Literature researching
Reviewing literature
A fundamental part of any academic study is to read and review the academic literature in the field of interest. Knowing and more importantly understanding the literature is critical to the development of the your skills and abilities. Depending on the level of your study, the literature serves different purposes and your review of existing writings will consequently vary in the degree of detail, scope and complexity.
As you immerse yourself in your course, reading becomes a way of life. Yet it too should be approached as an important skill you need to develop and refine. Reading for academic development is significantly different to reading for pleasure. Reviewing does not just involve identifying what literature exists, but interpreting the literature in order to provide a robust foundation for further developing your knowledge in the field. You need to be able to see the logic in the argument of existing research as a prerequisite to using it critically and constructively. In this respect, there has been heavy criticism of the way many students and researchers approach management literature reviews. Tranfield et al (2003), comment that they are ‘..usually narrative and have been widely criticized for being singular descriptive accounts…often selected for inclusion on the implicit biases of the researcher..’. So, when reading and reviewing the literature you need to focus on interpretation and understanding, rather than simply repeating, the essence of the materials.
©2005-2010 Simon Croom