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STX4700 Methodology & Research Design13 January 2010

Defining a Research Topic & Research Questions +

Conducting a Critical Literature Review

Ian VickersCentre for Enterprise and Economic Development Research

Business & Management [email protected]

Centre for Enterprise and Economic Development Research

www.mdx.ac.uk/ceedr

• CEEDR specialises in research relating to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and regional economic development, focusing on research with an applied policy emphasis. CEEDR activities include contract research and research-based consultancy for a variety of clients in the UK and abroad, and postgraduate teaching and supervision. Current research themes include:

• Regeneration and Governance • Social Enterprise and Community Development • Enterprise and Minorities • SME Development and Innovation • Access to finance• Employment and Labour Market

1. Problem formulation: defining a research topic and research questions

2. Conducting a literature review

Discussion of examples…..

1. Deciding on a focus

• A critical decision

• Sometimes a difficult and protracted process

• Need to be systematic

Sources of research topics

• Own work experience• Articles in academic and professional

journals • Media - e.g. topical reports, where an

unsupported assertion may provide a line of inquiry…

• Professional bodies of practitioners - but need to be cautious….

• Creative thinking - brainstorming (or thought showering.?)

Criteria for choice of topic

• Your own interest and capabilities• Value and relevance of the research• Practicality: project must be

achievable with time/resources available

• Access

Process of choosing a topic• Generate ‘shopping list’ of possible topics • Identify broad topic and academic

discipline(s)• Determine scope:

– Professional/interest group– Single organisation– Several organisations (comparative?) – Sector/project

• Brainstorm issues/questions

Process of choosing.. (2)

• Map and structure the issues (cluster in relevance tree or ‘mind map’)

• Initial trawl of relevant literature• Discuss / review with others (eg in

workshops)

How should we try to find a balance between the need for a global strategy and the need to respond to local contexts?

How do multinational companies balance the need for a worldwide corporate strategy with the demands from the divisions in different countries for variations that meet local circumstances?

To what extent does corporate strategy making take regional needs into account?

Do the managers in regional divisions have different management cultures and values from those of the corporate HQ? If so, what are they?

Do expatriate and host country managers in regional divisions interpret corporate strategy differently? If so, how?

Do the managers in the regional divisions have a different view on the role of strategy from that of those in corporate HQ?

Are there examples of regional divisions adapting strategy to what they perceive as particular local conditions?

If such examples lead to conflicts between divisions or between divisions and corporate HQ, how are the tensions managed?

Example: a relevance tree for a possible research project

Do the regional divisions interpret and implement corporate strategy differently?

To other issues and questions

(Source: Fisher 2007 p37 )

Frame the research questions

• Express clearly (avoid jargon...)• Focus• Keep the questions open...• Manageability

Example: Phrasing Research Questions as Research Objectives

Research Question Research Objective

1. Why have organisations introduced team briefings?

1. To identify organisations’ objectives for team briefing schemes

2. How can the effectiveness of team briefing schemes be measured?

2. To establish suitable effectiveness criteria for team briefing schemes

3. Has team briefing been effective? 3. To describe the extent to which the effectiveness criteria for team briefing have been met

4. How can the effectiveness of team briefing be explained?

4. a) To determine the factors associated with the effectiveness criteria for team briefing being met4 b) To estimate whether some of those factors are more influential that other factors

Research Question Research Objective

1. Why have organisations introduced team briefings?

1. To identify organisations’ objectives for team briefing schemes

2. How can the effectiveness of team briefing schemes be measured?

2. To establish suitable effectiveness criteria for team briefing schemes

3. Has team briefing been effective? 3. To describe the extent to which the effectiveness criteria for team briefing have been met

4. How can the effectiveness of team briefing be explained?

4. a) To determine the factors associated with the effectiveness criteria for team briefing being met4 b) To estimate whether some of those factors are more influential that other factors

A recent example....? (CEEDR project) To review the evidence and thinking around the challenges

& opportunities that will affect UK SMEs in an increasingly low carbon & resource efficient economy, particularly in relation to:

• The direct and indirect challenges posed by an increasingly low carbon economy and the competitive position of UK SMEs in relation to their international competitors

• The opportunities for new products and services and potential contribution to improved profitability and general competitiveness

• Relevant policy measures enacted or under consideration in developed market economies

• Examples of SMEs developing innovative approaches to cope with / capitalise on opportunities arising from an increasingly low carbon economy

• The information and support needs of SMEs• Is new or better regulation needed to drive dynamic responses by SMEs or

will the market provide effective drivers of adaptation and innovation?

