LITERATURE REVIEW

TOPIC 4:

TOPIC 4

LITERATURE REVIEW Dr. Nor Azizah Salleh

INTRODUCTION What is literature review? Why is it important? How do you proceed to do literature review? Literature review is a process of studying related literature and past research, in most cases, published scholarly papers related to one’s topic of study. An indispensable part of research, it is generally undertaken across discipines for the following reasons: •

To map the field of study so that the researcher will get the ‘big picture’ in terms of knowledge, theories and principles.

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To determine if the researcher’s selected topic is workable in light of what has been said about and around the topic.

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To discover gaps in the body of knowledge that the researcher intends to fill out.

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To learn more about the kinds of instruments the researcher may use or adapt for the purposes of his or her research.

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To find out more about the limitations of related previous studies.

In a nutshell, good review of literature will make you knowledgeable of your research areas and will guide you in the research process.

OBJECTIVES By the end of the topic, students should be able to: 1. conduct literature review; 2. distinguish between primary and secondary sources of literature review; 3. distinguish between riview of related literature and review of related research; 4. critically evaluate the relevant literature; and 5. integrate and synthesise existing literature.

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TOPIC MIND MAP

Literature Review

Understanding Research Area

4.1

Survey of Findings of Past Research

Survey of Methodology of Past Research

UNDERSTANDING THE RESEARCH AREA

We will now discuss the steps you may take in reviewing the research. How do you proceed? •

Find out the sources: Indices of thesis abstracts in science or social science, educational journals, educational books, encyclopaedias of education, Malaysian research reports: EPRD/ BPG/ Higher-learning institutions, proceedings of research seminars, ERIC (Education Resource Information Index), and the internet (refer to Appendix 1).

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If you are new in this area, you can go to the library of higher-learning institutions and get assistance from the librarian.

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You may use the internet that has a lot of education research information such as ERIC search. Searching data through the internet is fast and easy.

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Having collected the publications or data, you can then scan for relevant articles suitable for your research topic. Classify them according to their importance.

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Read and record the findings. Make abstracts, which include author’s name, title of article, research subject, the methodology, findings, result and conclusion.

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Record the source of the article because you will later need it for citation and references for your proposal (author, year, title of article, publisher and place of publication.

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Remember! Doing literature review entails more than listing theories and past research. It should be a critical account of the related theories and findings. Look for similarities or contradictions of the theories and findings from the literature and past research and ask yourself how these similarities or contradictions came to be in the first place. This should help your study even more.

Refer to Table 4.1 which illustrates the literature review as a process.

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Table 4.1: Sources of Literature Review

Sources of Literature

Content

1. Educational journals: local universities and abroad

Edited research report, short and systematically written. Good reference.

2

Thesis

Full account of research report by graduate students.

3

Academic exercises

Undergraduate mini-thesis in Malaysia.

4

Educational books

Principles and theories on various educational disciplines.

5

Encyclopedia of education

A comprehensive account of various educational topics; good for a beginner in research.

6

Proceedings of educational seminars or conferences.

A compilation of seminar papers; some are research-based; a source of primary data.

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ERIC

Worldwide database for research reports, journal and non journal articles, and teaching learning documents;URL:http//www.eric.ed.gov/

8. EPRD research reports of the Ministry Education Malaysia.

Good source of documented educational of research by Malaysian educationist.

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You can search for specific research topics using specific key words; there are many current articles.

Internet sources: http://www.yahoo.com http://lycos.cs.cmu.edu/ http://www.excite.com

The following paragraphs will help you obtain a better understanding of the research area.

4.1.1 Explaining Related Concepts Why is it necessary for the researcher to have a strong knowledge background in his or her research area?

You, as a researcher, need to have a very strong knowledge of the topic you choose. This means that you must know the common concepts used in your area. Let us imagine your study is on cooperative learning and your research question is “Can cooperative-learning inculcate love, cooperativeness, cleanliness and rationale?” To answer this question, you would need to read up on the concept of “cooperative-learning”, “active learning” and “small group-work” which are distinct but inter-related. Based on reading past research and textbooks on approaches to learning, you will have a better idea of cooperative-learning, its elements and what differentiates it from ordinary group work used by school teachers. Likewise, you would need to explain the meaning of each value in the context of noble values (that is nilai murni) set by the Ministry of Education, Malaysia. As well, you would need to read up on the techniques of teaching these values to students. In short, literature review facilitates your explanation on the important variables of your research topic. 52

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4.1.2 Explaining Related Theories Theories explain a given phenomenon, how it comes to be and the existing relationship between related variables. What are the theories that form the basis of your research? If your research is about teachers’ job satisfaction, you need to know the theories of job satisfaction and motivation. If your research is on achievement in science, you need to understand achievement theories. In the previous example of cooperative learning, the research topic is based on three theories: social interdependency, cognitive development and behaviourism (NorAzizah, 1998). The theory of social interdependency emphasises group dynamics, and social and communicative skills required to build team spirit. As for cognitive developmental theory, it focuses on the trend of learning capability of individuals with age. Lastly, behavioural theory emphasises the enforcement of positive behaviours where in the case of cooperative-learning rewards are given. Literature review involves reading about theories underlying your specific research topic.

