Review of

literature
By

Sivakumar P
NCM

WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW?

Many students are instructed, as part
of their research program, to perform
a literature review, without
understanding what it is.
Read more:http://www.experiment-resources.com/what-is-a-literature-review.html#ixzz1QGfAxinx

Review of literature
current knowledge including
substantive findings, as well as
theoretical and methodological
contributions to a particular topic.
Literature reviews are
secondary sources, and do not report
new or original experimental work.

What is the purpose of

Literature Review?
Purpose - to convey what knowledge and
ideas have been established on a topic,
and what their strengths and weaknesses
are.
As a piece of writing, the literature review must
be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., our
research objective, the problem or issue you
are discussing, or your argumentative thesis).
It is not just a descriptive list of the material
available, or a set of summaries

Why do a Literature
Review?

to identify gaps in the research area

to avoid reinventing the wheel
to carry on from where others have
already completed
to identify other people working in the
same fields
to fathom the depth of knowledge of
your subject area

Types
evaluative,exploratory, andinstrumental.[3]
A fourth type, thesystematicreview, is often
classified separately,
but is essentially a literature review focused on a
research question, trying to identify, appraise,
select and synthesize all high-quality research
evidence and arguments relevant to that question.
Ameta-analysisis typically a systematic review
using statistical methods to effectively combine
the data used on all selected studies to produce a
more reliable result.[4]

Means you need to be:

critical = evaluate what you read

analyse = extract differing information from
what you read
synthesise = show relationships between
studies/sources; differing definitions,
concepts, theories etc.
evaluate = methodological approaches used
(Hart, 2005)

Where do I start?
Previous Theses
Review Papers
Recent Conference Papers
Subject librarian
Supervisor

Phase 1- Identify the

Research

a broad but defined, systematic sweep

Defined search terms record recall and precision
Defined search arena - e.g. databases, citation indices,
reference lists from primary and review articles,
grey literature, conference proceedings, research
registers, the internet, individual
researchers/practitioners
Other broad search limits, e.g. language, date,

TIPS!
Document the
search protocol
and record what
research was
found
Systematically
manage the
search output,
e.g. using
endnote

Phase 2- Selection
select from research using criteria related to your research
question
Develop inclusion or exclusion statements, these might
relate to study outcomes, research design, methods
used, population worked with etc.
e.g. studies with a mixed population of men and women
e.g. random control trials only
e.g. maximum exposure time of 10mins

TIPS!
Document the
statements
and
their purpose
(might be
pragmatic or
research related)

3. Critical appraisal of studies

No standard approach but

there are hierarchies in
fields of study

critical
critical
appraisal
appraisal

working
understanding

connection
to findings

disciplinary
perspective

coverage
coverage
scholarliness
literature use

4. Collect data & analyse

Evaluate
Synthesise results of literature
review
Tables to compare
Descriptive
Meta-analysis

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Meta analysis
Meta-analysis is the statistical procedure for
combining data from multiple studies.
a quantitative statistical analysis of several
separate but similar experiments or studies
in order to test the pooled data for
statistical significance
The meta-analysis can help identify which
questions have already been answered and
which remain to be answered

Writing Style
Introduction
What I will show you?
Why?
Body
Why this area?
Dont leave reader to fill gaps
Conclusion
What we have seen?
How this is relevant to research?

What should you write?

the accepted facts in the area

the popular opinion
the main variables
the relationship between concepts and
variables
shortcomings in the existing findings
limitations in the methods used in the
existing findings
the relevance of your research
suggestions for further research in the area.

Dr. Lili Ann

SMM4999 - Literature Review

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Comprehensive Literature Review

Do parallel
literatures
exist for this
topic?

In which
subject areas
has the topic
been
studied?

What are the key

concepts in this
area?
How is this topic
approached by
others?

Who are
these
others?

Which
discussions?

Which aspects of
this work are of
most relevance to
my study?

Which subthemes?

What are the

main
perspectives
on this topic
in previous
research?

Coherent
synthesis of past
and present
research in the
domain of study

What are the key

areas of debate in
this area?

What have been

the main research
questions?
What are the main
conclusions on
previous research
in this area?
Where are the gaps
in literature?

Which
existing work
could be
extended?

Where is existing
knowledge thin?
Which work
is subject to
challenge?

Which
writers?

Source: Dr Hazel Hall, Napier University

How to organize studies

Chronological
By publication date
By trend

Thematic
A structure which considers different
themes

Methodological
Focuses on the methods of the
researcher, e.g., qualitative versus
quantitative approaches

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Making links between studies

Agreements
Similarly, author B points to
Likewise, author C makes the case that
Author D also makes this point
Again, it is possible to see how author E agrees with author
D
Disagreements
However, author B points to
On the other hand, author C makes the case that
Conversely, Author D argues
Nevertheless, what author E suggests

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Summary table

It is useful to prepare.
Such a table provides a quick overview that
allows the reviewer to make sense of a large
mass of information.
The tables could include columns with headings
such as

Author
type of study
Sample
Design
data collection approach
key findings

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Atmospherics in service environments

Summary table of literature

Citation

Sample

Environment

Method

Conclusions

Colour
Bellizzi, Crowley and
Hasty (1983)

125 Adults

Furniture store

Laboratory
experiment
Photographic
slide
simulations

Warm and cool colours created different emotional

responses. Customers view red retail environments as
more negative and unpleasant than blue.

Bellizzi, & Hite

(1992)

70 Adult women
107 Students

Televisions
shown
with
different colour
backgrounds
Furniture stores

Laboratory
experiments
Photographic
slide
simulations

Study based on PAD affect measures and approachavoidance behaviours.

More positive retail outcomes occurred in blue
environments than red.

1100
Supermarket
shoppers

Retail store

Field
experiment

Time in store reduced with loud music but level of sales

did not.

Milliman (1982)

216 Shoppers

Supermarket

Field
experiment

The tempo of background music influenced the pace at

which customers shopped. Slow tempo music slowed
customers down but resulted in increased volume of
sales.

Hui, Dub and Chebat

(1997)

116 Students

Bank branch
- waiting for
service.

Laboratory
experiment
Video
simulation

The positive impact of music on approach behaviours is

mediated by an emotional evaluation of the environment
and the emotional response to waiting. Pleasurable music
produced longer perceived waiting times.

Areni and Kim (1994)

171 Shoppers

Wine store

Field
experiment

The investigation found that brighter in-store lighting

influenced shoppers to examine and handle more of the
merchandise in the store

Summers and Hebert

(2001)

2367 Customers

Hardware store
Apparel store

Field
experiment

Confirmed Areni and Kims (1994) results. Increased

levels of lighting will produce arousal and pleasure and
increase the approach behaviours of customers.

Music
Smith and
(1966)

Curnow

Lighting

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