Literature search: Why do you have to spend time searching for relevant literature review material? The answer is that you do a literature search to find out what is already known about your topic. This process is sometimes called secondary research or desk research. By searching for literature in a systematic way, you learn about the research area you are investigating. For example, you get information about the methodologies and methods used in previous, similar, studies and what findings and contributions the research offered.
How textbook helps: The book is a useful resource when searching for relevant literature review material for your thesis or dissertation. It highlights the importance of building up knowledge about your topic. You achieve this by locating appropriate content and examining it in-depth. The publication explains how to identify suitable sources for your literate search. It describes the three principal sources to use (original, published and locator). The book also emphasises the value of checking the validity of your literature search by generating WWW questions. This acronym stands for who, why and when. In addition, it details the merits of doing a test to authenticate the material you have sourced (and explains how to do it).
Student story: Grace was finding it difficult searching for relevant literature review material. Her problem was recognising what information was important for her thesis (and what was not!). She used our book to discover how to search for suitable literature sources linked to her research questions. The book also provided Grace with ways to evaluate the suitability of the material she retrieved. Consequently, Grace was able to include fitting and up-to-date content in her thesis.
“Thanks to Thesis Upgrade I gained the confidence to conduct a thorough literature search. I now know what journal articles to look for, how to find them, and most importantly, how to assess relevant material.” Grace Tennant, MSc Strategic Management.