Literature Review

UM TV Talk Show Group 2

Research
• Find out who is saying what about
the things you are interested in,
specifically your research
objectives,
• To show your tutor that you have
read widely, and in depth, and
that you have the necessary skills
to both interpret and evaluate
such literature,
• Haywood and Wragg (1982: 2) put Objective
it: a review of literature should
demonstrate that ‘the writer has
studied existing work in the field
with insight’.
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Characteristics of
A Good Research

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• It lays out what research has been done by others relevant to your
research aim/objectives (why waste your time discussing irrelevant
stuff?).
• It presents the work of others in a clear, interesting and
progressive manner (to build up a coherent/logical picture).
• It provides evidence of in-depth critical evaluation (i.e. to show that
YOU can give an opinion and support it with argument/evidence).
• It highlights pertinent/emerging issues (otherwise what is the point
of your Literature Review?). • It cites a variety of relevant sources
properly (to show that you are well read and scholarly in your
approach).

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Common
Problems
Encountered
(1) where to find literature;
(2) how to reference the literature properly;
(3) how to review the literature; and
(4) how to structure their Literature Review
chapter

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 Referencing
References
Park, C. (2003). ‘In other (people’s) words: plagiarism by university
students – literature and lessons’, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher
Education, 28(5): 471–488.

Phillips, E. M. and Pugh, D. S. (2007). How to Get a Ph.D.: A Handbook for Students
and their Supervisors, Berkshire: Open University Press, p. 15.

Proudfoot, R., Thompson, A. and Kastan, D. S. (2001) (Eds.). The Arden

Shakespeare Complete Works, London: Thomson Learning, p. 520.

Riddell, P. and Webster, P. (2006). ‘Support for Labour at lowest level since 1992’,
The Times, 9 May, p. 2.
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 Latin Abbreviations
‘et al.’, which means ‘and others’
‘ibid.’ (= ibidem), which stands for ‘in the same place’, to indicate that you
are referring to the previously cited source
‘op. cit.’ (= opere citato), which means ‘from the work cited’. You use op.
cit. to indicate that you are referring to a source that you have already cited
(somewhere) in your dissertation
‘Viz’. is an abbreviation of the Latin word videlicet (itself a combination of
two Latin words, videre ‘to see’ + licet ‘it is permissible’) and its meaning is
captured in the terms ‘in other words’, ‘that is to say’, and ‘namely’.
‘Inter alia’ is a Latin term meaning ‘among other things’
‘Sic’ is Latin (surprise, surprise!) and stands for ‘thus, so, as it stands’

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Book
Davenport, T.H. and Prusak, L. (1998). Working Knowledge, Boston: Harvard
Business School Press 4.

Journal
Burns, E. (1994). ‘Information Assets, Technology and Organisation’,
Management Science, 40(12): 645–662.

Newspaper
When the author is known:
Riddell, P. and Webster, P. (2006). ‘Support for Labour at lowest level since
1992’, TheTimes, 9 May, p. 2.

Where the author is not known:

The Indian Agra News (2007). ‘Carbon footprints and economic globalisation’, 18th April,
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Conference Proceedings
Conole, G., Oliver, M., Isroff, K. and Ravenscroft, A. (2004). ‘Addressing
Methodological Issues in e-Learning Research’, in Proceedings of the Networked
Learning Conference 2004, Sheffield. Available at: www.sef.ac.uk/
nlc/Proceedings/Symposa4.htm. Last accessed: 2nd October 2004.

Website
Brender, A. (2004). ‘Speakers Promote Distance Education to Audiences
in Asia’ [online]. Available at: www.chronicle.com. Last accessed: 12th
November 2004.

Thesis
Fictitious examples follow:
Aitken, R. (2008). Exploring the Role of Laughter in theWorkplace, PhD thesis,
Inverclyde University: Glasgow.
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Or if it is an unpublished dissertation
Anderson, T. (2008). Forecasting Economic Growth: Lessons from Abroad, 3rd
year Dissertation, BA Economics, Inverclyde University: Glasgow.

Lectures/Seminars
Biggam, J. (2008). E-security in the Digital Age [Lecture given to MSc
E-Business students, Division of Business Information Management,
Inverclyde University]. 3rd February.

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Large image

Description vs
Critical Evaluation

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Three Broad ways in which students
learn:

• 1 Cognitive skills (development of

mental skills to acquire
knowledge).
• 2 Affective skills (development of Learning Theory
feelings, emotions and attitudes).
• 3 Psychomotor skills and your
(development of manual and
physical skills). Dissertation
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Bloom’s taxonomy of (cognitive) learning
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Updated version of Bloom’s taxonomy of (cognitive) learning TREY
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Large image

Structuring your
Literature Review

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Thank You !

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