In this article we have tried to explain the importance of a literature review. What is a literature review and why is it important in research?
A literature review's goal is to summarise and synthesize existing knowledge in a topic without adding any new contributions. They assist the researcher in even turning the wheels of the research topic because they are based on prior information. Overpowering current findings requires a deep understanding of what is wrong with them in detail. For other studies, the literature review indicates the path in which they should proceed in order to be successful. The literature review is a critical analysis and summary of statistical literature that is both general and specialised in respect to the specific area and issue of the statistical research challenge. This is accomplished by discovering specific statistical gaps in the literature. That is, the student identifies unanswered statistical issues and unsolved difficulties. The student might demonstrate the uniqueness of the proposed dissertation study by identifying gaps in the statistical literature. An expansion of previously published study or a change of existing methodology or theory that can be used to conduct the research can be considered original.
Literature review exhibits to the research community that the researcher has read a significant amount of statistical literature in order to demonstrate that the student is familiar with a wide variety of theory and technique research connected to the planned research topic. It proves to the committee that the student has a solid understanding of published statistical research on the subject and also convinces the reader that the student understands the statistical literature and how it relates to the planned study.
Types of Literature Review
Objective of Literature Review
Importance of a literature review
Literature review is comprehensive summary of previous research that has already been conducted in the areas related to current topic. Before we know the importance of literature review it is important to know how it is conducted. There are 4 steps in reviewing any literature(document):-
1. Summary - Writing a brief summary what the document is all about and what are key sub topics explored in it.
2. Synthesis- Combine, compare and contrast these sub topics through critical evaluation to connect the dots in order to form an integrated theory or system of the document. It helps in having more clarity of the topic.
3. Analysis- Examine the elements of the document closely and interpret them while keeping yourself in the shoes of the researcher.
4. Evaluation- Assess the document on the basis of criteria chosen by you and provide a brief explanation.
Literature review to research is like what a nucleus is to an atom. It comprises basics and an extremely important part of any research. Some of its importance is explained-
· Literature review helps the researcher to have a wider picture of the topic with interpretation of recent literature in light of recent development in the topic to be researched upon. It helps in consistency of thoughts and connection of already done researches in that particular field.
· While literature review when a researcher explore sub topics in the field of study and synthesis, analyze and evaluate them. He/she is able to spot gaps within the information of sphere and contradictions between varied thoughts inside the sphere. Researcher can analyze them to determine new facts and theories that can help him/her in research.
· Researcher can place his/her own research within the context of existing literature getting a clarity why further study is needed.
· Literature review also saves the time by letting researcher make the necessary amendments to the research framework to accommodate practical setbacks of the field. Knowing about these setbacks researcher can also think of an alternative way to collect data.
A careful review of research documents on the problem to be investigated is one of the important step in planning any research as a quality review of related literature precede any well planned study.
Example of Literature Review :
"Prospect and Challenges for Women Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh" - This is a topic for research. To conduct this research what will be your research objectives? Write the problem statement, research objectives and research design for this study.
Research Objective
The objective of this research is to determine the best market segments for women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh, the possible challenges that they might face during their entrepreneurial journey, and the strategies to overcome those challenges.
Choice of qualitative research method
A combination of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions can be selected for the qualitative research approach in order to identify the avenues for prospect in Bangladesh for women and the challenges women entrepreneurs face in Bangladesh. It is also essential that the representatives selected for the interviews and focus group discussions must be residents of Bangladesh. Since this research requires intensive analysis of complex psychological behaviour, the two methods chosen will help in obtaining detailed understanding of psychology and conceptualizing behaviour of the participant. If large sets of data are generated, we can further use analytics software like R and Python for sentiment analysis or keyword analysis for the interviews and discussions.
Detailed research design
The research must be initiated with two focus group discussion. Each group will consist of women entrepreneurs, businesswomen, and business researchers from renowned institutes of Bangladesh. The size of each group will be 8 subjects, plus one facilitator along with one note taker. This will ensure that the discussions are structured and occur in a sophisticated manner. It will also be easier for the note taker to keep up with the flow of the discussion.
The discussion will provide better insights about the topic and help the researcher frame the detailed questionnaire for the in-depth interviews after analysis. The researcher must consider a judgemental sample for the in-depth interviews and only consider people who have adequate knowledge or keep themselves updated about the market in Bangladesh and entrepreneurship. The sample size must be large, preferably above 166 participants and the interviews must be a combination of structured and semi-structured to be more explorative and to avoid any kind of bias. The researchers must also be capable enough to get the stories out from the interviewees and update the questionnaire with interesting findings from previous interviews.
With adequate number of responses in the interviews, analysis of the responses can be done. If the responses are too detailed, the researcher may use different analytical software like R, Python, etc. If the researcher is not satisfied with the analysis, a second round of focus group discussion may be conducted with two group, each containing 8 subjects with technology background like the earlier discussion at the start of the research.
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