Step – I

Formulating a Research Problem

Dr. Md. Shamimul Islam
Professor
Department of Economics
Comilla University, Cumilla – 3506, Bangladesh
Formulating a Research Problem
Reviewing the Literature
Lesson Plan

• What is Literature Review?

• Why Literature Review is important in Research?
• What are the sources of Literatures?
• Procedure for Reviewing the Literature
• Writing up the reviewed literature
Literature Review (1/2)
• A literature review is a critical summary of all the published
works on a particular topic.
• It analyse specific issues
• It identifies trends in research
• It points out research gaps in existing literature
• The literature review is an integral part of the entire research
process and makes a valuable contribution to almost every
operational step.
Literature Review (2/2)
• The essential preliminary tasks before undertaking a research study is
required to go through the existing literature in order to acquaint
with the available body of knowledge in the study issue/topic/area.
• Literature review begins before a research problem is finalised and
continues until the report is finished. It is a continuous process.
• There exists a paradox in literature review: You cannot undertake an
effective literature review unless you have formulated a research
problem, yet your literature search plays an extremely important role
in helping you to formulate your research problem.
Why Literature Review? (1/3)

• Literature review plays an extremely important role in the research

process – in the initial stages of research it helps you to establish the
theoretical roots of your study, clarify your ideas and develop your
methodology, but later on the literature review serves to enhance
and consolidate your knowledge base and helps you to integrate your
findings with the existing body of knowledge. It is also used to
compare your findings with those of others.
• Literature review can be time-consuming, daunting and frustrating,
but it is also rewarding.
Why Literature Review? (2/3)

Literature review may helps readers and researchers –

 Readers are able to –
• Form an idea about the current state of
understanding on a topic.
• Decide whether to read each article individually
 Researchers/Scientists are able to –
• Learn about developments in the field
• Find gaps in research
• Identify new topics of research
Why Literature Review? (3/3)

Literature review has a number of functions –

• It bring clarity and focus to your research problem
• It improve your methodology
• Literature review broaden your knowledge base in your
research area
• It contextualise you findings
Sources of Literature

• To effectively search for literature in your field of inquiry, you

may follow –
• Books
• Journals
• Newspapers
• Websites - Google Scholar, etc.
Literature Review Process

• There is a danger in reviewing the literature without having a

reasonably specific idea of what you want to study.
• There are four steps involved in conducting a literature review –
• Search for existing literature in your study area;
• Review the literature selected;
• Develop a theoretical framework;
• Develop a conceptual framework.
Literature Review
Writing the Literature Review

• Literature Review can be written using any one of the following

approaches –
• Chronological
• Thematic
• Methodological
• Theoretical
The Chronological approach
The chronological approach describe each work in succession, starting
with the earliest available information.
Tips for using the chronological approach –
• Use this structure when you want to focus on how ideas or
methodology have progressed over time.
• Group and discuss your sources in order of their publication date.
• Record the research and developments in each group.
• Check how the field has developed over the years. Do all studies
discuss a common topic?
Example: How models for treatment methods for skin cancer in
children have developed over a specific period
The Thematic approach

Organise and discuss existing literature based on themes or theoretical

concepts you feel are important to understand the topic.
Tips for using the thematic approach –
• Remember that you need to do much more than summarizing each
study.
• Analyse existing knowledge on the topic with regard to certain
important issues.
• Draw the readers’ attention to new angles or perspectives.
• Start listing citations you may include in your paper.
Structure of a Literature review
A literature review typically has five sections –
• Introduction: Set some context; provide information about the field of
study, the relevance of the chosen topic within the field, and the focus of
the literature review.
• Methods: Help readers understand your approach, describe the criteria
used to select the sources or the way in which you have presented
information.
• Body: A chronological model has different paragraphs for different time
periods; a thematic model has subtopics based on the different themes.
• Discussion and Conclusion: Summarise the main contributions of
significant studies, raise and discuss questions about the topic and field,
clearly mention gaps in research, if any, and possible suggestions for
further study.
• Reference list: Prepare a complete reference list that includes every
important detail of all the sources you have referred to.
What is a Literature Review?
How to search for relevant Literature?
How to write Literature Review?
Thank you for your passionate hearing
?