module 3.literature review

8/10/2019 Module 3.Literature Review

1/18

1

BBH

31102

201

4

M

odule

3

BBH 31102 RESEARCHMETHODOLOGY

KAEDAH PENYELIDIKAN

*Bahan dalam modul ini telah diambil dari sumber internet dan diubahsuai bagi

tujuan P& P sahaja. Saya mengucapkan terimakasih kepada penyumbang nota ini

dan penggunaan bahan ini bukan tujuan untuk dikomersilkan. Terima kasih.

Prof Madya Dr Razal Ha!!a"#a$ul% Pe"dd$a" Te$"$al da"

&o$a!o"al' (")er!% Tu"Hu!!e" O"" Malay!a

*H+, - 013./ 00*O5e - 0/.4 4011

*#a$! - 0/.43


2/18

Module 3: THEORY AND REVIEW OF LITERATUREModule 3: THEORY AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Do you agree with the statement by W. Borg and M. Borg? Theory has not been

properly understood by some graduate students. Some students are of the opinion that

theory is not relevant to practice. ftentimes! we hear students remar" that a particularcourse is #too theoretical$ or they prefer courses that are #practical oriented and not too

theoretical$. Some go to the e%tent to denounce theory as useless& 'ctually! this reflects a

(

LEARNING OUTCOMES

When you have com!e"e# "h$% mo#u!e you &$!! 'e a'!e "o(

Define what is theory

)%plain the role of theory in educational research

*ustify the need for review of literature

+dentify criteria for good review of literature ,riti-ue a research article

INTRODUCTION

Without some viable theory to serve as a guide, many

studies address trivial questions or contribute nothing tothe slow accumulation of knowledge needed for

advancement of a science of education.

[W. Borg & M. Borg .!"#. $ducational %esearch 'n (ntroduction. )e

+ork ,ongman. -!"/0

Without some viable theory to serve as a guide, manystudies address trivial questions or contribute nothing to

the slow accumulation of knowledge needed foradvancement of a science of education.

[W. Borg & M. Borg .!"#. $ducational %esearch 'n (ntroduction. )e

+ork ,ongman. -!"/0


3/18

lac" of understanding on what is theory and what is practice or practical. 'ccording to W.

Borg and M. Borg! theory serves as a guide for research to avoid investigating

phenomena that is irrelevant and does not contribute to our understanding.

' theory is a large body of interconnected propositions about how some portionof the social world operates /idder! 1023. +t is statement or set of statements that

e%plain and predict phenomena. +t is a statement of a relationship between two or more

events. The more 4powerful5 a theory is! the more events can be e%plained by it. Theoriesconsist of generalisations and in the physical sciences some of them are called laws.for

e%ample! 'rchimedes 6rinciple! Boyle5s 7aw3.

'ccording to Social 7earning Theory by 'lbert Bandura8 the observer will imitate

the model9s behaviour if the model possesses characteristics such as talent!intelligence! power! good loo"s! or popularity! that the observer finds attractive or

desirable.

'ccording to the Theory of Meaningful 7earning by David 'usubel! learning

ta"es place when the learner subsumes new information with old information or

one5s cognitive structure.

'ccording to B.:. S"inner5s Theory of ;einforcement! a learner will repeat

performance of a tas" if he or she is reinforced with a system of rewards orpunishment.


4/18

Childre !" "he #re$o#er!"io!l %"!&e !re o" !'le "o #er(or) *o%er+!"io "!%,

Fi+e -e!r old *hildre !re u!'le "o #er(or)"r!%(or)!"io o( li.uid .u!"i"- "!%,%

/re%e" %u'0e*"% 1i"h 2 ide"i*!l&l!%%e% A456 1i"h e.u!l !)ou"%o( 1!"er7 /our 1!"er (ro) &l!%% Ai"o ! !rro1 &l!%% C67 I% A8C?

A**e#" or Re0e*" "heh-#o"he%i%7 I( !**e#" "he

h-#o"he%i% "he "he "heor- i%*o(ir)ed7

)$*u+e 1( Con,$+m$n* o+ -$%con,$+m$n* a Theo+y

7et us ta"e an e%ample of a theory and e%amine how we go about confirming or

disconfirming it. 'ccording to *ean 6iaget9s theory of cognitive development! >,hildren

at the pre@operational stage age 2@A3 are not able to perform conservation tas"s>.

