Technology Research Preparation Week 4

Literature Review

Identifies, evaluates and synthesises literature releveant to your proposed research topic.

Shows how knowledge has evolved within your field by highlighting what has already been done. What is generally accepted, what is emerging and what is the current state of thinking on the topic.

Culminates in Identifying a knowledge gap (unexplored or under-researched areas) that determines the formulation of your research proposal (fills the gap).

Assumptions

1. Helps you identify work already done or in progress that is relevant to your proposed research.
2. Prevent you from duplicating what has already been done.
3. Helps you to avoid pitfalls and errors of previous research.
4. Helps you design the research methodology (framework) for your proposal by identifying key issues, data collection techniques and measures for success suited to your topic.
5. Enables you to objectively find knowledge gaps in existing research thereby giving your proposed research an achievable goal

The literature review provides logical, objective and rigorous analysis that justifies your identification of the knowledge gap.

Your research proposal is about how you will fill the knowledge gap

Justification

Right and reasonable

1. Using a variety of supported (cited) perspectives (journal articles from independent sources) to counteract introducing bias in analysis.
2. Leveraging and linking concepts from your literature synthesis to support choices in your research methodology (measures, confidence levels, alternatives, and so on).
3. Providing a risk analysis with remediation strategies to cover possible issues that may be encountered in conducting the research.
4. Providing objective support in showing the proposed research is achievable.
5. Undertaking a benefits analysis from successfully completing your proposed research.