Literature Review

The Research Process

 Problem Identification
 Review of Literature
 Forming of Research Question/Hypothesis
 Forming of Research Design/Methodology
 Implementation of Methodology
 Reporting Results of Methodology
 Conclusions and Recommendations
 Ways to select a topic
• Personal experience
• Curiosity based on something in the media
• The state of knowledge in a field
• Social premiums
• Personal values
 What is Literature Review?
 discusses published information in a particular
subject area, and sometimes information in a
particular subject area within a certain time period.
 can be just a simple summary of the sources, but it
usually has an organizational pattern and combines

both summary and synthesis.

4
 Literature Review

 Integral part of the research process

 Triggers creative thinking, new ideas
 Helps to identify appropriate research methods and
techniques
 Provide an idea of gaps that can be addressed
 Helps to establish a theoretical framework
 Justify the need for the research
 Provide substantiation/justification/validation for
researcher’s knowledge claims
 Literature Review

Use the literature to identify and flesh-out

problems related to the problem area
• Review the literature to be able to indicate
how the literature
– fits in with your selected problem area,
– helps to understand your problem area better,
– can help you to focus your problem,
– what can be used to validate claims made by
you and
– what the value of the article for your research
will be.
 Poor or Good LR
A ‘good’ literature review…..
….. is a synthesis of available research
….. is a critical evaluation
….. has appropriate breadth and depth
….. has clarity and conciseness
….. uses rigorous and consistent
methods
A ‘poor’ literature review is…..
…..an annotated bibliography
….. confined to description
….. narrow and shallow
….. confusing and longwinded
….. constructed in an arbitrary way
7
 Literature review process

Define your idea in as general term as possible by

using by general sources

Search through the secondary sources

Search through the primary sources

Organize your note

Write your proposal

What should I do before writing the literature
review?
 Clarify
 If your assignment is not very specific, seek clarification from
your supervisor/lecturer:
 Roughly how many sources should you include?
 What types of sources (books, journal articles, websites)?
 Should you summarize, synthesize, or critique your sources by
discussing a common theme or issue?
 Should you evaluate your sources?
 Should you provide subheadings and other background
information, such as definitions and/or a history?

9
What should I do before writing the literature
review?
 Find models

 Look for other literature reviews in your area of interest

or in the discipline and

 read them to get a sense of the types of themes you

might want to look for in your own research or ways to
organize your final review.

10
What should I do before writing the literature
review?

 Narrow your topic

 There are hundreds or even thousands of articles

and books on most areas of study. The narrower
your topic, the easier it will be to limit the
number of sources you need to read in order to
get a good survey of the material.

11
What should I do before writing the literature
review?
 Consider whether your sources are current
 Some disciplines require that you use information
that is as current as possible. In the sciences, for
instance, treatments for medical problems are
constantly changing according to the latest
studies. Information even two years old could be
obsolete.

12
What should I do before writing the literature
review?
 However, if you are writing a review in the humanities, history,
or social sciences, a survey of the history of the literature may
be what is needed, because what is important is how
perspectives have changed through the years or within a certain
time period.
 Try sorting through some other current bibliographies or
literature reviews in the field to get a sense of what your
discipline expects.
 You can also use this method to consider what is "hot" and what
is not.

13
What should I do before writing the literature
review?
 Find a focus
 A literature review, like a term paper, is usually
organized around ideas, not the sources
themselves as an annotated bibliography would
be organized. This means that you will not just
simply list your sources and go into detail about
each one of them, one at a time.
 No.

14
What should I do before writing the literature
review?
 Be selectively in the topic area, consider instead what themes or
issues connect the sources together.
 Do they present one or different solutions?
 Is there an aspect of the field that is missing?
 How well do they present the material and do they portray it
according to an appropriate theory?
 Do they reveal a trend in the field?
 A raging debate?
 Pick one of these themes to focus the organization of your
review.

15
What should I do before writing the literature
review?
 Construct a working thesis statement
 Then use the focus you've found to construct a
thesis statement. Yes! Literature reviews have
thesis statements as well! However, your thesis
statement will not necessarily argue for a position
or an opinion; rather it will argue for a particular
perspective on the material.

16
What should I do before writing the literature
review?
 Some sample thesis statements for literature
reviews are as follows:
 The current trend in treatment for congestive
heart failure combines surgery and medicine.
 More and more cultural studies scholars are
accepting popular media as a subject worthy of
academic consideration.

