CT095-6-M-RMCE & Research Methodology in Computing &

Engineering /
CT087-3-M-RMCP & Research Methodology for Capstone Project

Topic 2 Literature Review

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 1

TOPIC LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this topic, you should be able to:

1. Discuss on strategies and practices in conducting effective literature
reviews
2. Discuss the Literature Review and critical analysis of literature
3. Identify the various research resources

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 2

Contents & Structure

• Literature searches
• Purpose of a review and it's structure
• What does a good review consist of?
• How to use citations.
• Writing guidelines.
• What to do when you've 'finished'.

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 3

What is a research?

• “Systematic and purposeful investigation

that includes the study of materials,
sources, process, techniques in order to
establish facts and reach new conclusions
in computing.”
• Original investigation undertaken in order
to gain knowledge and understanding

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title

Slide 4 SLIDE 4
Project/Research approaches for each
discipline

Body of Knowledge
• represents the world’s understanding,
theories, concepts, models, the sciences
and the arts.
• is stored in books, journal articles,
conference proceedings, documents,
reports, the Internet, people’s mind.

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title

Slide 5 SLIDE 5
The Research Process

Generalise
Sequential
d

Circulator Evolutiona
y ry

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title

Slide 6 SLIDE 6
The Research Process

• Sequential
– a research is a series of activities performed one
after another as a fixed, linear series of stages;

- e.g. Systematic process model of Sharp et al.

(2002) or Greenfield (1996)

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title

Slide 7 SLIDE 7
The Research Process

• Generalised
– not all stages are applicable, and some steps may
require performing in different ways
depending on the nature of the research

– identifies alternative routes – Kane (1983)

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title

Slide 8 SLIDE 8
The Research Process

• Circulatory
– any research is only part of a continuous
cycle of discovery and investigation

– research wheel (Rudestam and Newton,

2007)

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title

Slide 9 SLIDE 9
The Research Process

• Evolutionary
– takes the circulatory to another level
– research must evolve and change over
time.
– Orna and Stevens research process model
(1995)

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title

Slide 10 SLIDE 10
Research Sources

Online
Library
Sources

Printed
Sources

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title

Slide 11 SLIDE 11
How to Find Sources

 Look at literature in other disciplines

 many topics overlap with various
disciplines, thus further support of
the study might be found in other
disciplines
 Scholarly journals, books,
dissertations, government
documents, reports, conference
papers.
Module Code & Module Title Slide Title
Slide 12 SLIDE 12
How to Find Sources…

 Use the library to help you do the literature

review.
 Online catalogues of libraries
 Internet – use search engines like Google
Scholarly (URL: scholarly.google.com) and some
databases like ACM or IEEExplore are available
online.
 Media e.g. newspaper, magazines (printed and
online)
 Government bodies – e.g. Statistics Department

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title

Slide 13 SLIDE 13
Sources – Use sparingly

• Thesis / Dissertations / Reports

– "Secondary sources, although useful to some
degree, should be considered hearsay."
• White papers
• Personal communications
• Popular journals, magazines, newspaper
articles
• Popular media

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title

Slide 14 SLIDE 14
Scholarly Journals

• Scholarly journals ALWAYS cite their sources in the

form of footnotes, bibliographies and/or references.
• Articles are written by a scholar in the field or by
someone who has done research in the field.
• Often present empirical data to test hypotheses or
answer research questions.
• Be aware of the different styles of referencing format
used in the journals. Computing/Technology papers
commonly use the IEEE referencing style though APA
is also widely used.

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title

Slide 15 SLIDE 15
Use Reliable Sources

• Your responsibility to ensure only valid facts are cited

• So, choose your sources well
• Can check journal in established rankings
–Scopus:
https://www.scopus.com/sources.uri?zone=TopNa
vBar&origin=searchbasic

–ISI (Web of Science):

https://mjl.clarivate.com/home?gclid=EAIaIQobC
hMIjtu03rTp9AIVUjErCh13-AOeEAAYASAAEgL1dv
D_BwE
–ERA:
https://www.arc.gov.au/excellence-research-austr
alia/era-2018-journal-list
Module Code & Module Title Slide Title
Slide 16 SLIDE 16
The Purpose of a Literature Review

• Sets a context / background for the

proposed dissertation / project paper.
• Supporting rationale for your work:
– Why do it in the first place!
• Needs to be rich to impress examiners:
– Especially so for the final dissertation
– This means it has to cover all
relevant research to date in your
project area.

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 17

Why write LR?

• In a broader context Hart (1998) lists the

following purposes of a review:
– Distinguishing what has been done from what
needs to be done;
– Discovering important variables relevant to the
topic;
– Synthesizing and gaining a new perspective;
– Identifying relationships between ideas and
practice;
– Establishing the context of the topic or problem;

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 18

The Structure of a Literature Review

• Introduction
– What is covered and what is not!
– Define clear scope
• Main literature review
– Examination and write up of sources
– This means provide a commentary /
narrative of the sources you have selected
for your review.
– Why do you think they are important?
– What conclusions did their authors draw?
– What questions / problems still remain?
• Summary and conclusions
Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 19
A Poor Literature Review

• Few citations / references

• Outdated works
• Too many direct quotes
• No critical discussion - just discursive
• Irrelevant content included
• Jumps around and returns to topics
• List like - just source after source
• English language and proof reading
lacking

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 20

A Good Literature Review
• Before writing
– Well researched
– Lots of background work completed
– Detailed synthesis and reduction employed
• Write up
– A balanced work
– Written style shows extensive knowledge of
theories reviewed
– Lots of cross references
– Continual integration of student ideas to
other researchers work
– Deliberately targets audience

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 21

How to review?

