 One of the essential task in research is to go

through the existing literature in order to

acquaint yourself with the available body of
knowledge in your area of interest.
 Reviewing literature is time consuming and

sometimes daunting and frustrating , but you

should not become discouraged, because you
will also find it rewarding.
 1. Bringing clarity and focus to your research
problem.
 2. Improve your methodology
 3. Broaden your knowledge base in your

research area.
 Literature review involves a paradox
 On one hand you can not effectively undertake a
literature search without some idea of the problem
you wish to investigate.
 On the other hand , the literature review can play
an important role in shaping your research problem
because the process of reviewing the literature
helps you to understand the subject area .
 Thus it helps you to conceptualise your research
problem clearly and precisely.
 It also help to understand the relationship between
your research problem and the body of knowledge.
 Getting through the literature acquaints you
with methodologies that have been used by
others to find answers to research
questions similar to the one you are
researching on.
 It tells you if others have used procedures
and methods similar to the ones that you
are proposing, which procedures and
methods have worked and what problems
have been faced
 By becoming aware of problems and pitfalls
this will help better position your
methodology that is capable of providing
answers to research questions
 Literature review makes you read widely
around the area in which you intend to
conduct your research.
 Literature review helps you to be an expect in

your area of study as you know what others

have done, what methods they have used etc.
 Reviewing literature is a continuous process.
 It start with the idea and research problem

formulation and continues until the report is

finished
 SEARCHING
EXISTING REVIEW
LITERATURE LITERATURE
IN YOUR AREA SELECTED
OF STUDY

DEVELOP DEVELOP
CONCEPTUAL THEORATICAL
FRAMEWORK FRAMEWORK
 Sources that can be used are:
 Books
 Journals/articles
 CD-ROMS
 Newspapers
 Bulletins
 Internet (Books, articles, journals etc)
 The main advantage of books is that
materials published in books is of good
quality and findings are integrated with
other research to form a coherent body of
knowledge (Martin 1985:33).
 The main disadvantage is that the material

is not completely up-to-date, as it takes a

few years between the completion of a work
and its publication in the form of a book.
 Journals are mostly up to date even though
there is often a gap of between two and three
years between the completion of a research
project and its publication
 Note whether the knowledge relevant to your
theoretical framework has been confirmed
 Note the theories put forward , the criticisms
of these theories and their basis, the
methodologies adopted and criticisms of
them.
 Examine to what extend the findings can be
generalised to other situations.
 Notice where there are differences of opinion
among researchers and give your opinion
about the validity of these differences
 Ascertain the areas in which little or nothing

is known- the gaps that exist in the body of

knowledge.
 The information obtained from different
sources needs to be sorted under the main
themes and theories, highlighting
agreements and disagreements among
other authors and identifying the
unanswered questions or gaps
 Literature pertinent to your study may deal
with two types of information:
 1. Universal
 2. More specific, ie local trends, or specific
program
 Study on the relationship between
advertising and sales.
 You can review literature about:
 Advertising- trends, theories, some indices,
factors affecting advertising, methods of
improving advertising, etc.
 Sales-factors affecting sales, Classification
of sales, trends of sales, etc
 RELATIONSHIP- theories that have been
developed to explain the relationship,
implications of the relationship.
 Advertising theories
 Types of Advertising
 Trends of advertising
 Factors affecting advertising
 Sales
 Measurement of Sales
 Relationship between advertising and sales
 Conceptual framework stems from the
theoretical framework.
 Conceptual framework is the basis of your
research problem
 Conceptual framework grows out of the
theoretical framework and relates to the
specific research problem.
 That is how you select the actual theories,
material, etc and make it part and parcel of
your work.
 References
◦ Specific ideas from specified individuals
◦ Ideas are traceable to source
◦ Author’s name and date of publication
 Bibliography
◦ Helpful materials used during compilation
◦ Not making specific reference
 References to be used in projects,
dissertations and thesis

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 Show evidence of breadth and depth of
reading:
◦ At least 10 – 30 for project
◦ Show that theoretical foundation is laid
 Accurate and complete referencing
◦ To allow other readers that may need to access
the same literature
◦ To evaluate your interpretation of ideas
 Comparison of your ideas and others’:
◦ Avoid plagiarism (Use of someone else’s ideas
without acknowledgement)
19
 Harvard format referencing
 Full citation to appear in alphabetical order

at the end of text (Surname first)

 Consistent and accurate presentation
 All sources to appear in the text and in

references

20
 If author’s surname forms part of
sentence, the year follows in parentheses:
◦ As illustrated by Edwards (1980), the bulk of
industrial problems are caused by managers.
 If author’s name is not part of sentence,
both the author and year are shown in
parentheses:
◦ Quality results from what takes place in the
value chain (Oakland, 1996).

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 When referring to a particular page, this is
given in parentheses after the year:
◦ “Aging is inevitable” (Jones, 1996:13).
◦ For omission, three dots before, four dots after
 Direct quoting a full paragraph
◦ Indent paragraph and use difference format
◦ No need for quotation marks
◦ Author, year and page to be supplied
 If author has more than one publications
◦ Use chronological order in references
◦ Is publications in same year, use letters a, b
after the year to distinguish; (Job, 2001a), (Job,
2001b) 22
 When no author is given, appropriate body
or institution should be used:
◦ (University of Zimbabwe, 2004)
 When reference is not original source:
◦ Deming (1980) cited in Oakland (1996), builds on
work by Shewhart.
◦ Pareto (cited in Juran, 1996:24) notes that,
“……………….”.

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 Citing more than one author:
◦ If there are two authors, both should be given;
Saladin and Polada (1999) state….
◦ If more that two authors, all should appear the
first time, thereafter, main author et al. (year)
◦ Order of authors to be strictly adhered to

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  Researcher
 To demonstrate wide reading in the area of
study
 Thorough familiarity with theoretical

constructs
 Diversity of sources, not one author per

concept or personal views

 Acknowledge sources; avoid plagiarism
 Work to reflect coherence and unity of flow
 1. In line with Objectives
 2. In line with main themes
 3. In line with arguments from theoretical and

empirical concepts
 NB// There is no universally accepted way of

presenting literature but the manner that is

felt to be bringing out the research problem.