17
What should I do before writing the literature
review?
 Consider organization
 You've got a focus, and you've narrowed it down
to a thesis statement.
 Now what is the most effective way of presenting
the information?
 What are the most important topics, subtopics,
etc., that your review needs to include?
 And in what order should you present them?

18
What should I do before writing the literature
review?
 Develop an organization for your review at both a global
and local level:
 First, cover the basic categories
 Just like most academic papers, literature reviews also must
contain at least three basic elements: an introduction or
background information section; the body of the review
containing the discussion of sources; and, finally, a conclusion
and/or recommendations section to end the paper.

19
What should I do before writing the literature
review?
 Introduction: Gives a quick idea of the topic of the
literature review, such as the central theme or
organizational pattern.
 Body: Contains your discussion of sources and is
organized either chronologically, thematically, or
methodologically (see below for more information on
each).
 Conclusions/Recommendations: Discuss what you have
drawn from reviewing literature so far. Where might the
discussion proceed?

20
What should I do before writing the literature
review?
 The introduction should provide the reader with the scale and
structure of your review. It serves as a kind of map.
 The body of the review depends on how you have organised your key
points. Literature reviews at postgraduate level should be evaluative
and not merely descriptive. For example possible reasons for
similarities or differences between studies are considered rather than a
mere identification of them.
 The conclusion of the review needs to sum up the main findings of
your research into the literature. The findings can be related to the
aims of the study you are proposing to do. The reader is thus provided
with a coherent background to the current study.

21
What should I do before writing the literature
review?
 Organizing the body
 Once you have the basic categories in place, then you must consider
how you will present the sources themselves within the body of your
paper. Create an organizational method to focus this section even
further.
 To help you come up with an overall organizational framework for your
review, consider the six typical ways of organizing the sources into a
review:
 Chronological
 By publication
 By trend
 Thematic
 Methodological
 Questions for Further Research

22
What should I do before writing the literature
review?
 Similar to primary research, development of the literature
review requires four stages:
 Problem formulation—which topic or field is being examined
and what are its component issues?
 Literature search—finding materials relevant to the subject
being explored
 Data evaluation—determining which literature makes a
significant contribution to the understanding of the topic
 Analysis and interpretation—discussing the findings and
conclusions of pertinent literature

23
 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.

24
 What should you write?
 Literature reviews should comprise the following elements:
 An overview of the subject, issue or theory under consideration, along
with the objectives of the literature review
 Division of works under review into categories (e.g. those in support of
a particular position, those against, and those offering alternative
theses entirely)
 Explanation of how each work is similar to and how it varies from the
others
 Conclusions as to which pieces are best considered in their argument,
are most convincing of their opinions, and make the greatest
contribution to the understanding and development of their area of
research

25
 What should you write?
 In assessing each piece, consideration should be given to:
 Provenance—What are the author's credentials? Are the author's
arguments supported by evidence (e.g. primary historical material,
case studies, narratives, statistics, recent scientific findings)?
 Objectivity—Is the author's perspective even-handed or prejudicial? Is
contrary data considered or is certain pertinent information ignored to
prove the author's point?
 Persuasiveness—Which of the author's theses are most/least
convincing?
 Value—Are the author's arguments and conclusions convincing? Does
the work ultimately contribute in any significant way to an
understanding of the subject?

26
 What should you write?
 Layout
 Make your literature review have an academic and professional
appearance. Here are some points to make the look of your report
appealing to the reader

 White space: leave space between sections, especially from the

abstract. This gives an uncluttered effect.

 Headings/sub-headings: these help to separate ideas.

 Text boxes: you can use these for quotations or paraphrasing to

separate them from the rest of your text. It is also pleasing to the eye.

27
 What should you write?
 Graphics: center your graphics, such as diagrams or
tables, to have space around them. Try not to bury
graphics in your text.

 Pagination: you can number pages or sections or both,

but the important thing to do is to be consistent. The
cover page normally is not numbered. The content page
and abstract page usually have a separate numbering
system to the body of your literature review.

28
 What should you write?
 Language focus

 Create a balance between direct quotation (citation) and

paraphrasing. Avoid too much direct quoting. The verb tense
chosen depends on your emphasis:

 When you are citing a specific author's findings, use the past
tense: (found, demonstrated);

 When you are writing about an accepted fact, use the present
tense: (demonstrates, finds); and

 When you are citing several authors or making a general

statement, use the present perfect tense: (have shown, have
found, little research has been done).
29
 What should you write?
 Final checklist

 Have I fulfilled the purpose of the literature review?