,onservation is defined as the ability to recognise that an obect remains unchangedwhen its volume or length has undergone a transformation with nothing added or ta"en

away. :rom this broad theory a hypothesis is derived which is small version of the theory

see :igure below3. Then! an e%periment is set up in which young children are shown twoidentical containers ' and B3 with the same amount of water. Than! the water from

container B is poured into a flat container , see :igure (.(3. ,hildren are as"ed whether

the amount of water in container ' is the same as container , +s ' C ,?3. Based on theseobservations! the researcher concludes whether to confirm or disconfirm the theory. +f the

theory is confirmed! children are unable to perform conservation tas". +n other words!

children replied that container , had more water. +f the theory is disconfirmed! than the

maority of children answered that the amount of water in container ' and , is the same.

Theo+y

Hyo"he%$%

O'%e+va"$on

Con,$+ma"$on


5/18

A B C

7et us e%amine another well "nown theory in psychology which has been used

widely in education. David ,larence Mc,lelland developed a theory of motivation in

10 which states that a person is motivated to do something because of a desire or needfor achievement! authority or affiliation or a combination of the three characteristics see

:igure below3.

A

'chievement

Motivation n@ach3'uthorityE 6ower

Motivation n@pow3

'ffiliation Motivation

n@affil3

LEARNING ACTIVITY

What is a theory?

Why are there few laws in the field of education?What do you mean by confirming of disconfirming a theory?

+dentify some theories in your field of interest.

What are the implications 6iaget5s theory of children5s cognition inthe classroom?


6/18

'chievement Motivation represented by 4n@ach53 includes persons who are driven

by the need or desire to achieve! attain realistic but challenging goals! and advance

in their ob. 'uthority E 6ower Motivation represented by 4n@pow53 includes persons who are

driven by the need or desire to be influential! effective and to ma"e an impact.

'ffiliation Motivation represented by 4n@affil53 includes persons who are driven bythe need or desire for friendly relationships and are motivated towards interaction

with other people..

's +esearch is focused in testing behavioural science theory! we gain a better

understanding of the theory! which in turn leads to modification in the theory andeventually to its acceptance or reection. +t is hoped that this better understanding ofhuman behaviour will inform practice in terms of what teachers do in the classroom! how

administrators manage and lead their organisations! and most importantly how students

learn and conduct themselves. Theory can provide a rational basis for e%plaining or

interpreting the results of research. Studies without a theoretical foundation often produceresults that the researcher is at a loss to e%plain. 'lso! studies based on theory enable the

researcher to ma"e predictions about a wide range of situations. :or e%ample!

Mc,lelland5s theory of motivation could be employed to determine what motivatesteachers! students and school administrators.

F

WHAT IS THE REVIEW OF LITERATURE?

LEARNING ACTIVITYTo what e%tent does Mc,lelland5s Motivation Theory describe your

motivation to do something in your daily life?

Briefly e%plain how you would attempt to confirm or disconfirmMc,lelland5s Theory.

G+ou can 1ind more in1ormation about this theory at this site'lan 3hapman4 !!5. 6a2id Mc3lleland7s Moti2ational )eeds

Theory. .businessballs.com8da2idmcclleland.htmH

. +dentify some maor theories in your area of interest.

LEARNING ACTIVITYTo what e%tent does Mc,lelland5s Motivation Theory describe your

motivation to do something in your daily life?

Briefly e%plain how you would attempt to confirm or disconfirm

Mc,lelland5s Theory.

G+ou can 1ind more in1ormation about this theory at this site

'lan 3hapman4 !!5. 6a2id Mc3lleland7s Moti2ational )eeds

Theory. .businessballs.com8da2idmcclleland.htmH

. +dentify some maor theories in your area of interest.


7/18

The review of literature is usually the a standard chapter of the research report!thesis of dissertation. +t is an account of the research done in the field of study. The

review forms an important chapter in a thesis or dissertation where its purpose is to

provide the bac"ground to and ustification for the research underta"en. +t is usual that

the review consists of empirical studies done in the area that is being investigated. +t alsoincludes theoretical positions or proposals related to the study which are not necessarily

empirical in nature.

