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Introduction
The review of literature is usually the Chapter 2 of the research report, thesis of dissertation. It is an account of the research done in the field of study. It is usual that the review consists of empirical studies done in the area that is being investigated. It also should include theoretical positions or prosposal related to the study which are not necessarily empirical in nature.
The aim of the literature review is to show what has been done in the field and how your study relates to earlier research. It also indicate the approaches, the samples used, the variables examined, the statistical procedures used and most important of all, the findings obtained. The review gives an overview of the findings of various previous studies and to identify general patterns of the findings and the conclusions that can be made. It also provides an insight into how your study is similar or different from previous studies. Is your study an extension of what others have done? Are you examining variables that have not been attended to in earlier studies? Are you attempting to replicate earlier studies in a different cultural context? Are you applying statistical procedures that have not been done by others?
Common Weaknesses in Writing the Review of Literature
The following are some common errors made in the review of literature:
1) The presentation is a mere description of each study without making an effort to show how the various studies are related to the main aim of your study and the research questions of your study.
2) The presentation is a mere listing of the studies without an attempt to show how each study is similar or different. Use connectives such as: however, on the other hand, similarly, but and so forth.
3) Poor citations, i.e. not following APA conventions.
4) At times there is evidence to indicate that students have not read the original works but instead taken someone's work. This is a very serious violation of academic ethics.
5) There is also evidence of 'cut and paste' which SHOULD NOT be encouraged. You must have read the original works and know in detail every study that you cite.
6) Each of the articles or reports that are included should be critically evaluated by examining the research questions, the methodology used, the statistics used, the conclusion arrived at and recommendations made by the researcher.
1) The review of literature is an important part of the research process because it forms the basis of any research. Most importantly it gives an understanding of previous work that has been done.
Until you know what others have done in your area and what
has not been done, you cannot convincingly carry out research
that will contribute to furthering knowledge in your field. Thus,
the literature in any field forms the foundation upon which all
future work must be built. If you fail to build this foundation of
knowledge provided by the review of literature, you work is likely
to be shallow and naive, and will often duplicate that has already
been done better by someone else.
(W. Borg & M. Borg (1983). Educational Research: An Introduction.
Longman: New York. p.142)
2) The review of literature helps the student in delimiting the research problem by setting the parameters. By setting the limits of your study, you avoid being questioned "why didn't you do this or do do that?". You can confidently reply that your study is confined to studying what you had set out to study. Delimiting the research problem can be achieved if you read extensively and intensively the problem you plan to investigate and from the literature specify clearly what is it you want to study.
3) The literature also provides insight into the approaches and methodologies adopted by different researchers. A common mistake imade by students is to pay attention to only the findings of studies. Besides findings, students should also examine the methodologies used to study the phenomenon you are interested in. There could be unique approaches adopted which you might want to replicate in the Malaysian context. For example, in most studies reviewed the sample used tended to be university students and your study is an attempt to use secondary school students which could be a unique contribution to the field because you are different.
4) Some of the research studies include a section on Recommendations for further research which indicates whether you are on the right track in studying something that has not been explored before. These suggestions are significant because they express the insight of the researcher after having studied the phenomenon.
How do I search for research articles, research reports, etc.?
The following are some sources you can start with:
a) Education Index - provides a list of articles publsihed in education journals, books about education and publications in related fields.
b) Psychological Abstracts - contains abstracts of articles appearing in over 900 journals and other sources in psychology and related issues.
c) Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) - transmits the findings of current educational research to teachers, administrators, researchers and the public.
Resources in Education (RIE) - provides abstracts of papers presented at education conferences, progress reports and final reports of projects which may not appear in education journals
Current Index to Journals in Education (CIE) - indexes over 800 education journals and includes more than 1000 articles each month
d) Specialised Areas
Child Development Abstracts and Bibliography
Exceptional Child Education Resources (ECER)
Education Administration Abstracts
Physical Education Index
e) Review of Educational Research - journal published by the American Educational Research Association (AERA) covering critical issues and reviews of research literature on important topics and issues
f) Review of Research in Education - presents critical essays that survey and synthesize educational research in important problem areas
How Do I Critically Evaluate Research Articles?
Procedure:
Step 1: Read the Abstract
what is the research about
what design was used
reasons for the research
Step 2: Read the Introduction
remember the writer assumes the reader is an expert in the field
references made may be brief because it is assumed you know the people in the field (eg. if you are reading about intelligence then names like Sternberg, Gardner, Thurstone, etc. should be known to you)
writer assumes you know the concepts in the field (eg, burnout, metacognition, inductive reasoning, organisational climate, etc)
the rationale given for the study and why the research questions or hypotheses were put forward
Critique:
- Is the reason for answering the research question or
testing the hypotheses convincing or just using emotional
appeals or endoresement from well-know authorities in
the field?
- Do the research questions or hypotheses follow logically
from theory or intuition?
- Is there a tendency to oversimplify theories or studies
reviewed?
Step 3: Read the Methods section
the writers should tell about the subjects used, the number of subjects and the method used to collect data
the design of the study
the instruments are pilot-tested and indications of reliability and validity
Critique:
- How the subjects were selected is clear?
- How the instrument or treatment was administered is
adequately explained?
- Issued of validity and reliability are discussed
- Is the design of the study appropriate? How was it designed
to reduce different types of biases?
- What is the indepenent variable and dependent variable?
- Were the appropriate statistical procedures used?
- Were the variables operationally defined?
- If the study is an experiment, was the treatment explained
in sufficient detail? Could it have been done in another way?
Step 4: Read the Results or Analysis section
connection between the results and the research questions or hypotheses
report results relating to the research questions or hypotheses (whether results are statisticallt significant)
report other statisticallt significant results
Critique:
- Were the results clearly reported? (eg. tables, graphs)
- Do the statistics directly test the predictions made in the
'Introduction'?
Step 5: Read the Discussion section
jot down the main findings
relate findings to what was mentioned in the "Introduction"
speculate about the reasons for the results
Critique:
- Is the author's way the only way to interpret the predicted
results?
- Can you explain any of the findings the author's did not explain or
were unable to explain?
- What are the weaknesses or limitations identified by the author or
The review of literature is usually the Chapter 2 of the research report, thesis of dissertation. It is an account of the research done in the field of study. It is usual that the review consists of empirical studies done in the area that is being investigated. It also should include theoretical positions or prosposal related to the study which are not necessarily empirical in nature.
