This document provides information on conducting a critical literature review. It defines what a literature review is and lists its main functions, which include building on existing knowledge, avoiding duplicating past work, examining a problem from different angles, and relating research findings to others. It also identifies common sources to search such as textbooks, journals, reports and the internet. The document describes how to search literature databases and evaluate sources. It states that the literature review should introduce the subject, highlight the problem, and summarize past work. The purpose statement for a study should indicate why the study is being done and what it aims to accomplish, rather than framing it as an aspect of the research problem or questions.

1. Chapter 4
The Critical literature review

2. Critical Literature Review
• A literature review is “the selection of
available documents (both published and
unpublished) on the topic, which contain
information, ideas, data and evidence written
from a particular standpoint to fulfill certain
aims or express certain views on the nature of
the topic and how it is to be investigated, and
the effective evaluation of these documents in
relation to the research being proposed”
(Hart, 1998, p. 13).

3. Functions of Literature Review
• Research builds on existing knowledge
• One does not run the risk of “reinvent the wheel”
• Look at a problem from a specific angle
• Find out what variables are important to consider
• Introduce relevant terminology/provide
definitions
• Provide arguments for the relationships variables
• Testability and replicability are enhanced.
• Research findings are related to findings of
others.

4. Data sources
• Textbooks
• Academic and professional journals
• Theses
• Conference proceedings
• Unpublished manuscripts
• Reports of government departments and
corporations
• Newspapers
• The Internet

5. Searching for literature
• Most libraries have the following electronic
resources at their disposal:
– Electronic journals
– Full-text databases
– Bibliographic databases
– Abstract databases

6. Evaluating the literature
• Titles
• Abstract
• Table of contents/first chapter book
• Number of citations

7. Documenting the Literature Review
• Literature review introduces
– Subject study
– Highlights the problem
– Summarizes work done so far

8. Activity 3
The purpose statement
The purpose statement is the most important statement in an entire research study.
The purpose statement indicates “why you want to do the study and what you intend
to accomplish”. Unfortunately, writers on method often incorporate the purpose
statement into discussions about other topics, such as specifying research questions or
hypotheses, or framing it as an aspect of the research problem. Researchers need to
distinguish clearly between the purpose, the problem in the study and the research
questions.
The purpose sets forth the intent of the study and not the problem or issue leading to
a need for the study. The purpose is also not the research questions – those questions
that the data collection will attempt to answer. Instead, the purpose sets the
objectives, the intent and the major idea of a proposal or a study. This idea builds on a
need (the problem) and is refined into specific questions (the research questions).
Required:
• Locate TWO scholarly journal articles in the field of your study.
• Review the introduction to the articles and locate the sentence(s) in which the
authors state the purpose statement in their studies.

9. Problem and Purpose: Examples
Tara Kammarada: Problem Statement
• Today’s workforce faces many employee relations issues affecting
productivity, morale, turnover, absenteeism, and the number of accidents at
work. Some of the issues are workplace violence, work/life balance, elder
care, child-care, depression, domestic violence, marital, financial, family and
legal issues, as well as alcohol and substance abuse. Human resource
management must be prepared to deal with these issues. However, the
human resource professional might not have the knowledge or manpower to
effectively deal with these issues. Some companies have and continue to
utilize Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) to deal with employees’ work or
personal problems affecting their productivity. The problem is that many
human resource managers do not know if EAPs are a cost-effective approach
to dealing with the many employee relations issues confronting today’s
organizations.
Tara Kammarada: Purpose of the Study
• The overall purpose of this thesis is to improve our understanding of
Employee Assistance programs. This overall purpose will be accomplished
through two specific purposes. The first purpose is to describe, analyze, and
examine Employee Assistance Programs and determine if they are cost
effective and worth the cost. The second purpose is to determine if an EAP is
a viable answer to dealing with the issues today’s workforce faces.