Literature review

Lecturers Notes for Module Two

Defining Problems and Research Questions & Looking at Literature Reviews

The Research Process (as discussed in module two)

 Define the problem area and question

 Review the literature

 Choose the methodology

 Preparation

 Research design

 Conduct the research

 Disseminate the findings

In Module two we begin this process by defining the research problem and narrowing down to develop research questions, aims and objectives.

Research Topics and Developing Research Questions

Refining a problem area

We begin our research by choosing a broad area of interest. Some of the things that will influence this will be theoretical/conceptual understanding, our values, interests and beliefs. Once we have an area of interest we begin to narrow down the area into a much smaller, more specific topic – this becomes our research question.

Example of refining a subject area down to a specific question. :

1. I am interested in the subject of why community gardens are really popular at the moment.

2. So I begin to read about the area of community gardens and I begin to find out a lot about them. I use things like ‘google’ and the CDU library search facilitates to scope what might be out there.

3. I notice that there is a lot of theory and some commentary, particularly in community development literature and in environmental sustainability literature on this topic. But I realise it is mostly just commentary, theory and debate.

4. I begin to look specifically for research about community gardens. I refine my search terms as I go.

5. I find that there is some research about Community Gardens in Canada and New Zealand,

and some parts of the United States. It is mostly about how many there are, how many

people use them, and what the financial, nutritional, educational, social and emotional

wellbeing benefits of participating in a community garden are. I also find a few case studies

from Australia, about how the garden started and how they engaged the community.

6. I realize that there is not very much know about what makes a community garden successful, or what the organisational structure of community gardens are, or how gardens are promoted.

7. So I look very specifically, using library databases with very refined search terms, to see if I can find anything at all on these topics.

8. I find some things, but it becomes clear that no-one has written about community garden organisational structures in Australia.

9. I decide that this will be my research topic.

10. I need to think how ‘big’ such a project might be, and decide that I might narrow down even further to think only about NSW.

11. My research question then becomes: ‘What are the range of organisational structures found in Community Gardens in NSW?’

The literature review (which we discuss in more detail a bit further on) can be considered a written version of this narrowing down process.

You have been provided with a list of research projects (research topics) of which you will be expected to choose one. As such, the scope has been narrowed considerably for you. You need to select one of the projects from the list to being working on this week – you will stick with the same project/topic area all semester.

Remember - The research topic is the broader field that you are interested in. It is important that you are interested in the field or it is hard to engage with the material and sustain yourself through the project.

The research question is essentially a narrowing of a particular research topic. This is due to the fact that the research process is one of continual refinement.

Criteria for choosing a research problem

The first thing when we start thinking about a research problem is to ensure that we choose a research problem that is appropriate. Williams, Tutty & Grinnell (1995 in Alston & Bowles: 31) offer a good framework for thinking through whether a research problem is appropriate. They recommend that any research problem should be critically reviewed against the following criteria:

1. Is it relevant?

One of the factors to consider under relevance is the idea of whether the research is pure or applied. There is a continuum from pure research to applied research.

Pure research involves theoretical development or exploring general issues. For example measures for a particular psycho-social phenomenon or quality of life measures. Such measures can be applied to many research projects.

Applied Research is “directly related to organisational or program goals” (Alston & Bowles, 1998: 31). For example, program evaluation.

We do not as a rule want to be off doing research on something that is not relevant. When we consider relevance we also need to think about who or what it is relevant to. This will then help us to think about the politics of research as discussed previously.

2. Is it researchable?

Is it an area that lends itself to research? We do not want to waste time researching something that is not researchable. In this, remember that ethical questions do not lend themselves to research, that is that no ethical concern is able to be resolved by research. If the issue is a value based one then it is not appropriate for research.

3. Is it feasible?

When we think about feasibility, we need to ask a number of key questions including:

 o Is it possible for you to actually do the research? o Is it manageable? o Is it appropriately designed? o Can you do the work? o Is it ethically feasible?

4. Is it ethical?

When considering if something is ethical we need to relate back to our five guiding ethical criteria.

Conceptualising our key terms

Once we have a research question formulated – we need to define all the key terms, concepts and

ideas in that question. Babbie, (1983: 533) refers to conceptualisation as:

“The mental process whereby fuzzy and imprecise notions (concepts) are made more specific and

precise.”

The process of conceptualisation requires that you identify what you mean by each concept.

However once we begin this process, it can become somewhat difficult if we are trying to research

something that can’t be researched (reference was made to this in the previous module).

Babbie argues that social scientist can measure anything that exists. It can at times be difficult to

think through what this means. We often use a range of terms that are short cuts for things that

represent a whole collection of apparently related phenomenon. For example we use the term

‘prejudice’ to mean a set of related behaviours around a phenomenon. Babbie suggests that this is

similar to sheets of paper in a file drawer under a particular heading in our heads. So we have a

range of behaviours listed on that sheet of paper which translate to the concept of prejudice.

This relates to the idea that language and communication only work to the extent that we have

considerable overlap in the kinds of sheets of paper that we have under particular headings. No two

people have exactly the same file sheets. This was referred to in our first year unit on

communication skills as “shared meaning”.