Research philosophy• Positivism – stance of natural scientists• Realism – direct and critical realist• Interpretivism - eg social construction of

reality, researchers as ‘social actors’• Action research – intervening with

something new and studying consequences• Pragmatic – main influence on choice of

approach is the research question

Methodological approaches and strategies

Research philosophy guides Research Type guides Research

Underlying Epistemology and Ontology

Case Study

Quantitative

Positivistic

Mixed

Grounded Theory

Ethnography

Qualitative

Interpretivee

Critical

Survey Research Experimental

Examples of recent MA/MSc dissertation topics

• Innovation in the Chinese pharmaceutical industry: A Case Study Investigation

• Total Quality Management in the public sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain

• Safety and Environmental Management in the Indian steel industry

• The Public Library Service in a Period of Decline: Prospects for Reinvention?

• Financing for High Growth Potential SMEs in the UK

Examples (2)• Impact of Organization Cultural Difference on

Post Merger Performance: a Case Study of Alcatel Shanghai Bell

• Opportunities and Barriers facing Clean Energy Companies entering overseas markets

• Managing engagement and disengagement within Next retail employees

• Barriers to co-operation between GPs and other primary care health professionals

• Challenges of eBusiness in Small and Medium Enterprise in the UK

Writing your research proposal

Purposes of the research proposal

• To organise your ideas

• To convince your audience

• To contract with your client (your tutor)

• To meet ethical requirements

Content of your research proposal (1)

• Title - likely to change during the process

• Introduction & Background – Scene setting

• Research questions and objectives - what you seek to achieve

Content of your research proposal (2)

• Method – can be in two parts: research design and data collection

• Timescale and Resources - (finance, data access, equipment)

• References - include some key literature sources

Evaluating research proposals

• How the components of the proposal fit together

• Viability of the proposal

• Absence of preconceived ideas

• Formulate and clarify the topic

• Meet the requirements of the University

• Use a variety of techniques when generating research ideas

• Are focused on clear questions based on relevant literature

The Best Research Topics…

• Are theory dependent

• Have a proposal containing organised ideas

Tell the reader:

• What will be done and why

• How it will be achieved

The Best Research Topics…

Developing a critical literature review

Mapping and describing the literatureStructure and presentationCritique and evaluationConcepts, theories and conceptual frameworks

Why?

Purpose

• To avoid rediscovering knowledge that has already been reported

• To build upon work that has already been done

• To ensure that concepts & theories taken from the literature are robust

• Need to identify strengths & weaknesses • Identify relevance/appropriateness to your

own project

Sources

Books – 3 main types:

• Textbooks – useful to help orient in a field of literature + as a source of references but should not be relied on too heavily

• Academic monographs – useful for recent developments, but can be long-winded / difficult to read

• More popular books - eg biographies/ experiences of successful managers/ entrepreneurs or distillations of more academic work: often oversimplify & contain uncorroborated assumptions - should not be used uncritically

Journals

• Two main types: – Academic journals – peer reviewed articles– Professional or trade journals – articles not

peer reviewed & usually simpler & shorter. May be derivative & of questionable quality

• Both important as up-to-date sources of research & debate, but use of academic journals is most important

• Internet – better search engines can be useful in locating material - but use Web sources with care…. Particularly useful for accessing:– official publications & reports– university department websites for working

papers etc….– JISCmail

• Dissertations – useful to view examples of previous Master’s dissertations

Searching the literature

• Use electronic resources of library:– Online catalogue of books & journals– electronic journals– full text databases – allows searches using key

words– bibliographic databases– CD-ROM Newspapers– Financial & marketing databases

JISCmail: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/

• The National Academic Mailing List Service - 'JISCmail' , provided by JANET(UK) and run by the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

• To facilitate knowledge sharing within the UK centered academic community.... .

