Critically Reviewing The Literature

Slide 3.
Chapter 3
Critically reviewing the literature
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.2
Reasons for reviewing the literature
• To conduct a ‘preliminary’ search of existing

material
• To organise valuable ideas and findings
• To identify other research that may be in progress
• To generate research ideas
• To develop a critical perspective
Slide 3.3
The literature review process
Figure 3.1 The literature review process Source: Saunders et al. (2003)
Slide 3.4
The Critical Review (1)
Approaches used
Deductive -
Develops a conceptual framework from the
literature which is then tested using the data
Inductive -
Explores the data to develop theories which are
then tested against the literature
Slide 3.5
The Critical Review (2)

Key purposes
• To further refine research questions and objectives
• To discover recommendations for further research
• To avoid repeating work already undertaken
• To provide insights into strategies and techniques

appropriate to your research objectives
Based on Gall et al. (2006)
Slide 3.6
Adopting a critical perspective (1)

Skills for effective reading
• Previewing
• Annotating
• Summarising
• Comparing and contrasting
Harvard College Library (2006)
Slide 3.7
The most important skills are
• The capacity to evaluate what you read
• The capacity to relate what you read to other

information
Wallace and Wray (2006)
Slide 3.8

Questions to ask yourself
Why am I reading this?
What is the author trying to do in writing this?
How convincing is this?
What use can I make of this reading?
Adapted from Wallace and Wray (2006)
Slide 3.9
Content of the critical review

You will need to
• Include key academic theories
• Demonstrate current knowledge of the area
• Use clear referencing for the reader to find the

original cited publications
• Acknowledge the research of others
Slide 3.10
Is your literature review critical?
Checklists Box 3.2 and Box 3.3
Complete the checklists to evaluate your

literature review
Saunders et al. (2009)
Slide 3.11
Evaluate the content of your

critical literature review
• Have you ensured that the literature covered
relates clearly to your research question and
objectives?
• Have you covered the most relevant an significant
theories in the area?
• Have you covered the most relevant and
significant literature?
• Have you included up-to-date relevant literature?
• Have you referenced all the literature used?
Slide 3.12
Evaluate whether your

literature review is critical
• Have you contextualized your own research
showing how your research question relates
to previous research reviewed?
• Have you assessed the strength and
weaknesses of the previous research
reviewed?
• Have you been objective in your discussion
and assessment of other people’s research?
• Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009
Slide 3.13
Evaluate whether your

literature review is critical
• Have you included references to research
that is counter to, as well as, supports your
own opinion?
• Have you made reasoned judgments about
the value and relevance of others’ research
to your own?
• Have you justified clearly your own ideas?
• Have you highlighted those areas where
new research is needed?
Slide 3.14
Structure of the literature review
Three common structures
• A single chapter
• A series of chapters
• Throughout the report
Slide 3.15
Structuring the literature

review
• Better to have a clear title which describes the
focus of your research rather than just saying
‘literature review’.
• You may use subheadings within the literature
review to help guide your reader.
• Start at a more general level before narrowing
down to specific research question
• Provide a brief overview of key ideas and themes
Slide 3.16
Structuring the literature

review
• Summarise, compare and contrast the research of
key authors.
• You may organize your literature thematically
around the ideas contained in the research being
reviewed rather than the researchers?
• Narrow down to highlight previous research work
most relevant to your own research.
• Highlight those aspects where your own research
will provide fresh insight.
Slide 3.17
The key to a critical literature review
• Demonstrate that you have read, understood and

evaluated your material
• Link the different ideas to form a cohesive and

coherent argument
• Make clear connections to your research

objectives and the subsequent empirical material
Slide 3.18
Categories of Literature Sources
• Primary (published and unpublished)
• Secondary
• Tertiary
Detailed in Tables 3.1 and 3.2 Saunders et al. (2009)
Slide 3.19
Literature sources available

Literature sources available

Figure 3.2 Literature sources available
Slide 3.20
The literature search strategy (1)

