Hetauda School Of Management

1. Unit 2
Preliminary Stages Of Research
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2. Main Contents….
Literature Review
Source of the literature, Phases in the review
Format of review presentation
Problem Definition
Theoretical Framework – theory
Propositions, Concepts, Constructs and Variables
Deductive and Inductive Reasoning
Research Questions
Hypothesis Formulation, Types and formats of
Hypothesis
Features and Criteria of good hypothesis
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3. Literature Review ……
The process of reading, analyzing, evaluating, and
summarizing scholarly materials about a specific topic.
A literature review is an evaluative report of
information found in the literature related to your
selected area of study. The review should describe,
summarize, evaluate and clarify this literature. It
should give a theoretical base for the research and help
you (the author) determine the nature of your
research. Works which are irrelevant should be
discarded and those which are peripheral should be
looked at critically.
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4. A literature review is an assessment of a body of research that addresses a
research question.
A Literature Review is "a systematic, explicit, and reproducible method
for identifying, evaluating, and synthesizing the existing body of
completed and recorded work produced by researchers, scholars, and
practitioners."
 Purpose:
A literature review:
 Identifies what is already known about an area of study
It may also:
 Identify questions a body of research does not answer
 Make a case for why further study of research questions is important to a field
Process:
It is a research journey with several steps:
 Framing a research question
 Searching relevant bodies of literature
 Managing search results
 Synthesizing the research literature
 Writing an assessment of the literature
The process is iterative—as you gain understanding, you’ll return to earlier
steps to rethink, refine, and rework your literature review.
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5. Some Definitions…
F. Cardesco and E. M. Gatner(1986): “ A literature
review is a self- contained unit in a study which analyzes
critically a segment of a published body of knowledge
through summary, classification and comparison of
prior research studies and theoretical articles.”
M. J. Polonsky and D. S. Waller (2005): “ A literature
review is a classification and evaluation of what
accredited scholars and researchers have written on a
topic.”
Nicholas Walliman (2006): “ A literature review is a
summary and analysis of current knowledge about a
particular topic or area of enquiry.”
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6. Some References….
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8. Four Phases of Review of Literature
Working
with
Literature
Locating
Obtaining
Reading
Evaluating
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9. Contd.
Locating: Encyclopedias, Card or computer
catalogues, Journal Indexes, International
Bibliography
Obtaining: Libraries, Online Sources, CD-ROM
Sources, Other sources
Reading: Efficient and selective reading, Keeping
track of reference, Annotating your References,
Developing a structure
Evaluating: Content Analysis, Criteria of Review,
Critical review, Style and tone, Meta Analysis
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10. Meta Analysis
 A meta-analysis refers to methods that focus on contrasting and combining results from
different studies, in the hope of identifying patterns among study results, sources of
disagreement among those results, or other interesting relationships that may come to light in
the context of multiple studies. In its simplest form, meta-analysis is normally done by
identification of a common measure of effect size. A weighted average of that common
measure is the output of a meta-analysis. The weighting is related to sample sizes within the
individual studies. More generally there are other differences between the studies that need to
be allowed for, but the general aim of a meta-analysis is to more powerfully estimate the true
effect size as opposed to a less precise effect size derived in a single study under a given single
set of assumptions and conditions. A meta-analysis therefore gives a thorough summary of
several studies that have been done on the same topic, and provides the reader with extensive
information on whether an effect exists and what size that effect has.
 Meta analysis can be thought of as "conducting research about research."
 Meta-analyses are often, but not always, important components of a systematic review
procedure. For instance, a meta-analysis may be conducted on several clinical trials of a
medical treatment, in an effort to obtain a better understanding of how well the treatment
works. Use of "meta-analysis" refer to statistical methods of combining evidence, leaving
other aspects of 'research synthesis' or 'evidence synthesis', such as combining information
from qualitative studies, for the more general context of systematic reviews.
 Meta-analysis forms part of a framework called estimation statistics which relies on effect
sizes, confidence intervals and precision planning to guide data analysis, and is an alternative
to null hypothesis significance testing.
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11. Some Definitions of Meta Analysis
Meta analysis is the application of strategies that limit
bias in the assembly, critical appraisal and synthesis of
all relevant studies on a specific topic.
Meta analysis is the statistical synthesis of the data
from separate but similar studies leading to a
quantitative summary of the pooled results.
Meta Analysis refers to the statistical analysis of a
large collection of results from individual studies for
the purpose of integrating the findings.
Meta Analysis is a systematic review that uses
quantitative methods to summarize the literature.
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12. Step in Meta Analysis:
 Identifying the relevant variables
 Locating and Searching Relevant
Research to Review
 Doing the Meta Analysis
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13. Drawbacks to Meta Analysis
Assessing Problems
Compiling Problem
Comparison Problems
Practical Problems
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14. Guidelines for Conducting Literature
Reviews
 Begin the task of literature review from a
comprehensive perspective, moving on to more specific
studies that are associated with your problem.
 If the problem has a historical background, begin with
the earliest reference.
 Avoid the extraneous details of the literature; do a brief
review of the information, not a comprehensive report.
 Always refer to the original source. In this way, you will
avoid any error of interpretation or transcription.
 Review the important research objectives, methods,
results and conclusions of the study under review.
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15.  Asses how the literature applies or related to your study;
show the weaknesses in the design, if any, discussing how
you would avoid similar problems.
 Organize the literature you have reviewed in some logical
order. The materials can be presented in a research report
date wise or subject wise.
 Close the literature chapter by summarizing the important
aspects of the literature and interpreting them in terms of
your problem. Evaluate the current “ state of the art” for
the body of knowledge reviewed pointing out major
methodological flaws or gaps in research, inconsistencies
in theories and findings, controversies in the literature.
Finally, based on this analysis, you should also justify the
need for your study.
 Define the research problem as necessary in the light of
your literature review.
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16. Problem Definition
Any situation where a gap exists between the actual
and the desired ideal state.
A problem does not necessarily mean that something
is seriously wrong with a current situation or with the
organization under study. A problem simply indicates
an interest in an issue where finding the right answers
might help to improve an existing situation.
It should raise a question about a relationship
between variables.
The problem statement should suggest a method of
researching the question.
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17. Theoretical Framework- Theory
 Sekaran (2007): “The theoretical framework is the
foundation on which the entire thesis is based. It is a
logically developed, described and elaborated network
of associations among variables that have been
identified through such processes as interviews,
observations and literature survey. These variables are
deemed relevant to the problem situation.”
 Nicholas Walliman (2006): “ A theory is a statement
of relations among concepts within a set of boundary
assumptions and constraints.”
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18. Criteria of good Hypothesis statement
 Hypothesis should be in declarative form.
 Hypothesis should state the expected describe a
relationship between two or more variables.
 Hypothesis should be testable empirically.
 Hypothesis should be limited in scope.
 Hypothesis should be clearly and precisely stated.
 Hypothesis should state the condition and
circumstances under which it is supposed to apply.
The context and study units must be clear.
 Hypothesis should reflect a guess at a solution or to a
problem based upon some knowledge, previous
research or identified needs. It should be consistent
with most known facts.
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