The aim of the literature review is to show what has been done in the field andhow your study relates to earlier research. +t also indicate the approaches! the samples

used! the variables e%amined! the statistical procedures used and most important of all!the findings obtained. The review gives an overview of the findings of various previousstudies. The review traces the general patterns of the findings and the conclusions that

can be made based on the findings. +t also provides an insight into how your study is

similar or different from previous studies. :or e%ample8 +s your study an e%tension of

what others have done? 're you e%amining variables that have not been attended to inearlier studies? 're you attempting to replicate earlier studies in a different cultural

conte%t? 're you applying statistical procedures that have not been attempted by others?

The review of literature re-uires you to locate! read and evaluate reports ofresearch as well as reports of opinions and proposals. The review must be e%tensive and

thorough because you are aiming to obtain a detailed account of the topic being studied.

The review of literature is an important part of the research process becauseI

o it forms the basis of any research and puts your wor" into perspective

J

Until you know what others have done in your areaand what has not been done, you cannot convincingly

carry out research that will contribute to furtheringknowledge in your field. Thus, the literature in any

field forms the foundation upon which all future workmust be built. If you fail to build this foundation

of knowledge provided by the review of literature, youwork is likely to be shallow and naive, and will often

duplicate that has already been done better bysomeone else.

(W. Borg & M. Borg (1983). Educational Research: An Introduction.ong!an: "e# $or%. .1')

THE IM/ORTANCE OF THE REVIEW OF LITERATURE


8/18

o it gives an understanding of previous wor" that has been done seminal

wor"s in the field3.

o familiarises you with the personalities doing research in the field and to

demonstrate that you can access such wor"s

The review of literature helps the student in delimiting the research problembysetting the parameters. By setting the limits of your study! you avoid being

-uestioned >why didn9t you do this or do that?>. Kou can confidently reply that yourstudy is confined to studying what you had set out to study. Delimiting the research

problem can be achieved if you read e%tensively and intensively the problem you

plan to investigate and from the literature specify clearly what is it you want to

study.

The literature also provides insight into the approaches and methodologies adopted

by different researchers. ' common mista"e made by students is to pay attention to

only the findings of studies. Besides findings! students should also e%amine the

methodologies used to study the phenomenon you are interested in. There could beuni-ue approaches adopted which you might want to replicate in the Malaysian

conte%t. :or e%ample! in most studies reviewed the sample used tended to beuniversity students and your study is an attempt to use secondary school students

which could be a uni-ue contribution to the field because you are different.

Some of the research studies include a section on %ecommendations 1or 1urther

research which indicates whether you are on the right trac" in studying something

that has not been e%plored before. These suggestions are significant because theye%press the insight of the researcher after having studied the phenomenon.

LEARNING ACTIVITY

What is the%e2ie o1 ,iterature?

What is the purpose of the%e2ie o1 ,iterature?


9/18

S"e 1( Se!ec" a Re%ea+ch To$c

,hoose a topic of current interest L your goal is to summarise and evaluatefindings of a line of research. 6ic" a research topic about which articles are

continuing to be published.

,hoose a well@researched area L an area that is well@defined and well studied will

give you more lines of research to choose from. ' line of research is a series of

studies by the same individual. 'n area of maor research interest will have

several lines of research.


10/18

o +dentify 13 the problem statement! (3 the research -uestions or

hypotheses! 3 method used! 3 the findings! and A3 how the findings

were interpreted.

o *ot down the contents of the article using the following


11/18

o researcher speculations about future studies

Discuss implications of studies your udgement or what the studies show! and

where to go from here3.

Most important of all avoid plagiarism. Nive due recognition to the wor"s of otherpeople. +t does not cost anything to ac"nowledge sources. +n fact! it shows the

breadth and depth of your review! and the thoroughness of your wor".

+n writing the review of literature! beginning researchers ma"e the following commonerrorsI

The presentation is a mere description of various studies without ma"ing an effort

to show how the studies are related to the main aim of your study and the research

-uestions of your study.

The presentation is a mere listing of the studies without an attempt to show how

each study is similar or different. se connectives such asI hoe2er! on the other

hand4similarly! butand so forth.

6oor citations. +n education it is normal practice to adopt the format proposed in the

manual published by the 'merican 6sychological 'ssociation commonly "nown as

the 4'6' style53.

=urriedly reviews the literature and relies too heavily upon secondary sources.

't times there is evidence to suggest that students have not read the original wor"s

but instead have ta"en someone9s wor" and cited it as though they had read the

primary source.

