The Literature Review ECON 590 Lecture 7 * Dr. Ceslav Ciobanu * Content Introduction: What is Literature Review? 1. Purposes of the Literature Review 2. The Literature Search Process 3. Five Steps in Conducting a Literature Review 4. Writing the Literature Review 5. Referencing Conclusions: Useful Information for Producers & Consumers of Research * * Introduction: What is Literature Review? A literature Review: a written summary of journal articles, books & other documents that describe the state of information of your research. The list of typical questions: What is a literature review? Where do I begin in conducting it? What are the best materials to include in my review & how locate them? Is it worth my time to search the Internet? * Introduction: What is Literature Review? 5. Are there any shortcuts in identifying journal articles? 6. Should I gather and summarize both quantitative & qualitative studies? 7. How long should the review be? 8. What are the examples that I should examine? Alfred Marshall – “synthesizer” of preceding century, but formulated something unique: modern microeconomics 1. Purposes of the Literature Review Understanding of the strengths & weaknesses of the prior research, how it is related to your current research: through a) problems; b) objectives, c)method & d) procedures. The literature review: Prevents unwarranted (excess) duplication of what has already been done Helps to identify how, where, and in what manner the proposed research might be a value added to general knowledge of the subject Provides guidelines for: a) how to handle the problems; b) techniques; c) sources & data, & d) approaches * e * 1. Purposes of the Literature Review 4. Helps to develop the design of the study showing what approaches were and were not successful Reveal conceptual insights and provide the basis for hypothesis in the research Sometimes problem-solving research may not require a formal literature review (aimed at industry group, but just a brief recap of the problem with a few references In quantitative study the literature review is included in a separate section to highlight its role & justify the importance of the research problem In qualitative study authors do not discuss the literature extensively at the beginning of the study in order do not be constrained by the views of others * e * 2. The Literature Search Process Take into consideration that all literature is not eligible for inclusion. You need to include only “scientific” literature (academic journals, formal research reports, university affiliated bulletins, monographs etc.) The refereed or reviewed literature does not exclude that it is infallible or incorrect. Even The Wall Street Journal, and The Economist may be not appropriate sources for literature review, not speaking about “popular” publications Access to a research library (VSU library), interlibrary resources through electronic communication What about Internet as a ...

1. The Literature Review
ECON 590
Lecture 7
*
Dr. Ceslav Ciobanu
*
Content
Introduction: What is Literature Review?
1. Purposes of the Literature Review
2. The Literature Search Process
3. Five Steps in Conducting a Literature Review
4. Writing the Literature Review
5. Referencing
Conclusions: Useful Information for Producers & Consumers of
Research
*
*
Introduction: What is Literature Review?
A literature Review: a written summary of journal articles,
books & other documents that describe the state of information

2. of your research. The list of typical questions:
What is a literature review?
Where do I begin in conducting it?
What are the best materials to include in my review & how
locate them?
Is it worth my time to search the Internet?
*
Introduction: What is Literature Review?
5. Are there any shortcuts in identifying journal articles?
6. Should I gather and summarize both quantitative &
qualitative studies?
7. How long should the review be?
8. What are the examples that I should examine?
Alfred Marshall – “synthesizer” of preceding century, but
formulated something unique: modern microeconomics
1. Purposes of the Literature Review
Understanding of the strengths & weaknesses of the prior
research, how it is related to your current research: through a)
problems; b) objectives, c)method & d) procedures. The
literature review:
Prevents unwarranted (excess) duplication of what has already
been done
Helps to identify how, where, and in what manner the proposed
research might be a value added to general knowledge of the
subject
Provides guidelines for: a) how to handle the problems; b)
techniques; c) sources & data, & d) approaches
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1. Purposes of the Literature Review
4. Helps to develop the design of the study showing what
approaches were and were not successful
Reveal conceptual insights and provide the basis for hypothesis
in the research
Sometimes problem-solving research may not require a
formal literature review (aimed at industry group, but just a
brief recap of the problem with a few references
In quantitative study the literature review is included in a
separate section to highlight its role & justify the importance of
the research problem
In qualitative study authors do not discuss the literature
extensively at the beginning of the study in order do not be
constrained by the views of others
*
e
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2. The Literature Search Process
Take into consideration that all literature is not eligible for
inclusion. You need to include only “scientific” literature
(academic journals, formal research reports, university
affiliated bulletins, monographs etc.)
The refereed or reviewed literature does not exclude that it
is infallible or incorrect. Even The Wall Street Journal, and The
Economist may be not appropriate sources for literature review,
not speaking about “popular” publications

