Theory and the review of the related literature

Marut Damcha-om*

• As soon as you have chosen a topic for your research, thesis or dissertation, you should look for the theory linking your topic with an available body of knowledge. Theory as defined by Keringer(1973) is “a set of interrelated constructs (concepts), definitions, and propositions that presents a systematic view of phenomena by specifying relations among variables, with the purpose of explaining and predicting the phenomena.”

• Functions of Theory

• In search of the theory, you gather information mostly from the related literature. You consult books, journals, magazines, theses, dissertation,

newspapers, conference proceedings,

government/corporate reports,

Internet, CD-ROMS and other sources for this theory. It is important that you look for the theory because it performs some functions such as those listed below :

1. It identifies the start for the research problem by Presenting the gaps, weak points, and inconsistencies in the previous researches. This provides the study with a conceptual framework, justifying the need for investigation.

2. It puts together all the constructs or concepts that are related with the researcher’s topic. The theory then leads you into the specific questions to ask in your own investigation. 3. It presents the relationships among variables that have been investigated. This process enables you to view the topic on hand against the findings earlier bared. These findings therefore have the function of explaining the phenomena. In this particular case, it is the research, thesis or dissertation topic that is the center of the phenomena.

Let’s take creativity as an example of a thesis topic. In the course of the search for theory to explain creativity, you may find literature, both conceptual and research, which present discussions about differing views on the meaning of creativity, about the processes involved in it, and about its relationship to age, sex, scholastic achievement, mental ability, personality, problem solving, reflective thinking, self concept, socio-economic status, composition writing, or you may find some literature about the teachers perceptions of a creative student. The process places creativity into its right perspective amid theory which directs you into the identification of the variable or variables in which an inconsistency exists. You may now investigate this variable or variables along with creativity.

* Associate Professor, Ph.D. in Rural Development, Freelance

The Review of Related Literature

The review of related literature is the major process by which you can arrive at past theory. It is your immediate concern to look for these sources, to put the literature in to some organized form, and to use this literature in your study. Gay(1976) says that the review of related literature involves the systematic identification, location, and analysis of documents containing information related to the research problem. The review of related literature performs some functions that are indicated below:

1. It provides the conceptual or theoretical framework of the planned research.

2. It provides you with the information about past researches related to the intended study. This process prevents unintentional duplication of these past researches and leads you into what needs to be investigated.

3. It gives you a feeling of confidence since by means of the review of related literature you will have on hand all constructs related to your study. You therefore are an authority on the subject as far as mastery of information is concerned.

4. It gives you information about the research methods used, the population and sampling considered, the instruments used in gathering the data, and the statistical computation in previous research. It is believed that with a fruitful review of the literature not very much guidance from your adviser is necessary since the related literature can answer all the questions that you need to ask related to the foregoing stages in research.

5. It provides findings and conclusions of past investigations which you may relate to your own findings and conclusions

The previous discussion assumes that you have a topic in mind already and that you are now surveying the related literature for the conceptual or theoretical framework. The review of the related literature can function in a situation in which you have not chosen a topic yet. This survey is necessary in order that you may find a suitable topic. There are a lot of researchers who have been able to identify their problem in this way. These are those who find it difficult to recognize a problem from among those that they meet as they go about their daily chores in the specific field.

The review of the literature after you have selected a thesis is more definite and concentrated. Your tendency at the start of this review is to grab any opportunity for the literature in a library or elsewhere including materials in a private library. This is a normal thing for you to do since you are only too eager to accumulate a body of knowledge related to your research. Some researchers, however, find their review seemingly futile. This happens when the topic is novel and therefore there is very little research literature on it yet. Not with standing, one is sure that there is some related conceptual literature that has already been written. You should note and review this.

One research professor tells a story of a class he was handling. When the day came for him to collect the students’ related literature for their individual thesis, one of them looked very sad because he had nothing to submit to him. He could not find

any literature related to his work. This resulted from the fact that this student thought that the related literature meant only research literature. He missed the point that there surely was available a massive body of conceptual literature. Fox(1969) distinguishes research literature from conceptual literature . The former refers to published reports of actual research studies done previously while the latter consists of articles or books written by authorities giving their opinions, experiences, theories or ideas of what is good and bad, desirable and undesirable within the problem area. Thus, in the case of the aforementioned student who was not able to show any related literature to his teacher, he did not realize that conceptual literature may also be used for his conceptual framework. Moreover, he should not despair at the dearth of the research literature on his first visit to the library because through persistent effort he will stumble upon more substantial conceptual and research literature.

The library is usually the main source of both conceptual and research literature. A good tip for you is that you should be ready to spend the whole day or even day in a library browsing over books, magazines, periodicals or theses for possible literature. Flitting visits to libraries will not give you beneficial results. If you are to make use of the library adequately you cannot do this with only a cursory look into it.

As you explore the reading material in the library, you examine both conceptual and research literature. Your main concern as soon as you see a piece of literature is the question of relevance. To determine whether it is relevance or irrelevance to your study will demand judgment on your part.

You are therefore advised to take down notes on both directly related and indirectly related literature. Sometime in the future you may discover that the latter may also be related to your topic after all. If you do not take them down, you might find difficulty looking for the material when you need it later. Besides, it is easier to throw away literature when it is not needed.

Fox (1969) suggests that the beginning researcher may start reviewing conceptual literature since it is more readily available than research literature. Encyclopedias of general areas and/or specialized areas will be good sources for conceptual literature . Books and yearbooks may also provide the conceptual literature. After having reviewed a number of encyclopedias and books, you are now equipped with a preliminary view of the topic.

Another source which usually gives a fruitful search is the index to the literature. Index comes from the Latin word indicare which means “to point out” (Gates,1969). The index does not provide information; it indicates where the information can be found. The index of the book points out the content of the book by listing the page or pages where a certain information can be found. The card catalog in a library is made of individual catalog cards. Each catalog card shows a call number and the bibliography of the material.

In addition to the card catalog and the index of a book, there are other indexes which can help you in finding some literature. These are the indexes to periodical literature, indexes to materials appearing in newspapers, indexes to literature appearing in collections or anthologies, and indexes to reference books. Examples of indexes are Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature, Education Index, Social Sciences and Humanities Index, International Index, Circulation Book Index, and Current Index to Journals in Education. These indexes have been prepared for use of researchers like you. In our country, these indexes are available in m ost libraries. What is not always available are the sources pointed out in these indexes.

Abstracts do help researchers too especially in their search for research literature. Some abstracts available in big libraries in the country are Dissertation Abstracts, Child Development Abstracts, Psychological Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, and Master’s Theses in Education.

Finally, theses and dissertation are valuable sources of research literature. The abstract of each thesis may give you a bird’s eye view of the entire thesis so that if the abstract indicates that the investigation is related to your study, you may pursue the whole research report.

Reviewing Research Literature

The first reading of a research literature is exploratory in nature, that is, the researcher wishes to determine if the investigation really bears some relation to his research topic. In this instance, you must demonstrate a critical and evaluative mind since you have to do some judgment regarding the profitability of the material. You have to be alert to develop this ability. At first try, it may be difficult but through subsequent encounters with the research literature, your task will be easier.

It is suggested that you do some outlining of the salient areas of the investigation on index card, one source to a card. Note taking must start with a bibliographical entry of the material on the topmost left hand corner of the first index card. This bibliography should be accurately written. The next thing you note down are the problems or questions of the investigation that you are reviewing. This is follow by the methodology which presents the methods and procedures done in the research.

It is particularly important for you, then, to note down specific techniques inasmuch as from this area you get insights into what you will do in your own research. It is worthwhile to pay attention to sampling procedures done, the instruments used, and even to statistical tools employed.

The next points that you should review are the results, conclusions, and recommendations. From the results and conclusions, you get to accumulate gaps and inconsistencies among the constructs you are reviewing. Or you meet similarities in some other findings of research investigations. By and large, you formulate a theory based on your massive review of related research literature.

The questions below should be kept in mind when you review research literature. They can save as guide for your fruitful survey.

1. Do you think that the problem questions stated in the study you are reviewing are researchable?

2. Do the hypotheses lend themselves to testing?3. Do the accumulated literature indicate gaps and inconsistencies which the

researcher of the research hopes to fill?4. Are the variables adequately described?5. What data gathering instruments have been used? Are they reliable and

valid tools?6. Are the target and sampling populations already presented?7. Where the hypotheses tested and correctly interpreted ?8. Are the results logical?9. Are the conclusions recommendations data-based?

References

Fox, David J .(1969). The Research Process in Education. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.

Gay,L. R. (1976). Educational Research. Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company.Kerlinger, Fred N. (1973). Foundation of Behavioral Research. (2 nd ed.) New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.

Further information on the literature review may be found in:

Cooper, H. (1998). Synthesizing Research: A Guide for Literature Reviews.Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.(call number H62 C5859)

Galvan, J.L. (1999). Writing Literature Reviews.Los Angeles: Pyrczak Publishing.(call number H61.8 G3)

Macauley, P. (2001). The Literature Review.Geelong, Victoria, Australia: Deakin University.Retrieved 15th October 2001 from the World Wide Web: http://www.deakin.edu.au/library/findout/research/litrev.php

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center. (2001). Writer's Handbook: Academic Writing: Reviews of Literature.Madison, Wisconsin: Author.Retrieved 15th October 2001 from the World Wide Web:http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/ReviewofLiterature.html