Literature review guidelines

1. Literature Review
&
Theoretical Framework
By:
Chetan Acharya

2. A literature review or narrative review is a type
of review article. A literature review is a scholarly
paper, which includes the current knowledge
including substantive findings, as well as
theoretical and methodological contributions to a
particular topic. Literature reviews are secondary
sources, and do not report new or original
experimental work. Most often associated with
academic-oriented literature, such reviews are
found in academic journals, and are not to be
confused with book reviews that may also appear
in the same publication.
Literature Review

3.  A literature review is a search and evaluation of the available
literature in your given subject or chosen topic area.
 It helps to know past studies in the related field as their findings,
conclusions and lacking and then provides a basic idea to the
researcher for further research to be conducted.
 A literature survey is an evaluative report of information found in
the literature related to selected area of investigation.
 It is a bridge or link between past and present research. Therefore,
the purpose of literature survey is to open a new window for
present research in seeing flaws and lacking in previous research.
 It acquires background knowledge that prepares you for climbing
several steps in research work.

4.  Thematic review
 Theoretical review ( Only for Thesis
 Empirical review (Latest review in the related
field)
 Policy review (Implication / research related
policy at National and international context
Types of Literature Review

5. Purpose of Literature Review
The purpose of a literature review is to gain an
understanding of the existing research and debates
relevant to a particular topic or area of study, and to
present that knowledge in the form of a written report.
Conducting a literature review helps you build your
knowledge in your field. You’ll learn about important
concepts, research methods, and experimental
techniques that are used in your field. You’ll also gain
insight into how researchers apply the concepts you’re
learning in your unit to real world problems
It helps to determine what is known on the topic, how
well this knowledge is established and where future
research might best be directed”

6. A literature review has following main purposes:
 It surveys the literature in your chosen area of study
 It synthesizes the information in that literature into a summary
 It critically analyses the information gathered by identifying gaps in current
knowledge; by showing limitations of theories and points of view; and by
formulating areas for further research and reviewing areas of controversy
 It presents the literature in an organized way
 It establishes a point of departure for the future research;
 It avoids needless duplication of costly research efforts;
 It reveals areas of needed research
 Demonstrates a familiarity with a body of knowledge and establishes the
credibility of your work;
 Summarizes prior research and says how your project is linked to it;
 Integrates and summarizes what is known about a subject;
 Demonstrates that you have learnt from others and that your research is a
starting point for new ideas.

7. Searching, Obtaining and Evaluating
 Highlight the subject and the scope of the review.
 Perform an extensive search to locate sources that are
pertinent to your topic.
 Understand the sources’ content in a meticulous manner.
 Relate the pertinence of the content with the specific topic.
Evaluate, interpret, and talk about the findings and the
conclusions of the sources you chose.
Steps of Literature Review

8.  Identify keywords and use them to search articles from library
and internet resources as described above
Search several databases to search articles related to your topic
Use thesaurus to identify terms to locate your articles
Find an article that is similar to your topic; then look at the terms
used to describe it, and use them for your search
Use databases that provide full-text articles (free through
academic libraries, Internet or for a fee) as much as possible so
that you can save time searching for your articles
If you are examining a topic for the first time and unaware of the
research on it, start with broad syntheses of the literature, such
as overviews, summaries of the literature on your topic or review
articles
Guidelines for Searching Literature

9. Start with the most recent issues of the journals, and look
for studies about your topic and then work backward in
time. Follow-up on references at the end of the articles for
more sources to examine
Refer books on a single topic by a single author or group of
authors or books that contain chapters written by different
authors
Next look for recent conference papers. Often, conference
papers report the latest research developments. Contact
authors of pertinent studies. Write or phone them, asking if
they know of studies related to your area of interest
The easy access and ability to capture entire articles from
the web make it attractive. However, check these articles
carefully for authenticity and quality and be cautious about
whether they represent systematic research.

10. Literature Searching through Internet
 Literature search is a key step in performing good authentic
research. It helps in formulating a research question and
planning the study. The available published data are
enormous; therefore, choosing the appropriate articles
relevant to your study in question is an art. It can be time-
consuming, tiring and can lead to disinterest or even
abandonment of search in between if not carried out in a step-
wise manner. Various databases are available for performing
literature search.
 Internet is a worldwide network of computers that can provide
access to a large range of literatures and other sources stored
on computers around the world. The most widely used part of
Internet is World Wide Web (www). It gained its popularity with
in a very short period of time because hypertext links whereby
pointing and clicking on the screen takes the researcher to a
new document and to color graphics.

11. Literature search through Internet provides instant
access to the literature and data banks of computer
system. Therefore, www has become the largest source
of information in the present world of science and
technology. Most of the researchers obtain required
literature and other information from internet. It is a
large store or source of information, therefore, the
researcher should go through the appropriate links and
select the appropriate matters. However, the researcher
must be aware of that, all the matters found on web may
not be reliable. Therefore, a careful caution is
necessary before selecting the matters. The researcher
must be able to identify the reliable matters by careful
looking at author, publisher, etc.