There is also evidence of 9cut and paste9 which S=7D


12/18

' good literature review re-uires "nowledge of the use of inde%es and abstracts!

and the ability to conduct e%haustive bibliographic searches. Kou should be able to

organise the material meaningfully! describe! criti-ue and relate each source to the subectof the in-uiry! and present the organised review logically! and most importantly to

correctly cite all sources mentioned 'folabi! 100(3. Nenerally! there are two mainsources of materialsI

Secon#a+y Sou+ce%I This includes materials written by an authorEs who was not a

direct observer or participant in the events described. +f you read a te%tboo" on

4)ducational 6sychology5! it would be a compilation of the views and empirical

wor"s of other authors rearranged into a te%tboo". The te%tboo" is a review of

research done by others and interpreted by the author. This interpretation by theauthor of the te%tboo" would be classified as a secondary source Be aware that

the interpretation may be biased3. Secondary sources are useful because theyprovide a -uic" and relatively easy method of getting an overview of currentthin"ing in the field.

.+$ma+y Sou+ce%I This includes material that is a direct description of events by

a person who actually conducted the investigation. Most primary sources arefound in research ournals. =owever! there are also abundant reports of research

conducted by individuals! groups of individuals and organisations.

=ow do + search for research articles! research reports! etc.? Kou can start by referring topreliminary sources which are references such as inde%es and abstracts! that are intended

to help you identify and locate research articles and other primary sources of information.The following are well@"nown inde%es and abstract in educationI

1(

SOURCES

Edu*!"io Ide ro*ides a list o+ articles u,lished ineducation -ournals and ,oo%s a,out education.

,) %-*holo&i*!l A'%"r!*"% contains a,stracts o+ articles aearing in o*er 9//-ournals and other sources in s0cholog0 and related issues.

)du*!"io!l Re%our*e% I(or)!"io Ce"er (ERI) trans!its the +indings o+ current

educational research to teachers2 ad!inistrators2 researchers and the u,lic.

Re%our*e% i Edu*!"io (RIE) ro*ides a,stracts o+ aers resented ateducation con+erences2 rogress reorts and +inal reorts o+ ro-ects #hich !a0 notaear in education -ournals

,urre" Ide "o ;our!l% i Edu*!"io (IE) indees o*er 8// education -ournals andincludes !ore than 1/// articles each !onth


13/18

'nother way to obtain information about research done is to e%amine ournals!handboo"s and encyclopaedias that locate and re2ie researchfor particular topics. The

following are the more well@"nown materials in education.

'

further source of information are theses and dissertations that have never been published.

The following are important sources which provide abstracts of masters theses and

doctoral dissertations in education.I

1

Sec$a!$%e# A+ea% hild 4e*elo!ent A,stracts and

Bi,liograh0

Ecetional hild Education Resources

(EER)

Education Ad!inistration A,stracts

h0sical Education Inde

Re+ie1 o( Edu*!"io!l Re%e!r*h -ournal u,lished ,0 the A!erican

Educational Research Association (AERA) co*ering critical issues andre*ie#s o+ research literature on i!ortant toics and issues

Re+ie1 o( Re%e!r*h i Edu*!"io resents critical essa0s that sur*e0

and s0nthesi5e educational research in i!ortant ro,le! areas

E*-*lo#edi! o( Edu*!"io!l Re%e!*h6 ,est single source o+ in+or!ation

on educational research #ith contri,utions +ro! a!ong leading educationalresearchers.

H!d'oo, o( Re%e!r*h o Te!*hi& 6 contains re*ie#s o+ *arious

asects o+ research on teaching such as !ethod and techni7ues o+teaching2 teaching seci+ic school su,-ects2 and ro,le!s o+ teaching.

Di%%er"!"io A'%"r!*"% I"er!"io!l6 co!ilation o+ a,stracts o+

doctoral dissertations. nder the education section are su,toics suchas adult education2 art education2 reschool2 teacher training and so+orth.

M!%"er


14/18

's mentioned earlier! in writing your%e2ie o1 ,iteratureit is essential that you

be able to interpret the wor"s of others. =ow do you go about evaluating research

articles? The procedure for evaluating research articles is shown in :igure ( below. Kou

should "eep in mind! that in educational research the findings of previous research tendsto be inconclusive as results are often contradictory. This may leave you at a loss to

decide which! if any! to accept. =owever! this problem can resolved through a critical

evaluation of previous wor" in which the strengths and wea"nesses of each study arecarefully weighed Borg and Borg! 103. The procedure proposed below consists of two

partsI the first relates to D)S,;+B+


15/18

What is the research about? Was the purpose or obectives of the study specified?

