Week 2 Exam Flashcards
Literature review types:
Systematic LR:
1) The whole research is made up of literature review of a certain topic
2) All the relevant research is analyzed and the outcome is a compilation of current state of knowledge.
Meta-Analysis - combines quantitative studies and infers new conclusions from this.
Narrative LR:
1) Part of every research (also our BP)
2) Relevant literature is analyzed and our research is positioned within the current body of knowledge.
Narrative LR, why needed?:
1) To help refine RQ and objective
2) To inform the researcher and reader of the relevant theory and understand the researched concepts
3) To position the research within the current body of knowledge and what gaps are being filled
Literature types:
1) Academic Literature - exploration of theory (articles, academic books, etc.)
2) Professional literature - exploration of practice
Main types of academic literature:
1) Academic articles in journals:
Highly reliable, and easy to access. Maybe a delay in the data, as the process is lengthy.
2) Conference and working papers - fast access and information on relatively new topics and trends. May be less reliable as are not reviewed. Difficult to access
3) Academic books - may be a compilation of a specific topic of many different topics. Can be very information and explore deep knowledge. Harder to access. Sometimes PhD dissertations published as books
4) Theses and dissertations - less reliable and hard to access. Quality varies a lot, best sue highly rated universities. Are quite novel and explore unexplored topics.
Professional literature:
1) Reports and white papers - may be biased and are company-specific. Accessible through company websites and other databases. Including consulting reports, company reports and professional association reports.
2) Professional literature - insights into the latest managerial problems. Also bias and quality vary with journal ratings.
3) Newspapers - written from a point of view (involves certain bias). Available in paper and in the internet. Useful for ideas and to develop the topic.
4) Social media posts - the opinion can be expert and not expert. Bias is certain. Can be useful to gather different perspectives.
5) Professional books - may be written for a specific audience. Quality varies, and editions are a useful indicator. Some are classics.
Often appears faster than research so is useful for novel ideas.
Systematic literature search (academic):
1) Build an information pool
2) Apply search filters to reduce pool
3) Rough assessment of sources to reduce pool - abstracts and titles, classify into relevant, probably relevant, and not relevant
4) Analyze literature pool - find new sources through references, classify according to theory, findings, concepts
5) Refine filters and search terms (introduce new or synonyms or change)
It is a funnel process in essence.
Snowballing - alternative or complementary search method:
Take an academic article and look at:
References used (reference tracking): Backward
Citations of the article (citations tracking):
Forward
In essence not a funnel, but an incremental process
Professional literature search:
Compared to academic literature harder to find and filter:
Sometimes no specific (broader) title, abstract might be nonexistent.
Need to critically think about sources
Not always accessible through Erasmus library
Always must document the search process as it less systematic.
What is relevant and good quality literature:
Relevance:
1) Depending on the research questions and topic: does it inform the researcher and reader well.
2) Possible to evaluate during the search - based on title and quick scan of article (for academic papers abstract)
Quality:
1) Reputation of the source - can ask supervisors
2) Quality of the source - Possible to only evaluate when reading the source (about this later)
Sufficiency:
1) The researcher must understand the topic (demonstrate this in LR) what research is out there
2) “Classic” sources and also up-to-date sources
3) When keep searching, the same results pop up
4) Mind maps and relevance tree is a great tool to understand if all topics are sufficiently covered
5) Can never read all research
How academic articles cover the research cycle:
Problem and knowledge question: Introduction
Review of evidence: Literature review
Research design, data collection, data analysis: Methods section
Research outcome: Results (findings), Discussion and conclusion
Recommendations to management: part of discussion or conclusion
Depth of each depends on research type and strategy
General signs of quality for a paper:
Academic article quality:
1) Number of citations (depends on the specificity of a topic and the date published)
2) Transparency of methods and how research is conducted and data presented
3) Reflections on methodological quality and efforts to ensure it
Academic journal:
1) Journal ratings - “impact factors”
2) ERIM list of reliable journals
Professional literature:
1) is it from a known author or expert/organization
2) Does it discuss alternative points of view (if not may be biased)
3) Transparency regarding data - methods and source
4) Is the language “calm” and objective, or is it attacking
How to read critically (research cycle, critical reflection):
1) Evaluate the relevance of the source for the LR: what is the purpose of the study, is it relevant to your topic. If yes, in what way does it help in LR.
2) Evaluate time factor: How recent and up to date is the study. If it is outdated can be considered “classic”. Must build links and bridges that are relevant between classics and new researcher.
3) Evaluate the quality of the source: is it acceptable? Based on the quality factors of literature.
Four ways to be critical (reading and writing):
1) Critique of tradition:
Reading - pay attention to “standard” statements in the research, especially if they are often repeated.
Writing - Do not blindly follow common statements or assumptions, that are highly cited.
2) Critique of authority:
Reading - Be critical of theory and expert opinion that is repeated very often to explain something
Writing - Strive to include alternative opinions, explanations when writing
3) Critique of rhetoric:
Reading - note which support is provided to the conclusions; how valid and complete is the argumentation
Writing - Use good argumentation, without making assumptions/leaps that are unsupported.
4) Critique of objectivity:
Reading - recognize if paper tries to repeatedly support a certain point without exploring alternatives
Writing - Note and write down your own strong points and limitations.
Scientific writing:
Message - content + purpose (what am i writing and for who), the most important part.
Structure - order of messages + flow + pace
Language - clear, format use of vocabulary, correct grammar, concise
Order of thinking: top-to-bottom:
1) What are my messages (what do i want to convey and deliver?)
2) How can i structure my messages so they are logical and clear?
3) Which language to use?
Plagiarism:
This means presenting other’s ideas as your own
1) May be intentional and unintentional
2) Intentional is considered as research misconduct
3) Unintentional affects researchers reputation and the quality of the results
To avoid plagiarism:
1) Consistent use of references
2) When directly borrowing text use quotations marks
3) Do not copy paste, instead paraphrase