4.1.3 Explaining Related Models Models are designs. For example, in cooperative-learning, there are three distinct models to facilitate the learning process (Nor Azizah et al. 1988). •

Students Team-learning (initiated by Robert Slavin of John Hopkins).

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Learning Together (created by Johnson and Johnson of Minnesota).

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Jigsaw (Elliot Aronson of Santa Cruz).

Ask yourself if there are models related to your research topics. In teaching, there are a number of models or approaches. As an example, in teaching science to children aged between 10 and 15, you may prefer the guided discovery model than that of pure discovery.

4.2

SURVEY OF FINDINGS OF PAST RESEARCH

Any researcher worth his/her salt would be compelled to find out what other researchers (local and international) have examined vis-à-vis the topic you have decided to research. Sources of data can be obtained from journals, theses, research reports, books and proceedings of seminars based on research. The internet provides research knowledge on many disciplines.

4.2.1 Past Research in Malaysia Since your research is conducted locally, you need to survey, firstly, the kinds of research that have been done within Malaysia, which are similar to your own topic. If there are only a few research that are related to your research, you can read other research which are quite related to your own research. As an example, your interest may be in the teaching of Biology, but you may also look at that of general science which has a biology component. Every time you read and review, write down the findings, author and sources of data, to enable you to write the references later with ease.

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Researchers doing research in Malaysian public schools need permission from the Ministry of Education. The Ministry keeps copies of the research reports, which are available at the Educational Planning and Research Development Unit (EPRD). Educational seminars and conferences are often conducted by various educational institutions. If your research problem has not been done by many Malaysians, you would have to refer to studies from abroad. Often there are more studies from the western countries.

4.2.2 Past Research in Foreign Countries Educational research is well established in Western countries like the USA, Canada, Britain, and Europe. However, your literature review can cover any foreign countries that have conducted similar research as yours. Local university libraries such as at UKM, UM, and USM have collections of international journals and periodicals in education as well as other fields. Educational books from various disciplines written by university professors from Western countries are available both in libraries and bookshops.

4.2.3 Summary of Research Findings and Limitations In writing your literature review, you must take note of the chronology of the research. You want to know the trend of research in the areas of your study. However, in your report you should cite the latest findings (within the last five years). The procedure of analysing research work whether within or outside the country are the same. You are comparing the scope of the study, the sample size, the research design, instruments, method of analysis, findings and conclusion. Many factors can affect the results of any research. For instance, a small sample has less external validity than a big sample. An experimental method gives cause and effect of a phenomenon, while a survey is a descriptive study. An ethnographic study is subjective while quasi-experimental study is more objective. As you review the literature, you should be thinking of these factors as they are the variables that cause variation in results. In writing the summary of your findings, state which research seems to support which other research, and what are the common patterns in the findings. From the findings, make your conclusion and critical remarks. Knowing what others have done and the development of the topic can help you to be more knowledgeable and to reflect on your own study. This normally happens during the early part of identifying your research problems, especially if you realise that the topic is well researched by many researchers, and you might as well find areas that people have not adequately explored.

4.3

SURVEY OF METHODOLOGY OF PAST RESEARCH

After you have collected past studies with topics similar or related to your intended research, scrutinise carefully the scope of study and the research methodology. There are qualitative and quantitative studies with distinct research designs. Methods of studies are many, for example experiment, survey, case study and ethnography. By comparing and contrasting them, you can see their strengths and weaknesses. You can look at the differences in the instruments used. This can help you to choose what is best for your own research. At the 54

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undergraduate level, you may want to see the scope of their study to gauge your ability to finish work in a given time. As an illustration, supposing you would like to do a study on the effectiveness of using cooperative learning in enhancing Oral English in school. You have collected many past studies; you can make tables to facilitate the way you see things objectively as illustrated in Table 4.2 which is based on real studies in the 1990s. Instruments of studies are important, so you should pay particular attention to them: their validity and reliability and appropriateness to your study. Some instruments may be good but they may not measure what you want to measure, for example an oral English test would be different from a writing test. Your research questions and your specific objectives will determine the kind of instrument you would want to use.

Table 4.2: Cooperative Learning Studies Using STAD Structures Research Topic

Subject (sample)

Research method/instruments

Data Analysis

Effectiveness of cooperative learning (CL) for English class. (Khairiah Hasni, 1996)

Form 2 students in KL n=60 2 classes

Quasi experiment (prepost-test control group design) -Questionnaire, observation forms, Personal evaluation sheet, English tests. 6 weeks teaching.