Write down
• parameters of your search

• key words and search terms to be used
• databases and search engines to be used
• criteria for selection of relevant and useful
studies
And
Discuss these with a tutor (if possible)
Slide 3.21
The literature search strategy (2)
• Define the research parameters
• Generate key words
• Discuss your research
• Brainstorm ideas
• Construct Relevance trees - use computer software
Slide 3.22
Conducting a literature search (1)
Approaches can include
• Searching tertiary literature sources
• Obtaining relevant literature
• Scanning and browsing secondary literature
• Searching using the Internet
Slide 3.23
Searching using tertiary literature
• Ensure key words match controlled index language
• Search appropriate printed and database sources
• Note precise details used – including search strings
• Note the FULL reference of each search found
Slide 3.24
• Printed sources
• Databases – use of Boolean logic and free

text searching (Table 3.3)
• Scanning and browsing
• Searching the Internet (Tables 3.4 and 3.5)

Slide 3.25

Searching the Internet

Figure 3.3 Searching the Internet
Slide 3.26

Searching the Internet

Figure 3.3 Searching the Internet (Continued)
Slide 3.27
Evaluating the literature
• Define the scope of your review
• Assess relevance and value
• Assess sufficiency
Slide 3.28
Recording the literature
Make notes for each item you read
Record –
• Biographic details
• Brief summary of content
• Supplementary information
Sharp et al. (2002)
Slide 3.29
Recording the literature
• Bibliographic details (Table 3.6)
• Brief summary
• Supplementary information (Table 3.7)
Slide 3.30
Plagiarism
Four common forms
• Stealing material from another source
• Submitting material written by another
• Copying material without quotation marks
• Paraphrasing material without documentation
Adapted from Park (2003), cited in Easterby-Smith et al. (2008)

Slide 3.31
Summary: Chapter 3
The critical literature review
• Sets the research in context
• Leads the reader into later sections of the report
• Begins at a general level and narrows to specific

topics
Slide 3.32
Summary: Chapter 3
A literature search requires
• Three main categories of sources

• Clearly defined research questions and
objectives
• Defined parameters
• Use of techniques – ( brainstorming and
relevance trees)

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Slide 3.

Reasons for reviewing the literature

• To conduct a ‘preliminary’ search of existing

• To organise valuable ideas and findings

• To identify other research that may be in progress

• To generate research ideas

• To develop a critical perspective

The literature review process

The Critical Review (1)

The Critical Review (2)

• To further refine research questions and objectives

• To discover recommendations for further research

• To avoid repeating work already undertaken

• To provide insights into strategies and techniques

Based on Gall et al. (2006)

Adopting a critical perspective (1)

• Comparing and contrasting

Harvard College Library (2006)

Adopting a critical perspective (2)

The most important skills are

• The capacity to evaluate what you read

• The capacity to relate what you read to other

Wallace and Wray (2006)

Adopting a critical perspective (3)

Why am I reading this?

What is the author trying to do in writing this?

How convincing is this?

What use can I make of this reading?

Adapted from Wallace and Wray (2006)

Content of the critical review

• Include key academic theories

• Demonstrate current knowledge of the area

• Use clear referencing for the reader to find the

• Acknowledge the research of others

Is your literature review critical?

Checklists Box 3.2 and Box 3.3

Complete the checklists to evaluate your

Saunders et al. (2009)

Evaluate the content of your

Evaluate whether your

Evaluate whether your

Structure of the literature review

Three common structures

• Throughout the report

Structuring the literature

Structuring the literature

The key to a critical literature review

• Demonstrate that you have read, understood and

• Link the different ideas to form a cohesive and

• Make clear connections to your research

Saunders et al. (2009)

Categories of Literature Sources

• Primary (published and unpublished)

Detailed in Tables 3.1 and 3.2 Saunders et al. (2009)

Literature sources available

Saunders et al. (2009)

The literature search strategy (1)

• parameters of your search

Discuss these with a tutor (if possible)

The literature search strategy (2)

• Define the research parameters

• Generate key words

• Discuss your research