c) Any suggestion that we have written what another actually
wrote is morally wrong. Anyway, the whole point of a literature
review is to show what we have read and what we thought about it.
d) Plagiarism is such an awful crime that those found guilty
should be obliged to wear a scarlet "P" on their clothing.
Chapter 04
Results
You have answered 5 out of 10 questions correctly.
Your percentage score is 50%.
Question 1
Why do you need to review the existing literature?
Your answer:
c) To find out what is already known about your area of interest.
Feedback:
"The most obvious reason", (p91), "is that you want to know what is already known about your area of interest", including relevant concepts and theories. The process of writing a literature review should enhance your learning and help you to write a "proper" dissertation, but these are by-products. You could reasonably start reading the existing literature to find out what the current areas of debate are, particularly in the academic journals close to your field of interest. This could help you to develop research questions of your own. Answer (a) may be an outcome, but this is not a numbers game: quality counts a lot more than quantity.
Page reference: 91, 92
Question 2
To read critically means:
Your answer:
c) evaluating what you read in terms of your own research questions.
Feedback:
"Developing a critical approach to your reading is not necessarily one of simply criticizing the work of others" (p94). Not all of what you read will be relevant to your task, so you must have a clear focus on your research questions as you read. Taking notes of your reactions is advised, in
addition to recording content. Most reading is uncritical by nature, meaning that things are accepted just because they are written
somewhere. Even reading these comments critically would mean referring back to the text for confirmation or elaboration. Critical, in that sense, really just means using your intelligence and judgement. It also implies openness, so beware of "judging the book by its cover"!
Page reference: 94 Question 3
Which two of the following are legitimate frameworks for setting out a literature review: 1. Constructing inter-textual coherence, 2.
Deconstruction of textual coherence, 3. Problematizing the situation, 4.
Resolving discovered problems?
Your answer:
a) 1 and 2
Correct answer:
c) 1 and 3 Feedback:
Thinking deeply 4.1 shows Golden-Biddle and Locke's (1997) research on the review of qualitative research articles. They show that constructing inter-textual coherence (as synthesized, progressive, or non-coherence), an attempt to find commonality in a range of expressed opinion, and problematizing the situation, an attempt to reveal a gap in the literature of concept, method or perspective, are ways to think about providing a review framework.
Page reference: 95 (Thinking deeply 4.1) Question 4
A systematic literature review is:
Your answer:
b) a replicable, scientific and transparent process.
Feedback:
Bryman (p94) cites Tranfield et al's (2003) definition of systematic review as a "replicable, scientific and transparent process". A systematic review tends to reduce researcher bias, it is argued, and the process obliges the researcher to be more comprehensive and thorough. For dissertation writing, this would mean explaining your reading choices: why those and not others? followed by a write-up of the methodology used to access sources. This is a long way away from simply going on-line and accepting what pops up in a Google search.
Page reference: 96 (Key concept 4.2) Question 5
What is meta-analysis?
Your answer:
a) A technique of correcting for the errors in individual studies within a survey of a large number of studies, to demonstrate the effect of a particular variable.
Feedback:
"Meta-analysis involves summarizing the results of a large number of quantitative studies and conducting various analytical tests to show
whether or not a particular variable has an effect" (p98). This is, indeed, a highly sophisticated literature review technique, bordering on secondary analysis. However, not all findings may have been published, so those studied may not be fully representative.
Page reference: 98 (Key concept 4.4) Question 6
What is meta-ethnography?
Your answer:
a) A technique for reviewing literature based exclusively on ethnographic studies.
Correct answer:
b) A technique for synthesizing interpretations drawn from a number of separate qualitative studies of the same phenomena.
Feedback:
Meta-ethnography synthesizes the conclusions drawn by various authors from their studies of the same, or similar, phenomena. In this respect, it is
"a counterpart to meta-analysis in quantitative research" (p99). The objectives are different, however, since in meta-ethnography a
"translation" (Noblit and Hare, 1988, cited on p89), is made into the researcher's world view. In other words, there is an acceptance that this research process "changes" the reviewed material in some way. To some extent, this must be true of all literature reviewing. In meta-ethnography the "translation" needs to be made explicit.
Page reference: 99,100 (Key concept 4.7) Question 7
What is a narrative literature review?
Your answer:
a) An historically-based review, starting with the earliest contributions to the field.
Correct answer:
d) An initial impression of the topic which you will understand more fully as you conduct your research.
Feedback:
A narrative review is highly subjective and remote from the concept of systematic reviewing, although the gap is beginning to narrow. Narrative reviewing is closer to the idea of trial and error than exhaustive
surveying. Usually guided by a hypothesis, the researcher can change the focus of research as a result of this kind of review. Clearly more
appropriate to qualitative research, in that separate viewpoints are likely to be more interesting than a gradual build-up of a conclusion, it must be fully and comprehensively referenced.
Page reference: 101-103 Question 8
When accessing the internet, which of these steps is the most essential?
Your answer:
b) Noting the access dates
Correct answer:
d) They are all equally important Feedback:
The internet is a powerful aid to research but its ease of use sometimes causes problems. Complex sites may be difficult to navigate through a second time and the URL may well have shown up via a search. Some people advise the saving (or book-marking) of searches, a simple
procedure. In any event, the full URL and access dates are required for proper referencing. Because of the dynamic nature of the internet, your sources should be downloaded and saved for presentation (if required).
Page reference: 106 Question 9
According to the Harvard referencing convention, pick out the correct version of showing this book in a bibliography:
Your answer:
a) Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2011, 3e) Business Research Methods, Oxford;
Oxford University Press
Feedback:
The Harvard convention takes a little time to get used to but its popularity as a form of author-date referencing lies in its ability to leave the main body of text relatively uncluttered and obliges the use of a bibliography, or list of references. In the bibliography, titles are listed alphabetically by author, followed by year of publication, full title and publisher details.
Page reference: 112, 113 (Tips and skills) Question 10
Which of the following statements about plagiarism is most accurate?
Your answer:
d) Plagiarism is such an awful crime that those found guilty should be obliged to wear a scarlet "P" on their clothing.
Correct answer:
c) Any suggestion that we have written what another actually wrote is morally wrong. Anyway, the whole point of a literature review is to show what we have read and what we thought about it.
Feedback:
Option (d) might be favored by some academics but it is, perhaps, too extreme a punishment for what is undoubtedly a crime. Perpetrating a fraud, or a lie, knowingly is reprehensible and, in the realm of research, may be destructive of others' work. There is a danger with on-line
resources, particularly, to fall victim of the very advantages offered.
These include copying and pasting utilities, contained in most computer software packages. Institutional rules vary but most agree on upper limits of the amounts of direct quotation that may be used. It is a lot lower than many students seem to imagine. Another consideration, of no less
importance, concerns copyright. Authors and publishers will permit a very small amount of direct quotation if full attribution of the text is given.
Larger amounts need express permission.
Page reference: 116-118
Chapter 05 Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
There is a tendency for debates about ethics in social research to focus on the most extreme cases of ethical transgression. Why might this create a misleading impression?
a) Because these studies did not actually take place.
b) Because it makes social researchers look like nasty,