soa+d research manual - School of Architecture and Design, KMUTT

2
REVIEWING THE LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
The literature review is an essential component of every
research project. like many aspects of research inquiry it
differs in its role, purpose and even position within the research
process. in the conventional investigation, for example, the
review occurs before the design of the methodology (and indeed,
plays an important role in the research design). in grounded
theory, it is prohibited to carry out a preliminary literature review
as this might interfere with a more direct and unmediated
encounter with the research subject. in some conventional
research, the review is limited to published research on the
topic of inquiry. in practice-based research, the review includes
examples of semiotic and material culture as well as a broader
range of theoretical texts.
Nevertheless, every research project will involve a ‘literature’
review of an appropriate kind and in this note i will offer a brief
overview of this important aspect of research inquiry. my method
here will be a little different from other Research Notes in that
i will mainly use the words of another. That is, quotations and
paraphrases from the excellent book Doing a literature Review
by chris hart (2000).
WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW?
The literature review is integral to the success of your academic
research project. but what is it? Put simply it:
is the selection of available documents on the topic [...] and the
effective evaluation of these in relation to the research being
proposed.
The overall purpose of the review is:
to show command of the subject area; understanding
of the problem; to justify the research topic, design and
methodology.
more specifically the review serves two essential functions:
researchability and scoping:
A major benefit [...] is that it ensures the researchability of
the topic before ‘proper’ research commences [...] it is the
progressive narrowing of the topic through the literature
review that makes most research a practical proposal.
According to hart, this is no easy or quick matter:
Narrowing down a topic can be difficult and can take several
weeks or even months [...] time and effort carefully expended
at this stage can save a great deal of effort and vague
searching later.
hart also outlines a useful summary of the review:
REsEARch NOTEs
21
We can say that the review serves at least the following
purposes in research:
1 distinguishing what has been done from what
needs to be done;
2 discovering important variables relevant to
the topic;
3 synthesising and gaining a new perspective;
4 identifying relationships between ideas and
practice;
5 establishing the context of the problem;
6 rationalising the significance of the problem;
7 enhancing and acquiring the subject vocabulary;
8 understanding the structure of the subject;
9 identifying the main methodologies and techniques that
have been used;
10 placing the research in a historical context and showing
familiarity with state-of-the-art developments.
GETTING STARTED
The starting point for any review is topic definition. This is an
important step and should not be skipped because of knowledge
you may think you already have of the field:
start with some general reading to familiarize yourself
with the topic. consult subject specific dictionaries and
encyclopaedias. Take notes on the concepts used and which
authors are cited. Prepare a list of terms for further searching.
begin to think about the shape of the topic so that you can
map it out at a later stage.
Once you have established an overview, it is time to scope the
review:
Ask questions about which language or languages it might be
necessary to search” what time frame i.e. how far back you
might need to search; what subject areas might be relevant.