Alan Bryman

Social Research Methods

Chapter 5: Getting started:
Reviewing the literature

© Alan Bryman, 2016. All rights reserved.

 The theme of this chapter
Once you have identified your research
questions (see Chapter 4), the next step in
any research project is to search the existing
literature and write a literature review.

This chapter will advise students on how to go

about searching the literature and engaging
critically with the ideas of other writers. It will
also help you to understand some of the
expectations of the literature review, and give
you some ideas about how to assess the
quality of existing research. Page 90

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Searching the Literature should
answer these questions:

 What is already known about this area?

 What concepts and theories are relevant?
 What research methods and strategies have
been used in this area?
 Are there any controversies?
 Are there any inconsistencies in findings?
 Are there unanswered questions?

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Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 A literature review can be...

 a list of relevant theories

 a search for relevant information
 a survey of writing on the subject
 a way of learning about the subject
 a help in finding dissertation topics and research
methods
 an important component of a dissertation or
report
Adapted from Bruce (1994)

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Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 So, you write a literature review
because.....
 you need to know what is already known about your research
area
 you can learn from the mistakes of others
 you can learn about different theoretical and methodological
approaches to your research area
 it may help you to develop an analytic framework
 it may lead you to consider including variables in your
research of which you might not have thought
 it may suggest further research questions
 it is required!
Tips and skills
Page 95

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Student experiences are valuable

Extract from
See more of these on pages 106 and 109 Page 97

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Getting the most from your reading

o Take lots of notes (including references)

o Ask yourself questions about what you read; its value to
your topic, methods used, conclusions
o Find research questions (perhaps because what you
read indicates contention)
o Identify sources which you will want to return to later on
o Be selective (read for relevance)
o Don’t stop reading!

Pages 95 to 98

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 How to search the literature: 1

• Read books and articles you know, or are

recommended by your supervisor
• Keep notes based on your reading
• Note the keywords used
• Note other literature which might be of use
later on in your research
• Generate your own keywords

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 How to search the literature: 2

• Search your institution’s library

• Search online using an appropriate
database
• Examine titles and abstracts for relevance
• Retrieve selected items, read, take notes
• Check regularly for new material

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Searching for books and articles

• Start with module reading-lists

• Consult the references and bibliographies of
recommended textbooks
• Use the library of your institution
- find out what is available
- find out your institution’s subscriptions to online
databases
• Use electronic databases, like SSCI (Social Sciences
Citation Index) (wok.mimas.ac.uk) and Scopus
(scopus.com)
Please note, these sites require log-in codes for full access
Pages 105 to 107

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 One way of searching the literature

Figure 5.1
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Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 A word (or two) of warning about
the Internet
• Search engines find sites but do not evaluate them
• Dictionaries and encyclopaedias are fine for basic definitions,
but little else
• Many Internet sites serve a commercial purpose, so don’t be
taken in by propaganda
• Rely on; academic sites (usually.ac or .edu), government
sites (.gov), not-for-profit institutions (.org), in that order.
• Download and save all material found on the Internet. Sites
are dynamic and you may not find the data a second time.
Your institution may also require proof when defending your
thesis.
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 Putting your reading to work

Create a literature-based foundation for your work

through...
o putting material together which is not usually related
(synthesized coherence)
o building up separate items into a consensus
(progressive coherence)
o showing lots of related contributions but no overall
agreement (non-coherence)
Thinking deeply 5.1
o revealing a gap in the literature Pages 93
o developing a new perspective
o showing the existing literature to be simply wrong.
(Golden-Biddle and Locke, 1997:43).

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Two main approaches
to a literature review: 1

1. Systematic review:
a) Very extensive search of the specific research field
b) Grouping of sources into categories
 very relevant, based on good research
 very relevant, weak research
 low relevance, or too general

c) Giving a step-by-step report on the search method used,

decisions taken and derived conclusions (Tranfield et al, 2003:209)

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Two main approaches
to a literature review: 2

2. Narrative Review:
a) Limited search for the most interesting
contributions;
b) Concentration on connections between
sources located and research
questions;
c) Revision of research questions in the
light of readings.

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Referencing your work: 1

• A source is, usually, referenced in two parts:

- the citation: in your text at the point of use
- full publication details: in a reference list, or
bibliography, at the end of your dissertation or report.
• There are two main referencing conventions:
- the author-date system, of which the Harvard system is
most used
- the footnote system

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Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Referencing your work: 2

• Follow your institution’s guidelines for

referencing protocols and terminology
• If no clear guidelines are offered, use
the Harvard system
• Always include a list of references at the
end, in any event

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Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Plagiarism: Crime and Punishment 1

• Plagiarism means pretending that we, ourselves, wrote

what others actually wrote
• Plagiarism might be accidental:
- not using quotation marks for direct quotes might
be careless rather than deceitful
- forgetting to cite a source in the text
• Plagiarism might not be seen for what it is:
- recycling our own material from previously
submitted work
- not referencing ourselves as the author of our own
older work Pages 115 to 117

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Plagiarism: Crime and Punishment 2

 Plagiarism is always a crime, since it destroys the

foundations of the research edifice

 Institutions vary in terms of the seriousness with

which they view the offence:
- punishment can range from resubmission to expulsion
- but reputation is always lost

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Questions to ask when doing a literature
review: 1

• Is your reading list up-to-date?

• Are there any new areas of interest?
• What have you read recently?
• How much time do you allocate to reading?
• What have you learned from your reading?

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Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Questions to ask when doing a literature
review: 2

• Has this changed your understanding of your

subject area?
• Has your reading influenced your research
design?
• Has it given you ideas about your hypotheses
and research tools?
• Have you been taking notes from your reading?

Adapted from Bruce, 1994

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition

 Key Points

 Writing a literature review is a means of reviewing the main ideas and

research relating to your chosen area of interest
 A competent literature review confirms you as someone who is competent in
the subject area
 A great deal of the work of writing a literature review is based upon reading
the work of other researchers in your subject area; key skills can be acquired
to help you get the most from your reading
 Systematic review is a method that is gaining in popularity in business
research as a way of enhancing the reliability of literature searching and
review
 Narrative review is a more traditional approach which has advantages of
flexibility that can make it more appropriate for inductive research and
qualitative research designs

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Bryman: Social Research Methods, 5th edition