Discribe about literature review on strengths and weaknesses and generalizability?
Research can be described as a systemic investigation into a subject using various sources to establish facts as well as reach conclusive points. Based on research, existing knowledge databases are increased or improved to arrive at newer applications to cater to the objective of the research. The objective can vary from theorizing a hypothesis or supporting an already established fact to negating a theory that no longer explains a phenomenon. In certain cases where the objective is to develop insights into a project by testing the validity of processes used in the original project, an element or the project as a whole is simulated (R. K. 2013).
The research begins with the identification of the research problem that subsequently is followed by formulation of specific questions about research. Base on this a method or multiple methods appropriate to the task are selected, and data is collected using the chosen technique/ techniques (R. F. 2011). The final step of the research processes characterized by refining the data to eliminate the redundancy, and retain the promising data so that a conclusion can be arrived. The findings of the research are then communicated or in some cases, recommendations are also drafted for a possible strategy/ theory (J. W. 2013).
A literature review can be described as a scholarly work in text form that is produced using the current knowledge base citing intriguing findings as well as theoretical citations about a particular topic. This method is largely a secondary research method and does not produce original work in any form or a factual piece of research. It is more identifiable as a subjective and guideline imparting work that supports an already established theory/ method or fact. The basic purpose of literature review is to support an already stated scholarly work so that a new research project incidental to the work can be proposed effectively.
Literature review holds high value in gauging the status of research in the chosen field by the researcher. When a research team selects a subject to research on, a Literature review helps to determine the level of research that has already been conducted in the field so that the existing knowledge base can be built. Based on the literature review, a research can identify the key experts on a particular subject. When the researcher explores the articles for the literature review, the writer who has the maximum amount of contribution on particular subject can be identified as experts and can be reached out to in case of consultation needed on a subject (Z. 2013).
The literature review also helps in extracting the right questions that a research needs to answer. Much research papers/ literature review shed light on few questions that lay the stepping-stones of the next natural question. Building on this cascade, a definitive question can be arrived that get improved by the level of existing research in the field (C. 2013).
However, literature review has many disadvantages attached to it with the major one being its incompleteness. The literature review cannot be taken as a concrete foundational block for any decision or research as it is based on the subjectivity of the individual rather than objective, substantial data. This data has been perceived to be relevant and irrelevant materials making the research lackluster in its appeal. Many times literature review is based on the scholarly material that is likely obsolete which renders to review useless for further use for its prospective reader. Also, literature review is limited by the amount of prior research data on the subject. If the subject is thoroughly covered and researched upon, chances of creating a strong literature review are high while the review weakens with less prior work in the field. Access to the relevant data also assumes greater importance even if the researcher in the field finds extensive work being already done to build on.
A literature review finds extensive applications in research projects that are largely limited by their size and scope. Any project while does not hold substantial value does not attract investments, which makes a literature review a cost effective method of reinforcing a fact by the research team. Collaborating parts from various researches that form a conclusive material can improve the existing database.
A literature review has also been identified as instrumental in case of a field of experimentation/ research that has been thoroughly covered and hence with the present set of resources no change to the database can be made. A number of relevant sources increase the applicability of literature reviews as the quality improves. Also in organizational parlance when the research is solely aimed at arriving at a guideline than an elaborated fact list, literature review holds high preference. In such cases, the most effective way to deliver a conclusive work is literature review, as with the time and resources, no other research method seems efficient. Another area where literature review has extensive application is where the decision or conclusion is largely independent of the research to be conducted (J. A. 2012).
The scope of the literature review is limited in nature as a result of which it cannot be generalized in the true sense. The reason for limitation of literature review lies in the nature of the research methodology- secondary. As the data used in a literature review is secondary, the relevance, as well as, genuineness of the source is unknown. Another limitation of the literature review that does not allow generalization is that no new experiment or project to negate or support theory is conduced which weakens the case for literature review. The review has also been perceived as highly subjective in nature as a result of which the application of the review is limited by the extent of the grasp of the writer on the matter and the recommendations that he introduced thereof. For the generalization of the research methodology, it should exhibit consistency in the results where it is applied and since literature review varies from individual to individual, the results also obtained exhibit such characteristic (Bell, E. 2015).
One of the major issues associated with literature review is the access to quality information to the researcher. In most cases, the material required for literature review is not electronic and hence limited to physical libraries separated by geographies that make the access practically impossible. This leads to usage of alternate material for literature review that can altogether change the direction of the research. Ethical considerations also cloud literature review as the individual can introduce facts that are misleading in nature and can result in misguiding the reader of the review. The quality of literature review is also dependent largely on the subjectivity of individual/ team as the selection of articles/ work can be both constructive and redundant in nature (J. W. 2013).