Percentage, Narrative account (qualitative analysis of interview and observation report).

Effectiveness of CL on English performance and racial integration. (Ida Fadzil, 1995)

Form 1 Students of Kajang. n=48 2 classes

Quasi experiment (prepost-test control group design). Achievement tests. Observation forms. Questionnaire.

Comparison of mean score. Percentage. Narrative account.

Effectiveness of CL on Malay Language achievement for year 3 remedial students. (Alimah Ausidiah, 1996)

Year 3 students of Kajang n = 86 Remedial students = 18 2 classes.

Quasi experiment (prepost-test control group design). Quiz. Observation. Questionnaire. Interviews.

t-test. Percentage. Frequency count.

Effectiveness of CL in enhancing low achievers’ Malay language writing ability.

Form 4 students, Rantau, Negeri Sembilan. N = 60

Quasi experiment (pre-post-test control group design) 8 weeks.

t-test. Descriptive statistics. (percentage)

(Madhusoothanan a/l Narayanan, 1999)

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Writing test, Video recorder, Observation using Flanders interaction analysis categories. Interview.

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Please look carefully at the table on cooperative learning studies in Table 4.2. There are four columns namely: topic, subject, methods and instrument, and data analysis. The studies are all on cooperative learning in languages (English and Malay language) and follow similar pattern of research design. Yet, if you look carefully and compare each column with another, you can see differences. Can you name the differences? Can you make a conclusion on cooperative learning based on your observations?

4.3.1 Research Designs Literature review is a source for finding a suitable research design for a research problem. Research design is a strategy of conducting the research, involving choice of sample, organising the sample into suitable grouping and methods and techniques of data collection. In an experimental study, for instance, the designs can be either pure experimental or quasi experimental and involves either pre and post test or post test only design. In survey research, it can be a cross sectional study or a trend study. In school based educational research, normally quasi experiment is used due to the constraints in the school administration. On the other hand, a case study is a small study that one can manage in school. By reviewing more related literature, you can see various research designs, for example, studies on thinking skills using action research design (Siti Zamani, 2001), survey design (Hamidah, 2002), quasi experimental (Hazirah Mat Nawi, 2002) and case study (Salbiah, 2000).

4.3.2 Research Sample and Instruments Literature review provides an account of the type of sample/subjects used, sample size and technique of its selection. In a survey research, it may be a random sampling or stratified sampling or cluster sampling. Decision on the size of sample for your study depends on the research methodology you used. In survey research, big sample size of 100 to over 1,000 subjects can be obtained. In experimental studies, it is very difficult to get big sample because of environmental constraints and the need to control variables. Ethnographic study and case study involve small sample; it can be just an individual or a group as the study is detailed, field based and very difficult to replicate unlike experiment. Time and resources also limit the sample size. Instruments in research studies are explained in detail later, which include their functions, contents, how they were built, who built them, how they were tested for validity and reliability, with the reliability indexes given. By reviewing literature you can make judgment about the instrument and its suitability for your study. However, your research questions will determine the correct instruments or the need for modification of an instrument. There are many standard instruments which had been tested for validity and reliability, for example Watson Glaser Critical Thinking appraisal, and Integrated Science process skills (TISP11) (Hamidah, 2000).

4.3.3 Methods of Data Analysis Journals, theses and research reports give a systematic account of data analysis. You would see how data are presented descriptively and being analysed using specific methods. The 56

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qualitative research would be very different from that of the quantitative. The former will be giving narrative accounts, or interpretations of interviews and observations based on nonmathematical terms. The latter would illustrate tables such as ANOVA or t-test or Chi square or just descriptive analysis. All these would help you consider the data analysis for your research, as well as how you will be making inferences and conclusion.

These optional activities are planned to help you in your literature search and preparing a proposal. 1.

Find a few articles of interest to you in local or international journals and study • how they are written. • the problem statements • the research designs • instruments. • the data analysis

2.

A student read a thesis and discovers a very good instrument in terms of validity and reliability. He decides to pick up a research problem based on the instrument found. What do you think of his decision? Is it wise? Why?

3

A student does not wish to read literature from foreign countries. What do you think he will miss?

4.

Search for topics in your research area by surfing for information on the Internet. Specify the variables or main terms in your topic and print your results.

5.

Go to the University library and ask about ERIC search.

SUMMARY This topic explains the importance of literature review in research. The literature review will help researchers to gain the understanding of the research area, particularly the understanding of concepts, theories and models. Review of related past research will expose researchers to various research designs, sampling procedures, research instruments, methods of data analysis, limitations, findings and recommendation for further research.

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