This document provides an overview of key considerations for literature reviews and research methodology chapters in postgraduate theses. It discusses reviewing past studies and theories, identifying gaps, and how research contributes to knowledge. For methodology, it covers research design types, variables and constructs, sampling methods, instrument design, and data analysis. The goal is to help students structure their reviews and methodology rigorously and appropriately. Overall, the document aims to guide postgraduates in developing high-quality literature reviews and methodology sections.

1. Ernest Cyril de Run & Hiram Ting
Literature Review
& Research Methodology
Workshop for Postgraduate Students
& Early-stage Researchers
December 06, 2014
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Organized by Sarawak Research Society
In collaboration with SEGi College Sarawak

2. Overview: Things to Consider
In Chapter 2: Literature Review
 What has the past studies (by previous researchers in various
disciplines ) say about the topic and findings in their areas?
 What have the current theories said? What is your stand ?
 Are you adding a new dimension to the existing theory?
 Would your study contribute to the local and global context?
 Critically review the interrelationship among the constructs involved in
the study.
 Actual definition and operational definition of every construct involved
 Summary of the chapter
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3. Overview: Things to Consider (cont.)
In Chapter 3: Research Methodology
 Describe your proposed research design and rationale?
 Quantitative Qualitative or Mixed method?
 What would be your target population ? What would be the unit of
analysis in the study?
 What is the method of sampling ?
 What would be your method of data collection? How you measure
every construct?
 How you address the issues of measurements and scales?
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4. Overview: Things to Consider (cont.)
In Chapter 3: Research Methodology (cont.)
 Measuring items employed – developed or customized?Any pilot
study involved?
 How would you clarify validity and reliability of your instruments?
 What would be your method of statistical analysis for every test of
hypothesis?
 What is the required assumption for each statistical method?
 How would you ensure the assumptions are fulfilled?
 Summary of the chapter.
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5. Literature Review
What Literature Review Is
 Literature review involves the systematic identification, search, and
analysis of documents containing information related to the research
problem.
 As a piece of writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding
concept (e.g., your research objective, the problem or issue you are
discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is a piece of discursive (a
series of logical discussion) writing style.
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6. Literature Review (cont.)
What Literature Review Is (cont.)
 It is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of
summaries. It's usually a bad sign to see every paragraph beginning
with the name of a researcher.
 For a postgraduate student, literature review should begin when he is
thinking about doing a postgraduate study and only end after he
submits his revised thesis. For a researcher, it is a life-long process.
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7. Literature Review (cont.)
General Reasons for the Review
 Literature reviews must demonstrate a thorough understanding of the
literature that pertains to your thesis topic.
 To synthesise (similar findings, themes, approaches?) and criticise
(differences & disagreements re findings, interpretation of relationships
and other results, historical changes, contexts, perspectives?).
 To show and explain the roots of the theories, concepts or research
approaches which underlie your subject area.
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8. Literature Review (cont.)
Checklist: Specific Reasons for the Review
 To identify what has already been done;
 To keep current in their field;
 To have a better idea and bigger picture about the research; to help in
the planning and correcting of what needs to be done;
 To state clearly gaps in the literature and problem statements;
 To provide the significance of study and rationale for further research.
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9. Literature Review (cont.)
Checklist: Specific Reasons for the Review (cont.)
 To identify research strategies and procedures, and also specific
effective measurements;
 To help avoid mistakes done by earlier researchers and build upon
their strengths;
 To build research framework and deepen or broaden it with new and
emerging knowledge;
 To ensure important variables are not left out, and relevant variables
are looked into;
 To help interpret data and discuss findings from the research.
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10. Literature Review (cont.)
Types of Review:
 Inclusive
Identify and list all that has been written about the issue. (usually done
on a specific journal(s))
 Inclusive/Evaluative
Extent the first method to give commentaries about the coverage and
contribution to knowledge and the understanding of the topic being
researched.
 Exploratory
Look for researches available to help in the solving of specific
research question or issue.
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11. Literature Review (cont.)
Types of Review:
 Instrumental
Main focus is related to business issues and the review is used as
idea how the research question can be answered. Also to identify the
appropriate methodology.
 Content Analysis
Evaluates the content of the review. Counting how many times the
word “management of change” is mentioned in a review.
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12. Literature Review (cont.)
The Three-Pass Approach:
 Researchers spend a great deal of time reading research papers.
However, this skill is rarely taught, leading to much wasted effort.
 The first pass gives you a general idea about the paper. The second
pass lets you grasp the paper's content, but not its details. The third
pass helps you understand the paper in depth.
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13. Literature Review (cont.)
The First Pass:
 It is a quick scan to get a bird's-eye view of the paper and should take
about 5 to 10 minutes and consists of the following steps:
 Carefully read the title, abstract, and introduction;
 Read the section and sub-section headings;
 Glance any figure of underlying theoretical foundations;
 Read the conclusions;
 Glance over the references, mentally ticking on the ones you've
already read.
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14. Literature Review (cont.)
The First Pass:
 At the end of the first pass, you should be able to answer the five Cs:
1. Category: What type of paper is this?
2. Context: Which other papers is it related to?
3. Correctness: Do the assumptions appear to be valid?
4. Contributions: What are the paper's main contributions?
5. Clarity: Is the paper well written?
 Using this information, you may choose to read further or not.
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15. Literature Review (cont.)
The Second Pass:
 Read the paper with greater care, but ignore details such as proofs.
 It helps to jot down the key points, or to make comments in the
margins, as you read.
 After this pass, you should be able to grasp the content of the paper.
You should be able to summarize the main thrust of the paper, with
supporting evidence, to someone else.
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16. Literature Review (cont.)
The Third Pass:
 The key to the third pass is to attempt to virtually re-implement the
paper: that is, making the same assumptions as the authors, re-create
the work.
 By comparing this re-creation with the actual paper, you can easily
identify not only a paper's innovations, but also its hidden failings and
assumptions.
 At the end of this pass, you should be able to reconstruct the entire
structure of the paper from memory, as well as be able to identify its
strong and weak points. You should also be able to generate ideas for
future work.
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17. Research Methodology
What is Research Design?
 Procedures for collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and reporting data in
research studies.
 They are useful, because they help guide the methods decisions that
researchers make and,
 Set the logic by which they make interpretations at the end of their
studies.
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18. 18
What is Research
Design?
 First and foremost, do
you have the big picture
of your research?
 It is vitally important to
make sure your
methodology ties in
well with your research
objectives, problems,
hypotheses and
contribution of your
study.

19. Research Methodology (cont.)
Types of Research Designs
 Quantitative
Deductive reasoning: Theory > Develop Hypotheses > Collect and
Analyze Data > Accept/Reject Hypotheses
 Qualitative
Inductive reasoning: Observe Phenomena > Analyze Patterns >
Establish relationship > Develop Theory
 Mixed-methods
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20. Research Methodology (cont.)
Types of Research Designs
 Quantitative research is the systematic scientific investigation of
quantitative properties and phenomena and their relationships. The
objective of quantitative research is to develop and employ
mathematical models, theories and/or hypotheses pertaining to natural
phenomena.
 Qualitative research includes an - array of techniques which seek to
describe, decode, translate, and come to terms with the meaning, not
the frequency of certain more or less naturally occurring phenomena in
the social world.
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21. Research Methodology (cont.)
Types of Research Designs
 Greene, Caracelli, and Graham (1989) defined mixed method
designs as those that include at least one quantitative method
(designed to collect numbers) and one qualitative method (designed to
collect words), where neither type of method is inherently linked to any
particular research paradigm. (p. 255).
 Reasons for mixing: triangulation, complementary, development,
initiation or expansion.
 Level of interaction: independent or interactive.
 Priority: equal priority, quantitative or qualitative priority.
 Timing: concurrent, sequential, multiphase combination.
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22. Research Methodology (cont.)
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23. Research Methodology (cont.)
Research Components:
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24. Research Methodology (cont.)
Research Components:
 A concept is a generally accepted collection of meanings or
characteristics associated with certain events, objects, conditions,
situations and behavior. Example: Table, chair, age, justice, ethics.
 A construct is an image or abstract idea specifically invented for a
given research and/or theory building purpose. Constructs are built by
combining simpler more concrete concepts especially when it is not
directly observable. Example: Exercise, job satisfaction, beauty.
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25. Research Methodology (cont.)
Research Components:
 A variables can be defined as any aspect of a theory that can vary or
change as part of the interaction within the theory. In other words, a
variable is anything can effect or change the results of a study. Every
study has variables as these are needed in order to understand
differences.
 It includes dependent and independent variables, moderator, mediator,
control variables, latent, exogenous and endogenous variables.
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26. Research Methodology (cont.)
Research Components:
 An operational definition is a definition stated in terms of specific
criteria for testing or measurement. Their characteristics and how they
are to be observed must be specified.
 The terms proposition and hypothesis both refer to the formulation
of a possible answer to a specific scientific question. The main
difference between the two is that a hypothesis must be testable,
measurable and falsifiable (Popper), while a proposition deals with
pure concepts for which no laboratory test is currently available, such
as connection between two existing concepts.
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27. Research Methodology (cont.)
Research Components:
 A theory of systematically interrelated concepts, definitions, and
propositions that are advanced to explain and predict phenomena
(facts).
 A model is defined as a representation of a system that is constructed
to study some aspect of the system or the system as a whole.
 Theory’s role is explanation, whereas
a model’s role is representation.
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28. Research Methodology (cont.)
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29. Research Methodology (cont.)
Goodness of Measures:
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30. Research Methodology (cont.)
Goodness of Measures:
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31. Research Methodology (cont.)
Sampling Concepts
 Population (universe)
 Any complete group of entities that share some common set of
characteristics.
 Population Element
 An individual member of a population.
 Sample
 A subset, or some part, of a larger population.
 Census
 An investigation of all the individual elements that make up a
population.
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32. Research Methodology (cont.)
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Sampling Procedures

