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At the start of a research journey students often believe their research to be a unique contribution, but how can they know this to be so, without undertaking a careful review of prior research. The logic of a review of the literature is to understand what is known conceptually and empirically about an issue. A careful review of the literature will establish what is known and agreed knowledge, what is controversial and what might be unexplored areas. A careful review of the literature is a pre-requisite to address one of the most important aspects of a research study: Why is this work worth reading? What new knowledge of importance will emerge from this work?
Researchers need to develop in-depth knowledge of the contributions that have been made to their area of interest. Against this background, the overall objective of this module is to enable PhD students to develop a comprehensive literature review in their area of research. In doing so, students will develop an understanding of the state of knowledge that enables them to critically assesses the literature and to identify open research questions and gaps in the literature. Based on this review and assessment of the relevant literature students will develop academically relevant research questions and meaningful contributions to the state of knowledge. They will be capable of identifying commonalities and differences between research articles in terms of concepts, research designs, evidence and conclusions, and map where their work fits in this body of literature. This ought to enable students to have a solid foundation upon which later research design and empirical work can be based.
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CONDUCTING A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW
