Critically Reviewing The Literature Class

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
+
Objectives of this session:
 Importance, reasons and purpose of

critical literature review
 Writing critical literature review
 Know the Sources of literature
 Generate ideas for a better research
topic
Slide 3.3
+
Why critical review?
 ‘Knowledge doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and
your work only has value in relation to other
people’s. Your work and your findings will be
significant only to the extent that they’re the
same as, or different from, other people’s
work and findings.’
Jankowicz
Slide 3.4
Why are reviews needed
 ‘Research information is like

small jigsaw puzzle pieces in a
box, where there are several
pictures, several duplicates and
several missing pieces’
(Sheldon 1998).
 Individual studies use different

methods, are of different quality
and may present contradictory
findings
 We cannot give too much

importance to one individual
study
Slide 3.5
+Reasons for reviewing the literature
 Preliminary search of existing material
 Organising valuable ideas and findings
 Identifying other research that may be in progress
 Generating research ideas
 Developing a critical perspective by searching, obtaining,

evaluating and recording literature
Slide 3.6
+ The literature review process
Source: Saunders et al. (2003)

Figure 3.1 The literature review process
Slide 3.7
+ 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 3.8

Examples
Deductive –
 All
men are mortal. (General and no specific to one man) -
 Muhammad Ali Jinnah is a man  (Therefore,)
Muhammad Ali Jinnah is mortal ( specific)
Inductive -
This ice is cold. (Specific, based on a direct observation.)
 All ice is cold. (General, can be applied to any ice)
 3 + 5 = 8; Three and five are odd numbers while eight is an
even number. (1+5 = 6). Therefore, an odd number added to
another odd number will result in an even number.
Slide 3.9
Approaches used
Deductive -
Theory
Formulate
Hypothesis
Collect &
analyze data
Accept / Reject
Hypothesis
Slide 3.10
Approaches used
Theory
Inductive -
Tentative
Hypothesis
Pattern
Observation
Slide 3.11
+ Key purpose of Research

1. To further refine research questions and
objectives
2. To discover recommendations for further
research
3. To avoid repeating work already undertaken
4. To provide insights into strategies and
techniques appropriate to your research
objectives
Based on Gall et al. (2006)
Slide 3.12
+ Skills for reading literature

 Previewing, Annotating / Interpreting,
Summarising, Comparing and
contrasting
Harvard College Library (2006)
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 3.13
+ Adopting a critical perspective (3)

Questions to ask yourself
1. Why am I reading this? (helps to focus
on your subject)
2. What is the author trying to do in
writing this? ( helps deciding how
valuable for your purpose)
3. How convincing is this?
4. What use can I make of this reading?
Adapted from Wallace and Wray (2006)
Slide 3.14
+ Content of the critical review
 Include academic theories

 Demonstrate current
knowledge
 Use clear referencing (to find
the original cited publications)
 Acknowledge others’ research
Slide 3.15
+
Content of the critical review
 Key academic theories within your chosen
area
 Up-to-date knowledge in the chosen area
 Show relations to previous research
 Assess and discuss strengths and
weaknesses of previous work
 Justify your arguments
 Refer original work so as to be found easily.
Thus you avoid charges in plagiarism
Slide 3.16
+ Is your literature review critical?

1. Refer to work by recognized experts in
your chosen area
2. Consider and discuss work that supports
and/or opposes your ideas
3. Make reasoned judgments regarding the
value of others’ work to you research
4. Support your arguments with valid
evidence in a logical manner
5. Distinguish clearly between fact and
opinion
Saunders et al. (2009)
Slide 3.17
+ Structure of the literature review
Three common structures
 A single chapter
 A series of chapters
 Throughout the report
Slide 3.18
+
The structure of the critical review
 From general to specific

 Provide brief overview of key ideas
 Summarize, compare and contrast the key writers
 Narrow down to highlight the most relevant to your
work
 Provide a detailed account of the findings of your work
 Highlight the issues where you will provide fresh
insights
 Lead the reader into the corresponded sections
Slide 3.19
+ 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 3.20
+
Checklist for evaluating your literature
review:
 Does your review start at a more general level?
 Does the literature covered relate clearly to your research
questions and objectives?
 Have you covered the key theories of recognized experts
in the area?
 Is the literature you have included up to date?
 Have you been objective in the discussions and
assessment of other people’s work?
 Have you included references that are counter to your
own opinion?
 Are facts and opinions clearly distinguished?
 Is your argument coherent and cohesive - do the ideas
link together?
 Have you made reasoned judgements about the value of
Slide 3.21
+ Categories of Literature sources

available

Figure 3.2 Literature sources available
Slide 3.22
+ The literature search strategy
 Define the research parameters

 Generate key words
 Discuss your research with
supervisor
 Brainstorm ideas
 Construct Relevance trees - use
computer software
Slide 3.23
+
Defining parameters
 Language of publication (English)

 Subject area (Accountancy)
 Business sector
 Geographical area (Europe)
 Publication period (last 10 years)
 Literature type (thesis, journals and
magazines)
Slide 3.24
+
Relevance tree
Is there a link between benchmarking and TQM
Benchmarking (BM) Links between ISO 9000 TQM

BM and TQM
Precise
standard
Benchmarking Benchmarking Implementatio
theory practice n
Techniques Types Case studies

Slide 3.25
+ Evaluating the literature
 Define the scope of

your review
 Assess relevance and
value
 Assess sufficiency
Slide 3.26
+
Evaluating the literature
 Assessing the relevance – take notes for the
relevance of each item and the reasons why
you come to this conclusion – this will be
included as a part of your critical review
 Assessing sufficiency – Read from relevant
sources till you find no more information
impacting your work
 Referencing and bibliography:
- The Harvard system
- The APA system
Slide 3.27
+
Evaluating the literature
 How recent is the item?
 Is the item likely to have been superseded /
outdated?
 Is the context sufficiently different to make it marginal
to your research?
 Does the item support or contradict your arguments?
 What are the methodological omissions within the
work?
 Is the precision (care) sufficient?
Slide 3.28
+ 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 3.29
Writing up
Prepare a plan of your review

 Introduction
 History of the topic – including
assumptions and definitions from
other researchers
 Theoretical background
 Address each of your research
objectives by summarising research
 Conclude
Slide 3.30
Questions to ask yourself when writing up (Hart 2007, p. 14)
What are the key

theories,
concepts and
ideas? What are the
epistemological
What are the key
and ontological
sources?
grounds for the
discipline?
How have
What are the
approaches to
What are the
major issues and
Literature search
main questions
and problems
these questions
and review on
debates about
the topic?
your topic
that have been
addressed to increased our
date?
understanding
and knowledge?
How is
What are the knowledge on
political the topic
standpoints? structured and
What are the organised?
origins and
definitions of the
topic?
Slide 3.31
+
APA Style Referencing
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10eg_GB_A9E
Slide 3.32
Recommended Reading List

 Bettany-Saltikov, J.B. (2012) How to do a systematic literature review in nursing.
Open University Press, England
 Gough, D., Olivers, S. and Thomas, J. (2012) An introduction to systematic reviews.

Sage, London
 Greenhalgh, T. (2010) 4th ed. How to read a paper Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford
 Hart C. (2007) Doing a literature review: releasing the social science research
imagination. Sage, London
 Hart C. (2001) Doing a literature search. Sage, London
 Petticrew, M. and Roberts H. (2006) Systematic reviews in the social sciences

Blackwell publishing, U.S.A.
 Rudestam, K.E. and Newton R.R. (2007) 3rd ed. Surviving your dissertation Sage,
London

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Slide 3.

 Importance, reasons and purpose of

Why are reviews needed

 ‘Research information is like

 Individual studies use different

 We cannot give too much

+Reasons for reviewing the literature

 Preliminary search of existing material

 Organising valuable ideas and findings

 Identifying other research that may be in progress

 Generating research ideas

 Developing a critical perspective by searching, obtaining,

+ The literature review process

Source: Saunders et al. (2003)

+ The Critical Review (1)

+ The Critical Review (1)

+ The Critical Review (1)

+ The Critical Review (1)

+ Key purpose of Research

+ Skills for reading literature

The most important skills are

+ Adopting a critical perspective (3)

+ Content of the critical review

 Include academic theories

+ Is your literature review critical?

+ Structure of the literature review

Three common structures

 From general to specific

+ The key to a critical literature review

Demonstrate that you have read,

+ Categories of Literature sources

Saunders et al. (2009)

+ The literature search strategy

 Define the research parameters

 Language of publication (English)

Is there a link between benchmarking and TQM

Benchmarking (BM) Links between ISO 9000 TQM

Techniques Types Case studies

+ Evaluating the literature

 Define the scope of

Prepare a plan of your review

Questions to ask yourself when writing up (Hart 2007, p. 14)

What are the key

Recommended Reading List

 Gough, D., Olivers, S. and Thomas, J. (2012) An introduction to systematic reviews.

 Greenhalgh, T. (2010) 4th ed. How to read a paper Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford

 Hart C. (2001) Doing a literature search. Sage, London

 Petticrew, M. and Roberts H. (2006) Systematic reviews in the social sciences

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