 Is it written at a level appropriate to its audience?
 Are its facts correct?
 Is all the information included relevant?
 Are the layout and presentation easy on the eye?
 Is the language clear, concise and academic?
 Does the abstract summarise the entire review?
 Does the introduction adequately introduce the topic?
 Is the body organised logically?
 Does the conclusion interpret, analyse and evaluate?
 Are the recommendations reasonable?
 Does the table of contents correspond with the actual contents? Are page numbers
correct?
 Have I acknowledged all sources of information through correct referencing?
 Have I checked spelling, grammar and punctuation?
 Have I carefully proof-read the final draft?

30
 How to review?
 The whole process of reviewing includes:
a. Searching for literature
b. Sorting and prioritising the retrieved literature
c. Analytical reading of papers
d. Evaluative reading of papers
e. Comparison across studies
f. Organising the content
g. Writing the review

31
 How to review?
 Comparison across studies

 The aim is to extract key points by comparing and contrasting

ACROSS studies, instead of reading one paper after another.

 Key points for a review may concern areas of similarities and/or

differences in:

 Research aim(s) or hypotheses

 Research design and sampling
 Instruments and procedures used
 How data were analysed
 Results or findings
 Interpretations

32
 How to review?
 Find similarities and differences between studies at
different levels, e.g.:
- philosophy
- epistemology
- morality
- methodology
- methods
- types of data
- data analysis
- interpretation

33
 How to review?
 Set out your thinking on paper through maps and
trees.
Feature map Classifies and categorises your thought in tabular form

Links between concepts and processes, or shows relationship between

Concept map
ideas and practice

Shows how topic branches out into subthemes and related questions or
Tree construction
represents stages in the development of a topic.

34
 How to review?
 Tips on writing
Express one idea in a sentence. Ensure that all your sentences have
Sentences
a subject, verb and object.

Group sentences that express and develop one aspect of your topic.
Paragraphs
Use a new paragraph for another aspect or another topic.

Use sentences and paragraphs with appropriate use of commas,

Consistent Grammar colours and semi-colours. Incorrect use of punctuation can affect
the meaning.

Use words that link paragraphs and which show contrast and
Transition Words development to your argument e.g. ‘hence’, ‘therefore’, ‘but’,
‘thus’, ‘as a result’, ‘in contrast’.

35
 Example
Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) are statistical tools that have been used
successfully in modelling difficult tasks such as speech recognition [15] or
biological sequence analysis [16]. Inspired by a similar speech application,
Hidden Markov model (HMM) has also been applied to activity recognition.
The first approach for the human movements based on HMMs was described
in [13]. It distinguished between six different tennis strokes. This system
divided the image into meshes and counted the number of pixels representing
the person for each mesh. The numbers were composed to a feature vector
that was converted into a discrete label by a vector quantizer. The labels were
classified based on discrete HMMs. In [8], an HMM is used as a representation
of simple actions which are recognized by computing the probability that the
model produces the visual observation sequence. In [14] layered HMMs were
proposed to model single person office activities at various time granularities

36
 Example
• BAD EXAMPLE!!!

Meaning of courseware
Definition: programs and data used in Computer-Based Training.

According to dictionary found on http://www.webopedia.com, a courseware

is defined as below.

37
 Example
Research Technique Features Domain Disadvantage / Future Direction
Used Advantage
Lin et al. 2007 A priori algorithm Audiovisual Weather Reduce the amount of Due to the different
misclassification errors. properties of the data
Association rule Sports sets representing the
mining Able to identify a high semantic concepts
Commercial percentage of positive such as weather,
Pre-filtering instances in each concept commercial, and
architecture sports, they proposed
to use different
strategies to merge the
rules.

Davis & Tyagi Probabilistic reliable- Motion Walking, running, The system only makes
2006 inference framework standing, bending- classifications when it
forward, crouching- believes the input is
Hidden Markov down, and sitting ‘good enough’ for
Model (HMM) output discrimination between
likelihoods and action the possible actions
priors

Maximum likelihood
(ML) and maximum
a posteriori (MAP)

38
39
After Comprehensive Literature Review the next step is…..

