CHAPTER FIVE

LITERATURE REVIEW

5.0 Introduction
Unless a study is based on extensive review of related literature, it may end up being a
mere duplication of other studies. Before planning the details of study, researchers usually dig
into the literature to find out what has been written about the issue at hand and even the opinion
of experts and other stakeholders in the field of interest. This chapter will describe the meaning,
purpose and methods of literature review. It will also describe the variety of tools for reviewing
of literature, and how to use those tools for effective literature review in research.

General Unit Objective

This chapter provides an overview of the methods and techniques for effective literature
review.
Specific Unit Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Explain the meaning and purpose of literature review in research process.
2. Identify the sources of information for literature review in research.
3. Describe the major elements and tools for literature review in research.

5.1 What is Literature Review?

A literature review is the systematic identification, location, retrieval, analysis and
evaluation of materials containing information that are related to the research problem. It also
entails analyses of casual observations and opinions related to the planned research. A researcher
should develop a thorough understanding of, and insight into, previous works and trends that
have been recorded pertaining to the research problem before embarking on a new study.

5.2 Why Review Literature?

A literature review provides a researcher with the means of getting into the frontiers of a
particular field of knowledge. Until one has learnt what has been done and what remains to be
done, it is not possible to develop a study that will advance knowledge in that particular field. It
is a literature review that forms the basis upon which significant research should be built.

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Without an effective literature review, the rest of the research work is likely to be shallow and
naïve.

5.3 Characteristics of a Good Literature Review

A good literature review:
i. Delimits, defines and refines the research problem by isolating key issues pertinent to
a study and providing the knowledge needed to convert a tentative problem into a
detailed and concise plan of action. It also provides the dimensions and the limits of
the problem area and the extent to which the answer is already known.
ii. Provides insight into methods, measures, subjects and techniques already used,
or proven useful or otherwise by other researchers, and thus leads to improvement of
design selection.
iii. Prevents unintended duplication of previous studies by identifying what has already
been done, and what needs to be done. What has that done provide the researcher
with reliable information on what should be done. Without an effective literature
review, research will most certainly duplicate work that has already been done. By
developing a logical framework in which to fit a problem, a literature review
therefore forms the foundation upon which all future work must be built.
iv. Provides a framework for establishing the importance of a study and a benchmark for
comparing the results of a study with other studies.

5.4 Sources of Information for Literature Review

Researchers need to be familiar with basic types of information sources as they begin to
search for information materials related to the research questions. There are three main sources
of information for a literature review: the preliminary, the primary and the secondary sources.

5.4.1 Preliminary Sources

Preliminary (or general) sources refer to materials which a researcher consults first to
help him or her locate other sources related to the research problem. The preliminary sources are
in themselves not information that the researcher is seeking for a literature review, but are just
pointers to that information; they direct a researcher where to get information. A table of

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contents is an example of a preliminary source. One just cannot read the table of contents of a
book and claim to have read the book. A table of content is consulted to just identify where a
particular content intended for detailed reading is located.

5.4.2 Primary Sources

A primary source is a material of direct description of an occurrence by an individual
who actually experienced the occurrence and where an author communicates his or her findings
directly to readers. In research, this generally means description of a study by persons who
actually carried it out. Primary sources include journals, reports, dissertations and theses, and
conference papers. The common primary sources are Journals of Research. This journal is
usually published monthly or quarterly and the articles in them typically report on particular
research area. Primary sources are preferred because they provide detailed accounts of events in
specialized fields. But they have narrow scopes because they provide a lot of details in small
specific areas.

5.2.3 Secondary Sources

Secondary sources are materials where authors discuss or describe the works of other
authors. They are works presented by people who were not direct observers or participants in the
events being described, but who are merely reporting on the work of someone else. The most
popular secondary sources are textbooks and Encyclopedia.

5.5 The Literature Review Process

A literature review must be relevant. To be relevant, it should address the variables raised
in the purpose, objectives and research questions of a study. Hence it must take into account the
purpose and objectives of the study before embarking on a study. A purpose states the overall
intention of a study; the objectives specify the intended outcomes or the steps to be followed;
while research questions provide the direction which the research will take in achieving each
specific objective and state the issues at hand. All these form the core elements of a research and
the focus of a good literature review. Without such a focus, a literature review would be judged
irrelevant.