33. Research Methodology (cont.)
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Errors Associated with Sampling

34. Research Methodology (cont.)
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Probability vs Non-probability Sampling
 Probability Sampling
 A sampling technique in which every member of the population has
a known, nonzero probability of selection.
 Non-probability Sampling
 A sampling technique in which units of the sample are selected on
the basis of personal judgment or convenience.
 The probability of any particular member of the population being
chosen is unknown.

35. Research Methodology (cont.)
Sampling Techniques
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36. Research Methodology (cont.)
Factor of Concerns in Choosing Sample Size
 Variance (or Heterogeneity)
 A heterogeneous population has more variance (a larger standard
deviation) which will require a larger sample.
 A homogeneous population has less variance (a smaller standard
deviation) which permits a smaller sample.
 Magnitude of Error (Confidence Interval)
 How precise must the estimate be?
 Confidence Level
 How much error will be tolerated?
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37. Research Methodology (cont.)
Factor of Concerns in Choosing Sample Size
 Purpose of Study
 Quantitative or qualitative? Exploratory or Explanatory?
 Probability or non-probability?
 Generalization or Saturation?
 Complexity of Model
 Number of variables, items and indicators (arrows pointing to
endogenous variable)
 Types of Analysis
 Certain analytical methods require minimum sample size.
 Power Analysis
 To assess effect size
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38. Research Methodology (cont.)
Instrument Design (Data Collection Method)
 Types of data: primary and secondary data.
 Quantitative, qualitative or mixed-methods approach.
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39. Research Methodology (cont.)
Levels of Measurement
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40. Research Methodology (cont.)
Levels of Measurement
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41. Research Methodology (cont.)
Measuring Techniques (e.g. Attitudes)
 Ranking: Requiring the respondent to rank order objects in overall
performance on the basis of a characteristic or stimulus.
 Rating: Asking the respondent to estimate the magnitude of a
characteristic, or quality, that an object possesses by indicating on a
scale where he or she would rate an object.
 Sorting: Require that respondents indicate their attitudes or beliefs by
arranging items on the basis of perceived similarity or some other
attribute.
 Choice: Asking a respondent to choose one alternative from among
several alternatives; it is assumed that the chosen alternative is
preferred over the others.
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42. Research Methodology (cont.)
Types of Rating Scales
 Dichotomous scale
 Category scale
 Likert Scale
 Semantic differential scale
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 Stapel Scale
 Numerical scale
 Fixed or constant sum scale
 Itemized Rating Scales
 Graphic Rating Scale

43. Research Methodology (cont.)
Important Consideration regarding Instrument and Measurement
 Adopt, adapt or self-developed?
 The type of respondents you have
 Number of items (time needed to complete the survey)
 Positive and negative worded statements
 Forced scale? Randomized the items or section approach?
 Translation in cross-culture studies
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44. Research Methodology (cont.)
Data Analysis
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45. Research Methodology (cont.)
 Types of Analysis
1. Parametric (assumption: normal distribution)
2. Non-parametric (distribution free)
 Number of Variables Involved
1. Univariate
2. Bivariate
3. Multivariate
 Types of Software
1. Qualitative: ATLAS.ti, Nvivo, Leximancer
2. Quantitative: SPSS, AMOS, PLS, Lisrel
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46. Research Methodology (cont.)
 Select the right technique
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47. Research Methodology (cont.)
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48. Research Methodology (cont.)
 Other important consideration and procedures
1. Research ethics.
2. Pilot study/pre-test (A MUST)
3. The use of enumerators.
4. Dealing with various errors.
5. English check – clarity, correctness.
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49. Conclusion
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 How literature review and research methodology are
assessed by examiners?

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51. THANK YOU
Ernest Cyril de Run, PhD
Professor of Marketing
Email: drernest@feb.unimas.my
Hiram Ting, PhD
Research Officer
Email: hiramparousia@gmail.com
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