4. Access to a research library (VSU library), interlibrary
resources through electronic communication
What about Internet as a Resource for LR?
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2. The Literature Search Process
Advantages of the Internet search:
a) Easy access to material anytime
b) Web sited have a breadth of information
c) It is typically current information
d) It is the easiest way using a search engine and just a few
key words
e) You can print it immediately
Disadvantages:
a) This research is not reviewed for quality by “experts”
b) It may be plagiarized without researcher knowledge
c) The literature may be not organized in useful way
d) Full-text available on the Web are new & few
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2. The Literature Search Process
Search Aids: includes indexes, abstracts, and bibliographies
Do not overlook recent related to research literature:
current issues of major journals & other outlets, dissertations

5. abstracts
Key Words: be broader in your list of key words, then narrow
it; focus on short phrases on your topic; locate titles and
abstracts & determine their relevance to your study
Reading: start with more recent studies to a) focus on the
current state of knowledge and understanding & b) the recent
research includes updated references to relevant research
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2. The Literature Search Process
Notes: a) complete citation on each source (year of publication,
page number, city etc.); b) Keep written notes but be thorough
& systematic in taking them; c) how each source is relevant to
your study; d) use note cards in organizing literature reviewed
How to determine credibility of the material?is the study
reported with an peer review board to oversee the quality of
publication (journal article)?the trusted authors are publicizing
in quality journals or booksHas the Web site standards for
accepting research studies?Consult your advisor about the
quality of the source
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3. Five Steps in conducting Literature Review
1. Identify key terms: From your working title of the research

6. select two-three key words on the central idea of your
researchPose a short general question to be answered in your
research & select two-three words in this question that
summarize the direction of your studyUse words that
researchers report in the literatureLook in Catalog of terms to
find words that match your topicSearch database in you library,
scan the table of content of journals
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3. Five Steps in conducting Literature Review
2. Locate literature: begin the search (Internet) using identified
key words; ask faculty or students for advice of good book,
articles or studies Use academic library, which has online
catalogs, Library of Congress (catalog.loc.gov)Use primary
source literature (research articles, previous researches) &
secondary literature (handbooks, encyclopedia, select
journals)Search different types of literature: summaries
(overviews), dictionaries & glossaries, handbooks, statistical
indexes, reviews & synthesis, databases etc.
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3. Five Steps in conducting Literature Review
3. Critically Evaluate & Select the Literature, guidelines:Rely
on journal articles published in national journalsPriorities: start

7. with refereed journal articles, then non-refereed, then books,
then conference papers, dissertations, and thesis, an finally non-
reviewed articles on Web sitesInclude in your literature review
“research studies” for posting questions, collecting data,
forming results or conclusionsInclude both quantitative &
qualitative research studiesIs it relevant (dimensions): topic
relevance, individual & site relevance, problem & questions
relevance, accessibility relevance
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3. Five Steps in conducting Literature Review
4. Organize the Literature:Reproducing, Downloading, and
Filing, developing a system: by authors, sources, topics, key
words; copyrights laws permitsTaking Notes: citations,
summary of the major points of the article: a) questions
addressed; b) data collection, c) major results; Abstracting the
study: an abstract – a summary of major aspects of study in an
article (350 words) for a 1) quantitative research study,
identifying: a) research problem, b) research questions &
hypothesis; c) data collections; d) results of the study; 2)
qualitative study
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3. Five Steps in conducting Literature ReviewConstructing a

