LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After completing Chapter 4 you should be able to:
1. Discuss the functions of a literature review.
2. Write a literature review on any given topic, documenting the references in the prescribed manner.
3. Discuss the ethical issues of documenting the literature review.
3. You do not run the risk of “reinventing the wheel”, that is, wasting effort on trying to rediscover some- thing that is already known.
4. You are able to introduce relevant terminology and to define key terms used in your writing. This is important because the same term may have different meanings, depending on the context in which it is used. Definitions will also help you to give structure to your essay, article or report (see Box 4.1 for an example).
5. You obtain useful insights of the research methods that others have used to provide an answer to similar research questions. Knowledge of the research methods used by others allows you to replicate existing research, which will help you to relate your research findings to the findings of others.
6. The research effort can be contextualized in a wider academic debate. In other words, it allows you to relate your findings to the findings of others.
A critical review of the literature has helped Emma, George, and Jim (check Box 4.2) to become familiar with relevant knowledge related to the problem that they aim to solve. The examples in Box 4.2 illustrate that a critical review of the literature is vital in nearly all research projects, regardless of the type of study. Indeed,
1 OBSERVATION
Broad area of research interest identified
3 PROBLEM DEFINITION
Research problem delineated
5 DEDUCTION:
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
INDUCTION
Variables clearly identified and labeled
7 RESEARCH
DESIGN
8 DATA COLLECTION,
ANALYSIS, AND INTERPRETATION
INDUCTION Research question
answered?
DEDUCTION Hypotheses substantiated?
Research question answered?
12 Managerial
Decision Making 11
Report Presentation 10
Report Writing Yes Critical
literature review
2 PRELIMINARY DATA GATHERING
Interviewing Literature survey
No
9a 9b
4
DEDUCTION:
GENERATION OF HYPOTHESES
6
F I G U R E 4 . 1
The functions of the critical literature review
BOX 4.1
DEFINING WAITING FOR SERVICE
Waiting for service refers to the time between the point a customer is ready to receive a service and the point the service starts (Taylor, 1994). A customer may have to wait before, during, or aft er a transaction.
In other words, there are three kinds of waits: pre‐process waits, in‐process waits, and post‐process waits (Dubé‐Rioux, Schmitt & LeClerc 1988; Miller, Kahn & Luce, 2008). To make these diff erent kinds of waits more concrete, imagine you are fl ying with an airline from point A to B. You may have to wait before you can board the plane (a pre‐process wait ), because the plane cannot land (an in‐process wait ), and because you cannot disembark immediately (a post‐process wait ).
Since the research questions of your study serve as the starting point for your critical review of the literature, some of the functions of a critical literature review depend on the type of study and the specifi c research approach that is taken, as illustrated by the examples in Box 4.2 .
BOX 4 1
BOX 4.2
SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS OF A LITER ATURE REVIEW
Emma is involved in a descriptive study that aims to describe how a major player in the pharmaceutical industry delivers valuable products to the market. A critical review of the literature should help her to come up with a comprehensive overview of the relevant perspectives on value, a guiding defi nition of value and an in‐depth overview of frameworks, instruments, and analytical tools (such as Michael Porter ’ s value chain) that will help her to describe how the organization can create value and competitive advantage.
George ’ s fundamental research project is inductive and exploratory in nature. A review of the liter- ature has helped him to develop a theoretical background, which provides an overview of the literature pertinent to the specifi c topic he is studying. Relevant research fi ndings, methodological issues, and major conclusions of earlier and more recent work are put forward, the logical continuity between earlier and more recent work is clarifi ed, and controversial issues, when relevant, are addressed. George explains that despite the valuable work of others, exploratory research is needed. He argues that although earlier research fi ndings provide a wide variety of potential explanations for the problem under study, they are oft en confl icting and industry‐specifi c, which limits the generalizability of these fi ndings.
Jim ’ s applied study is deductive in nature. A second review of the literature has allowed him to develop a theoretical background. Th is has helped him to obtain a clear idea as to what variables (diff erent types of variables are discussed in Chapter 5 ) will be important to consider in his theoretical framework, why they are considered important, how they are related to each other, and how they should be measured to solve the problem. A critical review of the literature has also helped him to provide arguments for the relationships between the variables in his conceptual causal model and to develop hypotheses. Along these lines, a second review of the literature provides Jim with a framework for his own work. It ensures that no important vari- able that has in the past been found (repeatedly) to have an impact on the problem is ignored in the research project. Indeed, if there are variables that are not identifi ed but infl uence the problem critically, then research done without considering them is an exercise in futility. In such a case, the true reason for the problem will remain unidentifi ed and the research project will not help the manager to solve the problem. To avoid such possibilities Jim has delved into all the important research relating to the problem under study.
BOX 4 2
familiarity with the literature on your subject area is beneficial in exploratory, descriptive, and in causal research. A literature review is helpful in both an academic (or fundamental) and a non‐academic (or applied) context. In both cases, a good theoretical base will add rigor to the study. We have explained earlier that rigor- ous research allows the researcher to collect the right kind of information with a minimum degree of bias, and facilitates suitable analysis of the data gathered. This is obviously important in both fundamental and applied research.
In sum, a critical review of the literature will spark many useful insights on your research topic; it will allow you to work in an expert manner, to make informed decisions, and to benefit from existing knowledge in many different ways. Let us now turn to how you can approach the literature review.