12. The researcher can access with internet by
connecting the internet service through a service
provider using their personal computer or any
other data displaying devices. It is a technical
process. After a successful connection with
internet on PC or Tab or Mobile, now, the
researcher can use internet URL home page or
search tools to find the appropriate and desired
literature and other information on internet.

14. Format of Presenting Literature Review
Three Easy Steps
Step 1. Strip the summary (With source citation of information)
 Construct a paragraph containing the information
 Use in-text citation as author’s last name and year of
publication (APA Style)
 Save the list the references at the last page
Step 2. Reorder the paragraphs
 Re-read paragraph summaries
 Find the similarities and differences
 Reorder the paragraph into logical list based on the connection you find (There
is no single correct way to re-arrange the paragraph)
 The better way of arrangement :-
Cause and effect  Problem and solution  Series of advances
Step 3. Combine paragraphs (If necessary)

16. LITERATURE REVIEW MATRIX
Review of literature is not an easy task especially
when properly done. Literature review involves
synthesis of ideas from different authors and experts
since one author cannot give you all the answers.
A literature review matrix (LRM) is a table that helps
you keep track of authors, information and ideas. It is
a form of graphic organizer that helps a researcher
organize ideas, compare information from different
authors/sources, limit information to research
questions, discover new information and improve note
taking.

17. Literature Review...
1- Discuss everything along with references (try for
the latest) related to your Dependent variable(s).
2- Discuss everything along with references (try for
the latest) related to your each of the Independent
variable.
3- Discuss everything along with references (try for
the latest) related to your Moderating and Mediating
variable(s).

18. 4- Discuss everything along with references (try
for the latest) related to the relationship of your
Dependent variable(s) and each of the Independent
variable.
5- Discuss everything along with references (try
for the latest) related to the impact of your
moderating and mediating variables on the
relationship of your Dependent variable(s) and each
of the Independent variable.
6- Based on all of the above discussion and your
literature matrix discuss your Literature Gap....

19. Format of Presenting Literature Review

21. Format of Presenting Literature Review
Perception and Attitude of People Towards Online Shopping
Sites in Kathmandu Valley
1.1: Review of major literature
Study Findings
Alreck and Settle
(2002)
Male consumers make more online purchases and spend more
money online than females; they are equally or more likely to
shop online in the future, and are equally or more favorable of
online shopping. Women have a higher-level of web
apprehensiveness and are more skeptical of e-business than
men.
Bellman et al.
(1999)
There are mixed findings on the relationship between age and
online shopping intention.
Bagchi and
Mahmood (2004)
Education level produces mixed effects ranging from no effect
to a positive effect on online shopping.
Chau et al. (2002) Consumers from an individualistic culture are more likely to
use the Internet for e-commerce than those from a collectivistic
culture. A more masculine society has more predominant male
shoppers and is more involved in online shopping.
Bhatnagar et al.
(2000)
There are mixed results for the effects of Internet usage on
online shopping intention. Internet usage is negatively related
to perceived product risk.
Childers et al.
(2001)
Motivational factors play a key role in determining time spent
on product searching and online shopping.

23. Alreck and Settle (2002) argued that traditionally, shopping is an activity
more favored by women. It is women who are usually in charge of
household shopping and hold more positive attitudes towards the
traditional store and catalogue shopping than their male counterparts.
However, the new shopping channel provided by the Internet seems to
result in a different, if not opposite, gender pattern.
Bellman et al. (1999) found that from the inauguration of Internet till late
1990s, Internet users were primarily middle-aged and younger and
unfortunately had less purchasing power than those who were older. As a
result, early research showed either no significant age difference among
online shoppers.
Bagchi and Mahmood (2004). Revealed that it is not surprising that online
shoppers tend to earn more money than traditional store shoppers,
considering that the most popular items purchased online, including
books, CDs, holiday and leisure travel, PC hardware, and software, are all
“normal goods”—those for which demand increases as income increases
while others did not .
Discussion and Conclusion

24. Hofstede (1984) explained that collectivism-individualism refers to the extent to
which members of a culture tend to have an interdependent versus independent
construal of the self .
According to Chau et al (2000), western and eastern cultures differ dramatically in
this dimension, which leads to different online shopping behavior .In an
individualistic culture (e.g., U.S. and Australia), the ties between individuals are
loose. People tend to use the Internet mainly for personal purposes such as e-
commerce and information searching.
According to Zhou et al. (2004), consumer acceptance of online shopping may
vary when shopping for different products .For example, consumers perceived
different risks with different products Bhatnagar et al. (2000). As discussed
earlier, consumer shopping orientation and the effect of consumer innovativeness
may vary with specific products. The effect of online experience on online
shopping intention is also contingent upon product types.
Childers et al. (2001) found that in traditional retail stores, consumers shop
differently, depending on whether their motivations for shopping are hedonic or
utilitarian .Utilitarian consumers (also called goal-oriented shoppers) are
concerned with purchasing products in an efficient and timely manner to achieve
their goals with minimum irritation; while hedonic consumers (also called
experiential shoppers) are equivalent to brick-and-mortar window shoppers for
whom the shopping experience is for entertainment and enjoyment.

