Writing a literature review Presented by Nattawoot - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Writing a literature review Presented by Nattawoot Koowattanatianchai 1 http://www.bus.ku.ac.th

References • Cotterall, S. (2001). Writing a literature review. Postgraduate seminar 2001 . Student Learning Support Services and PGSA: Victoria University. • Hamilton, A. (1990). Writing dissertations. London: RIBA Publications Ltd. • Madsen, D. (1992). Successful dissertations and theses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass • Rountree, K. and Laing, P. (1996). Writing by degrees: A guide to writing theses and research papers. NZ: Addison Wesley Longman 2 http://www.bus.ku.ac.th

Backdrop article Title Incentivising investment through accelerated depreciation: wartime use, economic stimulus and encouraging green technologies. (A forthcoming article in Accounting History ) Authors Nattawoot Koowattanatianchai Kasetsart Business School, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand Email: fbusnwk@ku.ac.th Tel: +66-87-539-3525; Fax: +66-2-579-0946 Michael B. Charles* and Ian Eddie School ofBusiness & Tourism, Southern Cross University, Bilinga, Australia Email: michael.charles@scu.edu.au and ian.eddie@scu.edu.au *Corresponding author 3 http://www.bus.ku.ac.th

Finding articles in the literature • Start with google and google scholar. • Important resources are: • Our library database at • http://lib.ku.ac.th/web/index.php/th#databases • ISI Web of Science database at • http://www.webofknowledge.com • Scopus database at • https://www.scopus.com/home.uri • Business Source Complete database at • http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=ip,uid&gr oup=main&profile=ehost&defaultdb=bth 4 http://www.bus.ku.ac.th

Finding articles in the literature • Widening or narrowing your search based on what you are getting. • Try thinking of different key words if you are not getting any results. • After finding a really relevant article, you can look forward and back from that article. 5 http://www.bus.ku.ac.th

Looking back and forward Looking back • Read the literature review section of the article. See what/who is referenced and look at some of their articles. Looking forward • There are citation indexes that record those who have cited an article. You should read their work to expand your article collection. Use these databases to find citations: • Google scholar • ISI • Scopus 6 http://www.bus.ku.ac.th

Making sense of it all • Once the literature search is complete, locate 6-8 recent and relevant articles. Read them very carefully and try making sense of them. • I suggest • Pay particular attention to the introduction and conclusion sections. • The literature review in all academic articles will already have sorted different groups of articles for you. Extract your ideas and structure your story using mind maps or other techniques. • Discuss what you have found with your peers. • This is an iterative process. • Moe than likely, you need to go back and forward between searching, researching, and ordering 7 http://www.bus.ku.ac.th

Writing it up • Your literature review needs to make readers clearly understand your ideas. Your literature review should be a “ car service manual ” rather than a “ mystery novel ” . To achieve this, you should: • Structure your essay well; • Use plain language and avoid too many scientific terms; • Make sure that your colleagues understand your essay. Don ’ t need to think too much about general readers, although they should be able to get the general theme of your essay; and • Reference correctly. 8 http://www.bus.ku.ac.th

Benefits of the literature review to the researcher • It identifies the tentative research problem in the context of relevant fields. • It gathers information on the topic of interest. • It identifies gaps in the knowledge. • It refines the research. • It suggests appropriate methods and designs for the research. • It suggests ways of avoiding difficulties and deficiencies in conducting the research. • It helps interpreting the results later. 9 http://www.bus.ku.ac.th

A successful literature review should: • Present a concise summary of relevant research; • Outline how your research will contribute to existing knowledge; • Make a commentary on the relevant literature; • Explain your plan on expanding existing knowledge; • Discuss the similarities and differences between your work and the work of others; and • Locate your research problem within a theoretical framework and review the underlying theory. 10 http://www.bus.ku.ac.th

Managing the reading • Begin with the most recent, qualified and relevant literature to your topic; • Read with purpose - only read those that could contribute to your thesis; • Order the priority of the articles to read; • Note taking important ideas; and • Don ’ t be lazy - maintain the discipline of reading and taking notes rather than photocopying to read later. 11 http://www.bus.ku.ac.th

Managing huge information • Structure your article files and references; • Keep careful records of source ideas, papers, quotes, etc.; and • • Use bibliographical software, e.g. Endnote, to help keeping records. 12 http://www.bus.ku.ac.th

Managing the writing • Read literature reviews related to your research topic - ask your supervisors to recommend good ones; • Outline your ideas - themes, questions, propositions, logical steps in an argument; • Draw a diagram or mind map the relationship between ideas; • Write summaries of individual sections before you start might help; • Be disciplined and write regularly; • Discuss, share, and clarify your ideas with your colleagues before, during, and after writing the ideas down; and • Get regular feedback on what you write - from a naïve reader, from a peer in the same subject, and from your supervisor. 13 http://www.bus.ku.ac.th

Writing it up • Start from tertiary sources (textbooks), to secondary sources (reviews of research), and finally to primary research (journal articles documenting original research) - i.e., work from general to specific; • Organise the literature around findings, ideas, or themes rather than studies or authors; • Present a logical argument in the literature review and then lead the readers to your research question or problem; • Describe, summarise, clarify, evaluate & critique, and synthesise & integrate – focus on evaluating/critiquing and synthesizing/integrating; and • Always present evidence to support your points. 14 http://www.bus.ku.ac.th

Questions 15 http://www.bus.ku.ac.th

Contact me Em Email: : fbusn snwk@k wk@ku.a u.ac.t c.th Homepag age: e: http tp://f ://fin. n.bu bus.ku.a s.ku.ac.t c.th/ h/nat natta tawoot oot.htm .htm Ph Phone: 02 02-942 4287 8777 77 Ext. t. 1218 1218 Mobile le: : 087 087- 5393525 5393525 Offic fice: e: th floor, 9 th r, KBS Building 4 16 http://www.bus.ku.ac.th