• Categories include: Business Studies, Engineering & Technology, Computing, Social Studies

• Business studies lists include: Business-Research, Business-Proces-Management, Critical Management, Small Business Issues, Total Quality, Marketing

• Archives can be freely accessed....

Mapping and describing the literature

• Search is likely to identify much material - need to focus on key works & what is most relevant

• Need to demonstrate your awareness of the breadth of literature relevant to your topic & show that you can identify & prioritise key works, theories & concepts

• 'Map' different literatures according to focus/themes

Mapping the Literature - Example of a Study on ‘Green Innovation’

General Innovation Literature

Literature on environmental management

Literature on environmental

policy & regulation

Literature on Innovation & Environment

Literature on participation & empowerment

Organisational learning literature

Mapping and describing the literature (2)

• Need to develop an insightful evaluation of what is known: – What are the major questions & issues in the field?– What are the gaps?– focus on key contributions

• Be critical and reflexive

• Keep a systematic record

The literature review process

Source: Saunders et al. (2003)

Citation rules

• Cite original source – ie first reference to report a particular fact or concept, probably followed by a more recent review of topic

• Do not cite a recent paper (not a review) that merely mentions the topic.

Structure and presentation

• Need to provide detailed overview of selected literature, structured around key themes (chapter sub-headings)

• Avoid working through a list of texts, one at a time….

• Move from general to specific – as in a funnel...

• Under each sub heading summarise relevant theories, arguments & evidence provided to support them, eg: – Compare & contrast main 'schools of thought’

– Evaluate strengths weaknesses of different arguments - which do you think is stronger?

• Link discussion to your research questions - avoid review becoming too detached– Make clear the significance/relevance of

theories/authors to your own topic. – If it doesn’t seem to contribute to your own research -

leave it out!

• What are the key concepts, theories & arguments providing basis for your project ?

• Literature review merges into process of developing a conceptual framework

Concepts, theories etc• Concepts are:

– the building blocks of models and theories– working definitions used in particular

analyses for which devised/chosen (e.g. ‘small business owner’, ‘cultural influences’).

– chosen to be useful, not correct– more than a dictionary definition

• Example: ‘culture’ is a complex concept, variously defined…

Hypotheses and Propositions

• Statements which assert a relationship between two or more concepts, e.g. ‘employees in small firms experience higher levels of job satisfaction than workers doing similar work in large firms’.

• Key concepts = ‘employees’, ‘small firms’, ‘experience’, ‘job satisfaction’, ‘similar work’ and ‘large firms’.

• Non positivists prefer ‘propositions’ or ‘sensitising propositions’)

Critique and evaluation

• Need for a coherent argument: weave themes & ideas from literature into a narrative (story) focussed around the topic of your dissertation

• Analysis: Fisher (2006) suggests two main forms: Forensic and Radical

Forensic Critique

- Identify key arguments in a piece of work to evaluate soundness of logic

- Scrutinise the piece for examples of weak argumentation

- Assess evidence/research findings (methodology - quantitative/ qualitative, sample size, scope/context etc…)

Radical critique

• Critical theory/critical realism -concerned with power relations, conflict, exploitation and ethical dimensions…

• Involves fundamental questioning of mainstream assumptions in business / management / organisational studies & of how world is organised

• Challenges COWDUNG: 'The Conventional Wisdom of the Dominant Group' (Waddington, 1977)....

In conclusion – Do’s and Don’ts

DO:

• Identify and discuss key landmark studies• Get the details right• Be reflexive – examine own bias• Critically evaluate the material• Use extracts/examples to justify arguments• Be analytical, critical, evaluative• Make it interesting

DON’T• Just produce a list of items

• Just produce a description of content of what you read

• Discuss outdated/poor quality material

• Omit major works/key ideas

• Use concepts to impress or without definition

• Accept/believe anything that is written

• Drown in information

Finally:

• Avoid plagiarism! - see the University regulations, use Turnitin on Oasisplus

• For a useful plagiarism tool see:

https://connect.le.ac.uk/p51557836/