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Literature Review in Research Methodology

This document discusses the importance of working with literature in the research process. It explains that new knowledge is built upon past knowledge and research topics are never developed in isolation. The document then categorizes different types of literature including subject-specific books, journal articles, grey literature, and official publications. It provides guidance on finding, managing, annotating, and referencing literature as well as using literature to focus ideas, develop research questions, inform methods, and construct the literature review. The goal of the literature review is to situate a research project within the broader academic discourse and debate.

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Mohammed Khaled Al-Thobhani
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9 views11 pages

Literature Review in Research Methodology

This document discusses the importance of working with literature in the research process. It explains that new knowledge is built upon past knowledge and research topics are never developed in isolation. The document then categorizes different types of literature including subject-specific books, journal articles, grey literature, and official publications. It provides guidance on finding, managing, annotating, and referencing literature as well as using literature to focus ideas, develop research questions, inform methods, and construct the literature review. The goal of the literature review is to situate a research project within the broader academic discourse and debate.

Uploaded by

Mohammed Khaled Al-Thobhani
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Research Methodology

1st Semester
2021-2022
Research Methodology

Unit IV
Working with Literature
The Importance of Working with Literature
• The production of new knowledge is fundamentally dependent on past or
previous knowledge.

• A research topic may be accomplished alone; however, it is never


accomplished in isolation of past and/or related researches.

Working with literature is an essential part of the research process as:


➢ it inspires, informs, educates and enlightens a researcher,
➢ it generates ideas, helps form significant questions,
➢ it is instrumental in the process of research,
➢ it is central to the process of writing up and finally,
➢ a well constructed literature review is an important criterion in
establishing researcher credibility.
Working with Literature…continued

Content included in the above figure are detailed as follows.


Working with Literature…continued

Literature types

Subject Specific Journal Articles Grey Literature Official Publications,


Books Statistics and Archives

* Targeted academic * Conference papers.


* Introductory texts. audience. * Unpublished research * Source of background
* Advanced text books. * Specific content. and contextual
theses.
* Address current issues * Newspapers articles. information.
relevant to various * Source of data
disciplines/fields * Shape a study’s
* Credibility. rationality.
* Specialization and
accessibility.
Working with Literature…continued
Using your resources

Resources

Libraries Supervisors Researchers

Honing your search skills


Most internet search engines including search engines specific to applicable
databases rely on key words to find needed information. Thus, it is highly
recommended to identify, your topic, subtopics, main variables, theory, methods,
key concepts…etc, in the form of key words. In such manner, you can search for
words by both single and combined key words searches.
Working with Literature…continued
Managing the literature

How to manage the literature

Efficient and Keeping track of Referencing Annotating References


Selective Reading

*Abstracts (journal articles) * Compiling annotated


* Keep and file copies of
* Executive summary (reports) bibliography:
relevant books, articles, etc.
* Table of contents (text books) * Author and audience
* Use software:
* Ranking: * Summary
* Procite
*** highly relevant * Critical comments
* Endnote
** somewhat relevant * Relevance
* Reference manager
* minimally relevant
Working with Literature…continued
Using the literature

As far as you have found the literature, you should have, accordingly,
perused it, culled it, referenced it and annotated it. The next task is to use it.

As highlighted earlier in this unit, the literature informs the research process
by helping the researcher to:
• focus his/her ideas,
• develop research questions (aims and objectives),
• argue the scientific relevance to his/her work,
• inform his/her thinking/approach with theory,
• design appropriate/suitable methods and
• construct and write the formal literature review.

The following figure include guidelines to use the literature.


Working with Literature…continued
Using the literature
Working with Literature…continued

Writing a literature review

Writing a formal literature review is very critical to any research project. It is a work
that relies on scientific and academic discourse and debate to construct arguments
about your research project.

The following table highlights reasons and purposes of reviewing and writing the
literature review.
Research Methodology
2021-2022
Assignment No. 3
Due date: 6.11.2021

Provide a summary for five studies/researches that are related to


your research project.

The required summary should include, for each study, the following:

a) Autoher,
b) Title,
c) Year published,
d) Type of study/research
e) Purpose,
f) Methods of investigation and analysis,
g) Conclusion and
h) Recommendations
i) relevance to your topic/ research

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