31. Theoretical Framework
 The theoretical framework is the structure that can hold or support
a theory of a research study. The theoretical framework introduces and
describes the theory that explains why the research problem under
study exists.
 A theoretical framework is a collection of interrelated concepts, like a
theory but not necessarily so well worked-out. A theoretical framework
guides your research, determining what things you will measure, and
what statistical relationships you will look for.
 Theoretical frameworks provide a particular perspective, or lens,
through which to examine a topic. There are many different lenses,
such as psychological theories, social theories, organizational theories
and economic theories, which may be used to define concepts and
explain phenomena. Often times, these frameworks may come from an
area outside of your immediate academic discipline.

32. Every research work needs to have a theoretical
foundation or a conceptual framework (or both) that is
discussed in the literature review section. The theoretical
foundation is important because it will be the lens
through which you evaluate your research problem and
research questions. The theoretical framework section is
typically required for quantitative studies, while a
conceptual framework is used in qualitative studies.
Once you have identified the theory or theories that you
will be utilizing, it is important to know what information
to include and how to include it in your discussion.

33. Format of Theoretical Framework

36. Research and Theory
Deductive Reasoning
 It is often known as ‘a priori’ or ‘abstract’ or ‘analytical’ approach of
generalization.
 In this approach, the researcher starts with few indisputable believes
about the general theory and draws generalization about the particular
case. Therefore, it is theory testing approach.
 Deductive reasoning, also deductive logic, logical deduction is the
process of reasoning from one or more statements to reach a logically
certain conclusion. Deductive reasoning is a logical process in which a
conclusion is based on the concordance of multiple premises that are
generally assumed to be true.
 Deductive reasoning is sometimes referred to as top-down logic.
 Therefore, this approach is also called ‘a theory testing approach’ or
‘top down approach’ or ‘the hypothesis deductive method’ or
‘falsicationism’.

37. Top to bottom approach

38. Examples of Deducting Reasoning
All animal are mortal  Major Premises (Indisputable general fact)
Cow is a animal  Minor Premises (Particular Fact)
Therefore, cow is mortal  Conclusion
However, sometimes deducting reasoning misleads
Example:
People living in Kathmandu are literate  Major Premises
(Indisputable general fact)
Rohit lives in Kathmandu  Minor Premises (Particular Fact)
Therefore, Rohit is Literate  Conclusion
But, due to just being a resident of Kathmandu; Rohit may
not be literate.

39. Steps of Deducting Reasoning
Sensing/ Realizing
the issue
Assumptions
Hypothesis
Formulation
Hypothesis
Testing
Conformation
Higher the price lower
the demand
Indisputable
fact/knowledge/theory
Only price is
considered
Assumptions
H0: 1   2
H1: 1 =  2
Hypothesis
Formulation
Data
collection/Analysis
Hypothesis Testing
Theory conformation
Therefore, it is theory building

40. Inductive Reasoning
 It is often known as ‘a posteriori’ or ‘empirical’ or ‘individual to
universal’ approach of deriving generalizations or theories.
 This approach is based on observations and experiments or tests..
 According to this approach, first the relevant facts are collected and
their basic conclusions are drawn.
 It means the researcher go up from particular idea to general theory.
 The theorist go through a specific observation and experiment on a
particular concept and tries to identify and understand the problem in
depth, gather necessary data, processes them, analyzes them and
finally draw a valid conclusion.
 Inductive reasoning is a method of reasoning in which the premises
are viewed as supplying some evidence for the truth of the conclusion.
 Therefore, this approach is also called ‘a theory building approach’ or
‘bottom up approach’.

41. Examples of Inducting Reasoning
A
Society
A is Phd holder
C is Master degree holder
B is Master degree holder
D is Bachelor degree holder
Z is Master degree holder
………………
……………….
Ground
Observation
Educated and
Noble Society
Conclusion
and Theory
Therefore, it is knowledge/theory building process.

42. Particular
Situation Hypothesis
Testing
General
Idea Theory
Inductive Approach: Hill Climbing Model
Observation
Identify
Problems
Bottom up approach

44. Conceptual Questions
1. What is literature?
2. Define literature survey.
3. List any four sources of literatures.
 6. What is APA format?
 7. What is meta analysis?
8. What is hypothetical theoretical framework?
9. What is theory?

45. Descriptive Questions
1. Explain process of literature searching through
internet.
2. What is literature review? Why is it important in
research process?
3. Explain various types of literatures.
5. Describe the theoretical framework with example.
6. Describe the relationship between literature review
and research

46. 7. Describe the importance of literature review in
management research. And also, explain the
sources of the literature
8. Explain the format of writing literature review.
9. Differentiate between inductive and deductive
reasoning.