8. Literature Map: a figure (drawing) that displays the research
literature (study, essays, books, articles etc.) on a topic.
Guidelines:
a) Identify the key terms for your topic & place them at the top
of the map;
b) take the information for your map and sort it into groups of
related areas;
c) provide a label for each box;
d) develop the literature map on as many as possible levels;
e) indicate your proposed study that will extend or add to the
literature.
Draw a box at the bottom of the figure that says “my proposed
study” and connect it to other boxes of literature
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4. Writing a Literature Review (fifths step)
Initial task: get the right attitude with purpose of describing &
critiquing or analyzing the prior work related to your study;
Develop an outline of the review before starting to write with
an introduction that sets the ton and prepares the reader; and a
short ending summary section;
The material should be organized in chronological order;
You should summarize (not repeat) then analyze, compare, and
contrast the literature reviewed, providing the strength,
shortcomings and contributions of prior studies;
Avoid long quotations in the literature review, do not reproduce
any graphs, or tables from prior literature
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4. Writing a Literature Review (fifths step)
Do not overlook the economic foundation literature related to
your research; provide an overview of progression of
developments, near-term and l0ong term, in conceptual ,
analytical procedures
Do not reference a source of an idea without having actually
read the source; avoid common practice to take “shortcuts” by
relying on someone else interpretation and summary of original
source
Use an appropriate style to write complete references and
employ specific writing strategies:
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4. Writing a Literature Review (fifths step)
Using a Style Manual: it provides a structure for citing,
references, labeling headings, and constructing tables & figures
for a scholarly research. The Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Association, 6th edition (APA 2010).
Three of the most frequently used approaches:
End-of-text references: are listed at the end of research report,
double spaced & listed alphabetically by author;
Within -text references: are cited in a brief format within body
of the text to provide credit to authors
Headings: logical subdivision of research; the maximum
number of headings is five

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4. Writing a Literature Review (fifths step)
2) Writing Strategies elements:
Extent of the Review: for thesis and dissertations an extensive
review of the literature is needed; for research plans or
proposals a less-than comprehensive literature review is needed,
which typically run from 10 to 30 pages
Types of literature reviews include: thematic review of
literature: the author discusses only the major ideas or results of
studies rather than the detail of a single study & it is used in
journal articles, dissertations and theses
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4. Writing a Literature Review (fifths step)Study-by study
review; detailed summary of each study grouped under a
broader themeResearch-synthesis literature review: reviewing
and integrating the literature in field using quantitative
procedures (statistical)
c) Concluding statement of the Review: it summarize the major
themes (three or four), ideas under each major heading in the
literature review; reasons why the current literature is deficient
and why your research is needed (three-four reasons)
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5. Referencing
Reasons for referencing other works:
Provide supporting evidence for propositions, results and views
that we offer in our research
Assign responsibility for an idea, position, concept or result
Give credit for the thoughts, ideas, efforts and contributions of
others.
Failure to attribute an idea or research result to its originator
constitutes plagiarism
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5. Referencing
To avoid plagiarism, give credit whenever you use:
Another person’s idea, opinion, theory
Any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings
Quotations of another’s words
Paraphrase of another’s words (Indiana University, 1998)
The style used in referencing vary with the type of
outlet:footnotes: numerical subscript at the bottom of the page,
using successive numbersEndnotes: used at the end of the
paperParenthetical reference: the most and the easiest to use
style in professional publications
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5. Referencing
With this style the reference is provided with the author’s
last name, years of publication & the page; the full citation is
listed at the end of the paper under “References” or
“Bibliography” (the difference: bibliography may contain
citations that are not specified in the paper).
This style is easiest to use; sometimes it is using the
numbers instead of the author’s last name, but not very often
because of logistical problems (keep the numbers correct as you
are adding citations)
Two guidelines: 1) determine if there is a specified
style for the particular outlet, & 2) be consistent
to use it throughout the document you are writing.
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Recommended Reading & Exercises
Select two thesis or dissertations from research library,
read & critique their literature review, paying attention to:
1) what aspect of the research is covered (problem,
objectives, concepts, methods & procedures;
2) how well the author’s research fits to its chosen topic.
Reed carefully the notes for this chapter and compare the
requirements for VSU grad Theses (from the VSU Grad College

13. website)
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