PROPOSAL WRITING
 Problem Identification

Three sources usually contribute to problem

identification:
1. Own experience or the experience of others may
be a source of problem supply.
2. A second source could be scientific literature. You
may read about certain findings and notice that a
certain field was not covered. This could lead to a
research problem.
3. Theories could be a third source. Shortcomings in
theories could be researched.
 Aim of Research

 clarifying or substantiating an existing theory,

 clarifying contradictory findings,
 correcting a faulty methodology,
 correcting the inadequate or unsuitable use
of statistical techniques,
 reconciling conflicting opinions, or
 solving existing practical problems.
 Developing Research Question

CATEGORIES OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• Descriptive
• Exploratory
• Explanatory
• Problem-solving
 “Our Most Important Research Questions
May Be ‘Hiding’ in Our Unchallenged Solutions”
The Importance of Good Questions

A good research question:

• Defines the investigation

• Sets boundaries
• Provides direction
 Defining Your Topic
If you are finding it a challenge to generate
a research topic you can:

• Hone in on your passions

• Use your curiosity
• Look for inspiration from the creative arts
• Develop ‘right brain’ skills such as concept mapping
 Minding Practicalities
Research directions are not always at the full
discretion of the researcher.
Practicalities include:
• Appropriateness of the topic
• Your ability to get supervisory support
• Funding opportunities and commitments
 From Interesting Topics to Researchable
Questions
An ‘angle’ for your research can come from
insights stemming from:

• personal experience
• theory
• observations
• contemporary issues
• engagement with the literature
 Narrowing and Clarifying
• Narrowing, clarifying, and even redefining
your questions is essential to the research
process.
• Forming the right ‘questions’ should be seen
as an iterative process that is informed by
reading and doing at all stages.
 Cycles of Research
Question Development
 Hypothesis
• Hypotheses are designed to express
relationships between variables. If this is the
nature of your question, a hypothesis can add
to your research
• If your question is more descriptive or
explorative, generating a hypothesis may not
be appropriate
 Hypothesis
A hypothesis may not be appropriate if:
• You do not have a hunch or educated guess about a particular
situation
• You do not have a set of defined variables.
• Your question centres on phenomenological description
• Your question centres on an ethnographic study of a cultural
group
• Your aim is to engage in, and research, the process of
collaborative change
 Good Question Checklist
Is the question right for me?

 Will the question hold my interest?

 Can I manage any potential
biases/subjectivities I may have?
 Good Question Checklist
 Is the question right for the field?

 Will the findings be considered significant?

 Will it make a contribution?
 Good Question Checklist
Is the question well articulated?

 Are the terms well-defined?

 Are there any unchecked assumptions?
 Good Question Checklist
Is the question doable?

 Can information be collected in an attempt to answer the question?

 Do I have the skills and expertise necessary to access this
information? If not, can the skills be developed?
 Will I be able to get it all done within my time constraints?
 Are costs likely to exceed my budget?
 Are there any potential ethics problems?
 Good Question Checklist
Does the question get the tick of
approval from those in the know?

 Does my supervisor think I am on the right

track?
 Do ‘experts’ in the field think my question
is relevant/ important/ doable?
 Project Concept Development
Consider the front-end process
(contains many interrelated activities)
Mission Statement/Spec

Development Plan
Identify Establish Generate Select Test Set Plan
customer target Product Product Product final Down-
needs specifica Concepts Concept Concept Specs. stream
tions (s) (s) Dev.

Perform Economic Analysis

Benchmark Competitive Products
Build and Test Models & Prototypes
 Project Concept Development
Economic analysis
ongoing activities in concept development phase
start before the project begins & updates regularly
Benchmarking of competitive products
understanding of competitive products is critical!
Competitive benchmarking is performed to support
many of the front-end activities.
Modeling and prototyping
every stages of PCD involves various models &
prototypes
early “proof-of-concept” models: to demonstrate
feasibility
“form-only” models: evaluation of ergonomics &
 Project Concept Development

Concept selection
 Product concepts screening: most promising concept (s)
 Requires several iterations, may initiate additional concept
Concept testing
 One or more concepts are tested - customer needs verification, asses
the market potential & identify any shortcoming problem
 Poor feedback: terminated or repeat earlier activities

Setting final specifications

 Commit to specific values & cost-performance trade-off
Project planning
 Details dev. schedule, strategy to minimize dev. time, identify
resources to complete the project.
 Major result: contract book
 Results and Discussion

PURPOSE AND CONTENT OF THE DISCUSSION

SECTION
• The discussion section is for comment on and
explanation of the results, it includes:
• Explanation of results: the writer comments on
whether or not the results were expected, and presents
explanations for the results, particularly for those that are
unexpected or unsatisfactory.
 Results and Discussion

• References to previous research: comparison of the

results with those reported in the literature, or use of the
literature to support a claim, hypothesis or deduction.