Was the design used described?

;ationale or reasons for the research

-e%c+$'eI

/eep in mind that the writer is assuming that the reader is an e%pert in the field or

at least has some bac"ground "nowledge about the field.

;eferences made may be brief because it is assumed you "now the people in the

field e.g. if you are reading about 4intelligence5 then names li"e Sternberg!Nardner! Thurstone! Spearman! should be "nown to you3.

Writer assumes you "now the concepts in the field e.g. burnout! metacognition!

inductive reasoning! organisational climate3.

The rationale given for the study and why the research -uestions or hypotheses

were put forward

C+$"$/ue(

o +s the reason for answering the research -uestion or testing the hypotheses

convincing or ust attempting to appeal to your emotion or merely see"ingendorsement from well@"now authorities in the field?

o Do the research -uestions or hypotheses follow logically from theory?

o +s there a tendency to oversimplify theories or studies reviewed?

-e%c+$'eI

1A

S"e 2( Rea# "he In"+o#uc"$on

S"e 3( Rea# "he Me"ho#% Sec"$on


16/18

The writerEs should tell about the bac"ground of the subects used! the number of

subects and the method used to collect data The design of the study is described in sufficient detail. *ustification for the study

was given.

Development of the instrumentEs is described or use of someone5s instrument3and there is mention about pilot@testing the instrumentEs and reliability and

validity figures are given.

C+$"$/ue(

o =ow the subects were selected is clear?

o =ow the instrument or treatment was administered is ade-uately

e%plained?

o +ssued of validity and reliability are discussed

o +s the design of the study appropriate? =ow was it designed to reduce

different types of biases?o What is the independent variable and dependent variable?

o Were the statistical procedures used appropriate?

o Were the variables operationally defined?

o +f the study is an e%periment! was the treatment e%plained in sufficient

detail? ,ould it have been done in another way?

-e%c+$'eI

,onnection between the results and the research -uestions or hypotheses

;eport results relating to the research

-uestions or hypotheses whether resultsare statistically significant3

;eport other statistically significant

results

C+$"$/ue(

o Were the results clearly reported?

eg. tables! graphs3

o Do the statistics test the predictions made in the 9+ntroduction9?

1F

S"e 0( Rea# "he Re%u!"% o+ Ana!y%$% Sec"$on

S"e ( Rea# "he -$%cu%%$on %ec"$on


17/18

-e%c+$'eI

7ists the main findings

;elate findings to what was mentioned in the >+ntroduction>

Speculate about the reasons for the results

C+$"$/ue(

o +s the author9s way the only way to interpret the predicted results?

o ,an you e%plain any of the findings the authorE9s did not e%plain or were

unable to e%plain?

o What are the wea"nesses or limitations identified by the author or which

you found but was not mentioned?

Re,e+ence%(

1J

-ISCUSSION UESTIONS(

Select a research topic in which you are interested and locate a primary andsecondary source related to it. )%plain why each is a primary or secondary

source.

7ocate full@te%t ournals in your areas of interest that are available freeon the internet. ,hec" to see if they are referred ournals. Share what you

have found with your coursemates.

. =ow will you define plagiarism? What constitutes plagiarism?

#Who am + to criti-ue the research of e%perts in the field! + am only astudent$. Discuss.

-ISCUSSION UESTIONS(

Select a research topic in which you are interested and locate a primary and

secondary source related to it. )%plain why each is a primary or secondary

source.

7ocate full@te%t ournals in your areas of interest that are available freeon the internet. ,hec" to see if they are referred ournals. Share what youhave found with your coursemates.

. =ow will you define plagiarism? What constitutes plagiarism?

#Who am + to criti-ue the research of e%perts in the field! + am only a

student$. Discuss.

LEARNING ACTIVITY

What are the maor aspects of a study will you e%amine when

describing a research article?

When you criti-ue theMethods sectionand the%esults section! whatare you loo"ing for?


18/18

a3 W. Borg P M. Borg! 103! )ducational ;esearchI 'n +ntroduction.

module 3.literature review

Documents