
Literal meaning of review
The literal meaning of the term “review” is:
 To consider or examine again
 Togo over again in the mind
 To write accounts of new books, etc. for newspapers and other periodicals.

The purpose of the literature review

1. The main purpose of the literature review is to determine what has been done already
related to the research problem being studied as to:
 Avoid unnecessary and unintentional duplication
 Form the framework within which the research findings are to be interpreted.
 Demonstrate his or her familiarity with existing body of knowledge.
2. A review of the literature will reveal what strategies, procedures and measuring
instruments have been found useful in investigating the problem in question. This
information helps avoiding previous mistakes and helps benefiting from other
researchers’ experiences.
3. In most cases, literature review will suggest other procedures and approaches.
4. It makes the researcher to be familiar with previous studies and thus facilitates
interpretation of the results of the study.
5. In some cases, a researcher who may not narrow down to a topic at the start of a
literature. The review of literature will give the researcher the knowledge needed to
convert a tentative (aansugnayn; aancaddayn; aan la hubin) research problem into a
detailed and concise plan of work.
 6. It helps to determine new approaches (way; path; road) and stimulates new ideas.
7. Approaches that have proved to be futile will be revealed through literature review.
8. In most cases, authors of the research articles include specific suggestions and
recommendations for those planning further research.
9. Literature review pulls together, integrates and summarizes what is known in an area. A
review analyses and synthesizes different results revealing gaps in information and areas
where major questions still remain.

The scope of the literature review

What is scope?
- It is the space or opportunity for unhampered motion, activity or thought.
(Xadballaaran)
- Intention or object

There are some common questions especially from graduate students are:
o How the wide or narrow of the literature review should be? In other words, when
should one stop reviewing?
o What kind of literature is related to my topic? In other words, how do I know the
relevant literature?

These are appreciable questions and they get answered with experience. The following are
useful hints towards determining scope.
I. A long time studied area, one can read only those studies that are reasonably close to
one’s research topic.
II. In new or little researched area, where little depth is available, a researcher would
require to review any relevant material in order to develop a logical framework for the
study and appropriate hypotheses for the study.
III. The researcher should avoid the temptation to include all available material.
IV. Another indicator to abandon literature review is to constantly re-encounter material
already reviewed.

Steps in carrying out literature review

1. Be very familiar with the library before beginning the literature review
2. Make a list of key words or phrases to guide your literature search. Examples, family
violence or abuse ------- family dissolution (Akhlaaqxumo)
3. With the words and phrases related to the study, one should go to source of literature
 4. Summarize the references on cards for easy organization of the literature
5. Once collected, the literature should be analyzed, organized and reported in an orderly
manner
6. Make an outline of the main topics or themes in order of presentation
7. Analyze each reference in terms of the outline made and establish where it will be most
relevant
8. Studies contrary to received wisdom should not be ignored when reviewing literature
9. The literature should be organized in such a way that the more general is covered and
the researcher narrows down in more specific to the researcher problem.
10. Some researchers prefer to have a brief summary of the literature and its implications.
(Xaaladamaficil wax khuusaysa)

Sources of literature
Sources of information can be classified into two broad categories:
I. Primary sources

A primary source is a direct description of any occurrence by an individual who actually

observed or witnessed the occurrence.
II. Secondary sources

These include any publication written by an author who was not a direct observer or participant
in the events described.
Examples of sources of information
a. Scholarly journals

These are crucial research documents which are found in libraries, and recent ones will be
paper copies while older journals are retained on microfilms (filin ay kuduubanyihiinsawiroil-
ma-aragto ah eewargaysamaqoraal kale)

b. Theses and dissertation

A thesis is a statement or theory which will be put forward and supported by arguments
especially a lengthy written essay submitted as part of the requirements for a university degree
A dissertation is a long written or spoken account as submitted for a higher university degree.
All graduate students who wish to receive a Master’s degree or Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
undertake original work which they write up (bring up to date; complete).
 c. Government documents
These include policy papers, and research reports owned by governments, some of which are
normally sponsored by international agencies.

d. Papers presented at conferences

Research papers presented at conferences are also good sources of literature.

e. Books
Subject bibliographies are available in most libraries. These give a list of books in general.

f. References quoted in books

The references given at the back of a relevant book may reveal more relevant sources e.g. they
could be books or journals. (Diiwaangelindhacdooyin)

g. Abstracts
An abstract is a short account as the chief points of a piece of writing, a book, speech and so on.
Abstracts give a list of journal articles with summaries. Abstracts will give the name, volume and
issue number of the journal where the full article can be found as:
- Nutritional abstracts
- Home economics abstracts
- Biological abstracts
h. Periodicals
These include journals, magazines or local newspapers which are published periodically.

i. Reference section of the library

All references books which include encyclopedias, dictionaries, manuals, handbooks and
biographies. It is in scripted “REF”.

j. Grey literature
It refers to anything written but not published. They are notes from lectures, papers presented
at conferences or any other useful information collected by the library.

References within text

There are two very common methods of referencing within the text. This refers to accrediting
(kumagac-siinamdkuawood-siin) (appoint to somebody) a statement or finding to another
author, to show that the statement quoted is by that author. The statement may be
paraphrased and therefore need not be in quotation marks.
Method 1
The author’s last name and year of the document’s publication are put after a paraphrased
statement in a text. The name and year are put in brackets as an example:
Income has been found to be positively related to satisfaction with quality of life (Berry and
Williams, 1987).
In the above example, Berry and Williams are the authors, and the work from which the
statement came was published in 1987.
Another example:
Berry and Williams (1987) found a positive relationship between income and satisfaction with
quality of life.
Method 2
In this method of referencing within the text, numbers representing names of authors are used.
Example:
Communication is an important planning tool that enables a household to realize goals (1,
1987).
In the above example, 1 refers to the number against the particular reference as listed in the
cited references. 1987 is the publishing year.

Footnotes
Footnotes refer to references which appear at the bottom of a journal paper or a book rather
than at the end of the text. Footnotes serve two purposes:
a. To provide additional information. Details are presented in a footnote.
b. To indicate the source of an idea. Footnotes are helpful to readers who wish to refer to
the sources of facts or opinions presented. For this purpose, accurate and complete
information is essential.

Styles of indicating footnotes

The more traditional one is to number footnotes consecutively throughout a chapter and then
put the references on each page. If it is a second reference to the same work on the same page,
the term “lbid”is used. This term means “in the same place”. When other references have
intervened, the term “op cit” is used meaning “in the work cited”. (Tixraacid; xigasho). These
terms are used following the author’s name.
Quotations
A direct quotation may be used for several reasons:

a. When no change is made to the text for the sake of accuracy. (It is the most obvious).
b. When a statement is unusually clear and well put, its exact wording may be the most
effective way to present a significant thought.
c. A third reason of using quotation is to add strength to one’s work especially when the
quotation is from a recognized authority.

Whenever a direct quotation is used, it must be reproduced exactly from the original
publication, and corrections should be made. If a part of the quotation is omitted, the break
should be indicated by the ellipsis.
What is ellipsis?
It is omission from a sentence of words needed to complete the construction or meaning. For
example:
- “He is as short as his mother is short,” instead of “He is as short as his mother.”

NB
Quotations must be put in quotation marks and the name of the author, the year of the
publication and the page number must be given.
Example:
“From the point of view of FAWE, all girls should have access to education at all levels of
Educational System.” (FAWE, 1998, p. 20).

Cited reference and bibliography

Cited references refer to a list of references which the researcher actually read and cited in the
text. Bibliography refers to the list of materials that were read whether they are cited or not.
Bibliography and references are sometimes used synonymously. A researcher could decide to:
 Include the cited references only
 Have cited references and bibliography --- in this case the cited references are separate
and do not need to be repeated in the bibliography.
 Have the bibliography only which will have all the references, that is, those cited and
that were just read to gather information.
Verily, various ways of writing references and bibliographies are existing, format depends upon
the university ----- one of the most commonly used by Social Scientists is American
Psychological Association (APA).
The following examples show how to reference different sources of information using the APA
manual.
Examples:
1. Journal Article – one author
Moon, M. (1990) Consumer issues and elderly. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 24 235—
244.
2. Journal Article –two authors
Hira, K. Tahira&Mugenda, OM (1987) Families’ perception of the bankruptcy process.
Family Perspectives, 21, No. 1, May, 1987