• Deduction: a claim for how the results can be applied

more generally (a conclusion based on reasoning from the
results, e.g. we fed fish a new feed, all the fish gained
weight, therefore the new feed causes fish to gain weight).
• Hypothesis: a more general claim or possible conclusion
arising from the results (which will be proved or disproved
in later research).
 Results and Discussion

COMMON PROBLEM
• The discussion does not discuss - simply
supplies more detail about the results obtained.
• Solution: remember that the discussion should
explain the results.
 Results and Discussion

ORGANIZATION
• There are two basic ways of organizing the
results and discussion:
– Presenting all the results, then giving a discussion
(perhaps in a different section)
– Presenting part of the results then giving a
discussion, presenting another part then giving a
discussion, etc.
 Results and Discussion

• The method of organization you use will depend

on the quantity and type of results you obtain
from your research.
• You should look for a method of presentation
that makes the information and ideas you are
presenting as clear as possible to the reader.
 “Analyse & Discuss”
 What DO the results actually means?
 Control variations, tolerance/allowance
 Consistency & accuracy
 Have I analyse them appropriately?
 Trend & pattern
 Analysis tool, parameters & controls
 What correlation is there between THEORY and
PRACTICE?
 Refer back to the main journal/literature
 Verification
 “Analyse & Discuss”

 What did I EXPECT?

 Accuracy
 Ingenuity of findings
 What DO other people THINK?
 Discuss with Supervisor (s)
 Seek the “experts” advise
 Do I need to do more works, repeat any test?
 Benchmarking
 Revisit the project’s scope & schedule
 Seek the appropriate advises
Research Proposal
Defense (RPD)

Preparing for RPD

 Content of RPD Report

 Affiliation: Name/Programme/Level of Study

 Title of research thesis (tentative)

 Abstract
• The Guidelines for RPD do not mention that
the report should have an abstract, however,
it seems sensible to have one

• Abstract:
– Make it impactful.
 Abstract
• Answer the following questions:

– What is the scope of the research that you intend

to carry out?
– What is the purpose of the research?
– What methods are you intending to use?
Problem on research to be conducted
• Literature review
• Objective
• Problem statement

 You need to state what the purpose of the project

is at the start.
 In other words, you need to spell out the aims and
objectives.
 Problem on research to be conducted
• Literature review
• Objective
• Problem statement

You need to prove why your project is

important.
 Methodology

• Project activities
• Key milestones
• Study plan

 Use a Gantt Chart to help you with the above.

 Give a detailed plan of the proposed research.
 Methodology
• Project activities
• Key milestones
• Study plan

 You can summarise this on 1 page.

 Common mistake: The study plan, by which I mean the
plan of what you intend to do, is vague.
 Methodology
• Project activities
• Key milestones
• Study plan

 You already have skills. What new skills will you

need to develop?
 Is the time to develop them shown in your plan?
 Preliminary Analysis
• Proof of concept
• Preliminary results
List of References
Use a Proof Reader
 Consider who will read your proposal
• Try to write so that you help the examiner
understand the proposal.
• The examiner might be an expert in your
topic. However, she/he might not.
• Convince the examiner that you have an
exciting idea.
• Convince the examiner that your idea is
feasible.
 Style of Language
• Use direct statements, i.e. do not leave the
reader wondering what you mean; do not
leave the reader to read between the lines.
• Researchers normally write in the passive
voice, not the active voice. This makes your
writing sound more formal and makes it sound
less like you are talking to a person.
 Active/Passive Voice
• The experiment was designed by the research
officer.
OR
• The research officer designed the experiment.

Which one is the passive voice?

 Active/Passive Voice
• It was agreed that the experiment should be…
OR
• We agreed that the experiment should be...
Which one is the passive voice?
 Active/Passive Voice
• Something/someone had broken the water
pipe in three places.
OR
• The water pipe was broken in three places.
Which one is the passive voice?
 Active/Passive Voice
• If it is too clumsy to write a certain sentence in
the passive voice then use the active voice.