06/10/20151 Business Research Methods Lecture 3

06/10/20152 Accessing and reviewing literature as part of research Lecture Outline: Why is it so important in research? What is a literature review? Identifying research questions/ objectives How to put a lit. review together – Writing critically, building argument Reading Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2007) Research Methods for Business students Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2003) Business Research Methods Hart, C. (1998) Doing a Literature Review

06/10/20153 Why do you need a literature review ? (part 1) You need to know what has been done before (by other writers and researchers) Linked to what you are researching and why Position the study Using relevant theoretical concepts Apply theory to practice Demonstrate knowledge in subject(s) Demonstrate (library)research skills Why (part 2) Learn from others mistakes May help with your (practical) research How can you add to what’s already there Or what’s missing It is expected

06/10/20154 What is a literature review? A critical discussion of existing knowledge – drawn from: Books Articles Journals Research publications Chance to demonstrate your understanding! You need to demonstrate that you know what others have said You need to go beyond description Make an argument for your research ’reviewing’ the literature The first attempt at looking to see what is ‘out there’ and - The literature review A more detailed (thoughtful) and crafted - review

06/10/20155 What is a literature review? It is not! A descriptive account A list A summary A book review / or library report OR Thinly disguised paraphrasing Information ‘re’moval And!

06/10/20156 You need to read! …. Start early and continue throughout the whole of the work ….

06/10/20157 Research Questions There is little point in carrying out a research project – if there is no aim / no problem / no issue to research RQ’s are ‘Those that originate, shape and are to some extent answered by the study’ Clough and Nutbrown (2002:32) Framing a research problem – the questions Using what is already there and building on it Finding out new ideas ! Not The questions you ask respondents

06/10/20158 Reading Research questions develop out of your reading…. ….. Some reading has more ‘value’ than others! Oldest appears in text –books Cutting edge – in conference papers and then Journals Internet and popular sources – be selective You are looking to make an argument for your research – to do this look at what others have said on the same subject. What is the writer trying to say? What evidence does the writer have to substantiate the claim? Do you accept this? Does it ‘fit’ with what you know? Why? who says? So what?

06/10/20159 Strategies for literature searching Trawling vs. Fishing (Easterby-Smith et al 1991).. Exploratory RQ’S = trawl Finding directly = fish

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06/10/ How to put a lit. review together -Writing critically, building an argument Organising and expressing ideas….. Analysis the job of systematically breaking down something into its constituent parts and describing how they relate to each other. –needs to by systematic –the data for analysis is information - the interpretations understandings and arguments that others have proposed need to extract key ideas, theories, concepts and methodological assumptions from the literature synthesis comprehension knowledge analysis

06/10/ How to put a lit. review together -Writing critically, building argument Synthesis - the act of making connections between the parts identified in the analysis –not simply a matter of reassembling the parts into the original order but looking for a new order new or different connections and patterns –need to have a comprehensive knowledge of subject and think in broad terms Comprehension -need to be able to describe discuss and explain the substance of an idea Knowledge - the foundation for analysis is thinking in various ways about what you are reading –to enable you to dig beneath the surface of an argument and to be able to see the origins of research –to understand the typology of origins and assumptions

06/10/ The critical literature review - structure No single structure but!.. Start at a more general level Before narrowing down to RQ’s Provide a brief overview of ideas Summarise, compare and contrast Naroww down to highlight most relevant Provide a detailed account of the findings of this!

06/10/ The critical literature review - structure Demonstrate competence by referring to prominent writings in the field These are linked to authority Eg Red Hot Chilli Peppers on Global Warming BP on own oil reserves Develop your version of literature to lead up to your research problem Don’t Put everything you have read into the review Stop doing it Do Review several times And!

06/10/ Thinking time is important

06/10/ An alternative way of thinking about the literature Physical analogies Visual analogies Personifications