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 A proper literature review should proceed in two phases. The first phase is conducted
during exploration and before a proposal is developed to help identify and define the problem. It
provides the dimensions and the limits of the problem area by defining the extent to which the
answer is already known. It also identifies possible procedures from solving the problem. The
second phase is conducted after a problem is already identified.
A literature search can be manual- using traditional paper approach or it can be
electronically conducted, by means of a computer. The most popular search approach these days
is the electronic method.

5.5.1 Manual Search

For an effective review of literature, it is important for a researcher to determine and
prioritize the literature to be reviewed, because it is not possible to read everything or anything.
There are certain generally accepted steps to be followed in an effective manual literature search.

5.5.2 Computer Search

A computer literature search can be performed in almost all university and public
libraries and even on personal computers where an online terminal is linked to one or more
information retrieval systems such as information retrieval services that retrieve information
from a number of data bases, e.g. Comprehensive Dissertation Index.
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5.6 Reporting Literature
In reporting literature, a researcher should bear in mind that he or she is using someone
else’s ideas to investigate a problem of interest. Since the circumstances of the researcher and of
the report he or she is reviewing may be different, as is usually the case, it is important to report
in enough detail. Therefore, the reporting should be:
i. Objective and should not contain exaggerated information. The content of the review
must be what the researcher reviews, not his own experiences, or opinions. If the
researcher expresses his or her opinions as should happen, those opinions must
originate from the review.
ii. Clear, and should report findings as findings, conclusion as conclusion, and
recommendations as recommendations.

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 iii. Specific and report findings, conclusion, and recommendations that are applicable to
the current study.
iv. Relevant and the researcher should make clear how the study being reviewed relates
directly to the problem being investigated.

5.6.1 The Introduction

The introduction is a sort of a narrative hook that provides an overview of the
problem at hand and draws the reader into the study by highlighting the issues to be
considered in the review and why it is important to investigate them. There are
several approaches to writing an introduction of every chapter, but the common
techniques include the advanced organizer approach, the narrative hook technique,
the broad question approach, and review of the previous chapter.

5.6.2 The Body of a Literature Review

The body of a review reports what others have found or think about the independent and
the dependent variables of the study. Literature on the independent variable should be presented
along research objectives. Thus, if a study has five objectives, then there should be five sub-
sections, each focusing on an objective.

5.6.3 Summary
In the summary, the researcher ties together the main issues revealed in the literature and
present a composite picture of what is known or thought about the issue under investigation to
date. A summary is a recapitulation of the main issues of the review, indicating tentative answers
to the problem, and a basis for the hypotheses.

5.6.4 Conclusion
In the conclusion, the researcher presents appropriate courses of action to be taken to try
to solve the problem, based on the knowledge revealed from the review. A conclusion provides
tentative answers to the research questions following the discoveries from the review.

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5.7 Tools for Literature Review
For quick note-taking and easy organization and summary, it is advisable to use
bibliography cards which are available commercially. A researcher should prepare a
bibliography card for each information material consulted. The card should contain:
i. The problem, which should be listed verbatim as the author puts it.
ii. Hypotheses, objectives, questions which should be listed exactly as they appear in the
reviewed material.
iii. Procedures; describing the methodology that was used (e.g. case study, survey, etc),
including the number of participants and how they were selected, the kind of instruments
used and any unusual technique employed.
iv. The major findings of the study, indicating whether the objectives were achieved and the
questions answered. If the findings are summarized in a table, it is advisable to photocopy
the table and attach it to the card.
v. Conclusions; including any agreement or disagreement that the researcher may have with
the author regarding any of the issues considered above and, reasons for the agreement or
disagreement.

Study Questions
1. Describe the basic steps to be followed when doing a literature review.
2. Why is it important to do a literature review before embarking on the main study? What
dangers will a study likely face if an effective literature review is not done?
3. Describe the main three sources of information for literature review, and explain the
order in which they should be used in research.