Literature Surveys: A Methodological Approach

Literature Surveys: A Methodological
Approach
Dr. R. (Raymond) G. Hoogendoorn

13/08/12

Delft
University of
Technology

Challenge the future

Outline

•  Problem description;

•  Description, research questions
and objectives;

•  Text plan;

•  Design a search plan;

•  Execution of the search plan;

Literature Surveys: A Methodological Approach 2

Problem description

•  First you have to establish what the problem actually is;

•  So… identification of the problem along with the magnitude of the
problem;

•  In this phase you also already have to think about your target
audience!!

•  And already think about some secondary conditions (language,
format etc.);


Problem description2
•  A problem description is important as it guides us in the literature search;

•  By studying the state-of-the-art, we can therefore note that:

•  There is a noticeable gap in the results;
•  When the results of several inquiries disagree;
•  When a fact exists in the form of unexplained information;

•  That knowledge indicates that there is something we don’t know;

•  We become aware of a problem when we ask ‘why’ a fact is so;

•  Science does not only consist of knowledge, but also of systemized
knowledge;

•  Unsolvable problems:
•  Unstructured problems: problem which intend is unclear and the domain to which
they refer is too amorphous; it is impossible to determine what the relevant
observations would be…
•  Inadequately defined terms and operational definitions;


Problem description3
•  The topic of a literature survey consists of the general construct you
are going to research;

•  General form of a problem description:

I investigate [TOPIC]

because I want to know [GENERAL QUESTION]

in order to [OBJECTIVE]


Operational definitions
•  In the problem description you should provide operational definitions;

•  The main functions of a good definition are:
•  To clarify the phenomenon under investigation;
•  To allow us to communicate with each other in an unambiguous manner;

•  This can be dealt with through the operational definition of the terms;

•  An operational definition is one that indicates that a certain phenomenon
exists and does so by specifying precisely how the phenomenon is measured.


Research questions
•  You continue with formulating a research question (including sub
questions) / hypotheses;

•  Criteria of research questions / hypotheses:

•  Must be testable;
•  Should be in general harmony with other research questions / hypotheses;
•  Should be parsimonious: Occam’s razor;
•  Should have logical simplicity: logical unity and comprehensiveness;
•  Should be coherent with the problem;
•  Should be expressed in a quantified form;
•  Should have a large number of consequences and should be general in scope;


Types of research questions
•  Types of research questions:

•  Descriptive: determination without connection to consequences;

•  Explanatory (what is the cause of…..);

•  Evaluating: investigates whether something meets certain requirements;

•  Advising;

•  Prescriptive (which procedure has to be followed in order to…);


Pitfalls in formulating sub
questions
•  The sub questions should together answer the main research
question;
•  The sub questions should form a logical constellation with the
main research questions;
•  The sub questions may not introduce new problems or terms!


Research objectives
•  The research objective often represents the relevance of the
research to be conducted;

•  Always mention the scientific and practical relevance explicitly!

•  Example:

I investigate the applicability of the Transtheoretical Model (Prochaska
et al.)
because I want to know: whether this model is applicable to
aggressive driving [RESEARCH QUESTION]

in order to acquire insight into the boundary
conditions of this model. [OBJECTIVE]


Pitfalls research objectives
•  Possible pitfalls:

•  Mixed up topic and material;

•  No research objective is provided;

•  The research objective is too broad: the objective is too far away
from the research question….

•  The research objective is too narrow: the objective and research
questions are almost identical;

•  The research objective is not relevant for the intended audience;


So… summary of requirements
•  A literature survey should contain a research objective and at least one main
research question / hypothesis;

•  The objective represents the scientific and / or practical relevance of the
survey;

•  The research question is specific; it provides a direction for the research to be
conducted;

•  The main research question is divided into sub questions (see previous
requirements);

•  The research questions contain terms which are known in the scientific field;


Text Plan
From these research questions is it easy to derive a general text
plan!
Example:
Question:

What is the relationship between the incidence of car-accidents and
an aggressive driving style?

General text plan:

Discuss the scientific literature with regard to the relationship between the
incidents of car-accidents and an aggressive driving style.


Design a search plan
•  First you have to figure out what the requirements are of the result
of the literature survey;

•  Within which scientific disciplines must be searched?

•  What kind of publications do you need?

•  What is the maximum age of the publications taken into account?

•  Do you only consider domestic publications or also international
publications?

•  Next you determine the keywords you are going to use with your
search;

•  For this you use the research questions (and sub questions) as a
basis!


Design a search plan2
•  Use a thesaurus to generate synonyms!

•  Report the used keywords in your report (under research method);

•  What kind of sources do you need?

•  Can you name some examples of possible sources?


Design a search plan3
•  Main types of literature:

•  Books;

•  Articles;

•  Repons (research reports);

•  Conference proceedings;

•  Official and legal publications;

•  Reviews;

•  But also: Discuss with fellow students / colleagues!


Execution of the search plan
•  Search management is important;

•  Use an electronic database to store the results of your search;

•  E.g. EndNote, BibDesk (LaTeX);

•  Next you evaluate and analyze, and further process your text plan!

•  In other words: you are going to determine which publications are
useful!

•  Use the general text plan to structure the found publications;

•  Add general summaries of the relevant pubs to the text plan;


Execution of the search plan2
•  Use search engines, such as:

•  Scopus;

•  Google Scholar;

•  etc,.

•  The number of citations are important!!!


Reporting
•  The elaborate text plan is the basis for your literature survey;

•  You start with writing a raw concept of the report;

•  You take those parts of the summaries from the text plan you need
to answer the research questions;

•  It is more than just a copy – paste of the text! Interpret!

•  Wait a couple of days an look at it again critically;

•  Next transform the raw concept to structured text; take care that the
train of thought is clear!

•  Have the structured text proofread by a fellow student / colleague!

•  Finally transform this structured text to a text with the required lay
out. Insert the necessary tables and figures;

Questions?

Contact information:

Delft University of Technology
Civil Engineering and Geosciences
Transport and Planning
r.g.hoogendoorn@tudelft.nl


Thank you for
your
attention!!

Contact information:

Delft University of Technology
Civil Engineering and Geosciences
Transport and Planning
r.g.hoogendoorn@tudelft.nl


Literature Surveys: A Methodological Approach

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