Prejudice as a term exists in the form of 9 letters, 3 syllables, begins with a “p”. Apart from that, our

mental images of prejudice area all slightly difference - can we find out and measure what is

common in that meaning?

Abraham Kaplan (1964) distinguishes 3 classes of things that scientists’ measure:

1. Direct observables – those things we can observe simply and directly

o Eg. Colour of an apple, tick made on a questionnaire

2. Indirect observables

o “relatively more subtle, complex or indirect observations”

o we can note a tick on a questionnaire in relation to gender and indirectly observe

the participants gender (but might be wrong)

3. Constructs

o theoretical creations based on observations but which cannot be observed directly

or indirectly

o eg. Grade point average, wellbeing, engagement…

As we often have different conceptualisations of a term, misunderstandings commonly occur. In

science we aim to limit these by being more precise about what we mean. So, Babbie (1983: 105)

states:

“Conceptualisation is the process through which we specify precisely what we will mean when we use

a particular term.”

Definitions, Indicators and Dimensions

Have a clear understanding of exactly what it is you will be researching is very important. Gaining

this clarity involves broad constructs (discussed above) as well as developing definitions and

(depending on the type of research - see below) a set of indicators. This clarity will come as you do

the literature review searching and learn more about your topic, like many aspects of research; it is

not always a linear process.

In a quantitative approach, the end product of conceptualisation is a specific set of indicators of

what we have in mind. These must be real and observable things that provide evidence of the

presence or absence of the concept.

In a qualitative approach, the end product of conceptualisation is a set of clear definitions of the key

terms and concepts we are using. It may also involve the articulation of a specific theory in

qualitative research.

Often you will find a specific issue or topic has a number of different aspects to it, we can call these

'dimensions'. You may choose to look at only one dimension of an issue or, or a range of different

dimensions.

Creating conceptual order

To help us sort through all of this scientists have used three kinds of definitions:

Real Definition

A real definition is a statement of the “essential nature” or the “essential attributes”. However this is

so open to debate for every concept that it is unhelpful to us in science.

Nominal definition

A nominal definition is “one that is assigned to a term”. It is a working definition assigned by the

scientist for the purpose of the inquiry. While this focuses us, it doesn’t allow us to observe which

means that we need to take another step in the process.

Operational definition

In an operational definition we specify exactly what we are going to observe, how we will do it and

what interpretation we are going to place on the various possible observations. Essentially it is “a

description of the operations that will be involved in measuring it”.

This needs to be specific and unambiguous so that “ even if someone disagreed with our definition,

that person would have a good idea how to interpret our research results.” (Babbie, 1983: 109) This

diagram from Babbie (1983: 109) shows the progression of measurement steps:

Conceptualisation

↓

Nominal definition

↓

Operational definition

↓

Measurements in the real world

Literature Review

Once we have a research problem (remember that you need to choose one from the research topics list, see the topics list in the Unit Information section) to explore we will usually begin by undertaking a literature review. This involves searching for what is already known about your topic. From this you can find out what is not known, and that is where your research idea comes in - to fill a gap in knowledge.

We do a literature review as part of any research project. This is undertaken to demonstrate:

 You have defined the key concepts in your topic  that you are up-to-date with current thinking in the area of study  why your research is important in the broader context  why this specific research is important  opposing positions within the literature  gaps in knowledge

Here is the link to the CDU library subject guide for literature reviews – you might find it to be a helpful resource: http://libguides.cdu.edu.au/literaturereview

For some examples of both long and short literature reviews I encourage you to search the internet using something like Google Scholar. We will spend some time investigating available online resources in class and via Collaborate.

Using Primary and Secondary Sources in Literature Reviews

When you read you can use either primary or secondary sources. However it is important to

note that these terms are used in two ways in the research context. One relates to research data and

the other in relation to literature.

In a data context there are primary and secondary sources: Primary sources are defined as data

collected by the researchers themselves and includes questionnaires, interviews observation.

Secondary sources are “data which already exist” and include official statistics, mass media

products, diaries, letters, government reports, other researchers work, historical and contemporary

records (van Krieken, Smith, Habibis, McDonald, Haralambos & Holborn, 2000: 606-607).

In relation to the literature review - primary sources are the original works by the original authors

while secondary sources are those where a second author summarises someone else’s theory or

work. Both are acceptable but make sure you reference properly when you use a secondary source.

Of course there are many benefits to reading original works but this may not be possible (due to

language, complexity, availability, time).

Writing a Literature Review

When you begin to write your literature review, you should consider the purpose of the review.

This means that you need to:

 Define your key concepts

 Summarise existing knowledge in this field/research area (or related areas if there is nothing

at all in your topic area)

 Demonstrate why this topic is important

 What theories are used in the topic area?

 What are the controversies, debates about the topic?

 What research has been done on this or related topics – what is the quality of that research

(you need to critique it)?

 What is missing in the existing literature (research, theory, commentary, debate) about this

topic? Can you identify a clear ‘gap’ in knowledge?

 Your literature review will be the foundation from which you write your research proposal

later in semester.

sample_apa_style_litreview _1_.pdf