• The whole process of reviewing includes:

a. Searching for literature
b. Sorting and prioritising the retrieved literature
c. Analytical reading of papers
d. Evaluative reading of papers
e. Comparison across studies
f. Organising the content
g. Writing the review

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 22

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 23
Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 24
How to review?

• Tips on writing
Express one idea in a sentence. Ensure that all your sentences have
Sentences
a subject, verb and object.

Group sentences that express and develop one aspect of your topic.
Paragraphs
Use a new paragraph for another aspect or another topic.

Use sentences and paragraphs with appropriate use of commas,

Consistent Grammar colours and semi-colours. Incorrect use of punctuation can affect
the meaning.

Use words that link paragraphs and which show contrast and
Transition Words development to your argument e.g. ‘hence’, ‘therefore’, ‘but’,
‘thus’, ‘as a result’, ‘in contrast’.

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 26

Citation Inclusion Examples

1. To determine whether students’ attitudes,

accomplishments, and perceptions of
themselves were affected during whole class
and small group math instruction within the
classroom, Poulsen, et al. (1996) analyzed
145 studies that included elementary,
secondary, and college students.

2. “The Internet has been used widely for

research since the early 1990s” (Thompson,
2009).
– Citations are direct word for word quotes.
– Leave the quotes in your work without the citation
results in plagiarism!!!
Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 27
Guidelines for Writing

• Be formal in English usage.

• Be direct.
• Be clear.
• Text messaging style is not acceptable.
• Do not use words you do not understand.
• Especially avoid using a thesaurus to appear
clever!
• Do not prettify your work with art fonts, or add
diagrams / pictures that you do not refer to
directly in your text.
• Literature Review paper (Assignment 1) should
be approximately 4,000 words (6 -12 pages)
excluding references.
Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 28
Examples of numbering and captions

Table 4.2: Statistics comparison of the countries (Loges, 2021)

Country X Y

USA 12744 9759

Malaysia 597 486

Fig. 4.2: A sketched image of a star (adapted from (Loges, 2021))

y = mx + c (4.2)

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 29

What should you write?

• Language focus
– Create a balance between direct quotation
(citation) and paraphrasing. Avoid too much
direct quoting.
– The verb tense chosen depends on your
emphasis:
• When you are citing a specific author's findings, use the past
tense: (found, demonstrated);
• When you are writing about an accepted fact, use the present
tense: (demonstrates, finds); and
• When you are citing several authors or making a general
statement, use the present perfect tense: (have shown, have
found, little research has been done).

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 30

Guidelines for Writing

• Avoid using the ‘first person’

– ‘I, me, mine, we, us, ours’
– These are not acceptable.
• For example:
– Do not write:
• ‘I tested my program on ten people’
– Acceptable alternatives:
• ‘Ten people tested the program’
• ‘The program was tested by ten people’

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 31

Guidelines for Writing

• Do not use contracted forms.

• These are shortened forms of verbs.

• Examples:
– ‘Don’t’ should be written as ‘Do
not’
– ‘It’s’ should be written as ‘It is’
– ‘Shouldn’t’ should be written as
‘Should not’

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 32

Guidelines for Writing

• Technical Vocabulary
– Any subject develops a technical vocabulary,
e.g. HTML
– On first instance in your text expand in full:
e.g.
"HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the
predominant markup language for web
pages."
• Avoid jargon.
• Jargon causes a barrier to communication with
those not familiar with the language.
• This is particularly true for slang technical
terms.
Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 33
Finalising the Review

• Proof read the final copy. Then get someone else to…
• Is the review coherent?
– are the sections in the right / logical order?
– have you justified your claims?
• if not add relevant supporting evidence.

– have you made inappropriate assumptions about

readers’ background?
– have you included irrelevant material?
• remove all padding.
• irrelevance only clouds your message.

– are all references included?

– are all citations complete?

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 34

Spell Checkers

• Use a spell checker.

• Spell checkers are not infallible, for example:
– ‘Manner’ or ‘Manor’
– ‘Their’ or ‘There’
• So proof read the report... carefully… several
times.
• Do not skip bits you think are fine.
• You may find you have ‘massaged’ rather than
‘messaged’ a network!

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 35

Quick Review Question

Compare and contrast the following sources of information

that are usually used for research:
• Books
• Journals
• Newspaper
• Magazine
• WWW

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title

Slide 36 SLIDE 36
Quick Review Question

Explain why students are encouraged to

refer to scholarly sources rather than non-
scholarly sources of information when
doing their project/research?

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title

Slide 37 SLIDE 37
What To Expect Next Week
In Class Preparation for Class
• References and Citations

Module Code & Module Title Slide Title SLIDE 38