Business and Management Research

WELCOME

Lecture 4

Learning Objectives • To know how to conduct and write literature reviews.• To be aware of Plagiarism and its Consequences.• To know how to write reference list• To learn how to use Harvard referencing system• To learn how to write up- Draft Introduction

Reviewing the literature

• Why do I need to do this?

• It is needed:– To conduct an initial search of existing material– To organise valuable ideas and findings – To identify other research that may be in progress– To generate research ideas

The Contents of a Literature Review

• What is already known about the topic?• What needs to be said critically about what is

already known?• Has anyone else ever done anything similar to

what is proposed?• Has anyone else done anything that is related?• Where does your work fit with what has gone

before?• Why is your research worth doing in the light of

what has already been done?

(Source: Silverman 2000:227)

Potential Sources for a Literature Review

• Books• Journals• Theses, Conference Papers & Working

Papers (Research in Progress)• Reference Works• Other Information: market data,

company accounts, government information, official statistics

• Websites

Literature sources available

Why is it Important toDo a Literature Review?

• It helps you to think about your topic & gives alternative perspectives at different stages of the research

• It helps define the methodology• It makes the contribution of your

research explicit

Plagiarism

Plagiarism involves presenting the work and ideas of other people and passing them off as your own, without acknowledging the original source of the ideas used.

Examples of Plagiarism

1. Stealing material from another source and passing it off as your own.2. Submitting a paper written by someone else (e.g. a peer or relative) & passing it off as your own.3. Copying sections of material from one or more source texts, supplying proper documentation (including the full reference) but leaving out quotation marks, giving the impression that the material has been paraphrased rather than directly quoted.4. Paraphrasing material from one or more source without supplying appropriate documentation.

References and citations• You must give references to

publications which you draw on or quote• Exact (word for word) quotes must be in

“…” and the reference must be given– Maximum about one paragraph

• Use one of the standard referencing systems (Harvard)

• Copying word for word without “…” and reference is treated as cheating and you will fail!

What must be in a project?• Abstract (short summary of project including

conclusions)• Background and aims (what you’re trying to find out

and why it’s important)• Literature review (of relevant previous research which

you will build on or extend)• Research methods – plan and justification (what you did

to meet the aims, and why it was a sensible approach)• Analysis (in detail, to convince sceptical readers and

impress examiners: important tables, diagrams etc must be in the text, only details in appendix)

• Results, conclusions, recommendations, limitations, further research

• References (list works cited in text in alphabetical order)• Appendices –extra details for the reader

References and citations• You must give references to publications

which you draw on or quote• Exact (word for word) quotes must be in

“…” and the reference must be given– Maximum about one paragraph

• Use one of the standard referencing systems – preferably the Harvard (see university website)

• Copying word for word without “…” and reference is treated as cheating and you will fail!

References and citationsUnderstand how to cite other people’s words and ideas