In some instances literature review has been found to be biased for an element in the review that appeals to the individual/ team working on the review. This can lead to results that are infected by biasing hence yield weak scholarly work. The dilemma between usage of quantitative work or qualitative work also looms large in case of the literature review that results in a wide spectrum of findings/ results of literature review (E. 2013).
The interview is a qualitative research method where an interviewer or a group of interviewer asks questions from people to extract facts or statements from them. It is a primary research method and has found it’s used in various research contexts. The subjects have different comprehension for different individuals that make the substratum of an interview. Understanding the meaning of the statements made by the interviewee is the main task of any interview (J. 2015).
An interview is an intern man interaction and is deemed to be a far more personal form of research than any other methodology. Unlike the mailing or questionnaire form of research, an interview opens the window for communication and consequent probing. The interview is particularly very easy for the interviewee’s point of view if the objective is mapping the opinion of the subject. Although interviews are time-consuming and resource taxing, they are the only research methodology that can unravel thin facts and insights in a field of study. The chances of conflicts are also reduced considerably in an interview as all the miscommunications are accounted for and cleared on the spot (S. B. 2014).
One of the key identifiable strength of interview method is the level of details that can be revealed through it. The interview can give the exact picture of a specific event or thought process in an interview as well as give other cues to the interviewer. Indications such as voice, tone, body language and emotional balance at each answer of the interviewee can give an added dimension to the interviewer that is almost impossible with any other research method. These hidden details of the answers of the interviewee can deliver the correlation between objects, elements and people in a lucid manner. Another key advantage of this method is that it can be tailored to suit a particular respondent to extract the exact information required for the project at hand. More illustrations regarding the statements made and clarity on the facts exhibited by the respondent can be easily accommodated in an interview. Interviews can also aid in creating a better version of a report as the comprehension of the researcher improves with an interview form of research (A. 2012).
However, interview method has some inherent weaknesses with the major one being the arrangement of an interview. The people required as interviewers are hard to find, and so is the time, place and venue of interview. Another major weakness of interview is that the method is very hard to administer by the interviewer. During the interview, the interviewer has to make the interviewee feel comfortable, focus on the questions that need to be asked and at the same time observe the non verbal communication. A common consequence of many interviews is the missing data that makes it difficult for the researchers to compare populations used for the research. An interview although reveals more than what is required but can often miss crucial information (Y. S. 2011).
Interview method finds extensive use in many situations with the prominent one being a topic that requires opinions rather than factual data. Businesses, operations or theories that are related to human interactions and opinions have large application of interview method for further extrapolation of the established theories. For instance, in knowing the preferences of the citizens of U.K. while opening a new restaurant chain can be easily determined using interview method as the details required can only be known using this method (M. 2012).
In situations where the data required is highly qualitative in nature, interview method finds applications. An example of such situation is phenomenon such as paranormal activity that has not found any data at all and still is guided by the perceptions of the experts on the matter (H. (2011).
Also, in a situation where the requirements include determination of personalities or any other demographic factor, interview method is a reliable method. In such cases the responses given by the respondent’s acts as cues for the research team to work on, as quantitative data cannot explain the effects. An example to support this application is a research to know the consumer behavior of an area by an e-commerce can be done using interview method (R. (Eds.). 2013).
The results obtained using interview method can be generalized depending on various factors about the interview. One of the most important factors that determine the extent to which an interview result can be generalized is the sample size of interview. If the sample size is large enough the results obtained can be easily generalized while if the sample size is small, the results remain inconclusive. The representation of every kind of respondent in the interview method also affects the generalization of the outcome of the method. If the sample chosen is representative in nature the results can be fairly said to be a fact (A. 2014).
Another factor that determines the generalization of the method is the relevance of questions being asked in an interview. If the questions are very different and are not relevant to the subject at hand, generalization is not possible in this case (A. 2012).
Interview method has always been accompanied by many bottlenecks in its successful administration. The foremost issue that interview method has is the resource availability. Resources such as human resource for interviewing and question preparation, decoding the responses and arranging the interview are needed in interview method that makes it a difficult method to administer. Another issue the affects the outcomes of this research is bias. Since interview is a human interaction, the chances of personal biases affecting the judgments is very high which defeats the purpose of the research and renders the data collected useless (J. 2014).
The issue of ethics also affects this method since the faithfulness of the process is up to the discretion of the interviewer. For the correct representation of the population sample size selection also forms a key issue as the perception of an adequate sample size is very subjective in nature and moreover larger sample sizes are very difficult to administer (A. 2013).
Conclusion
In conclusion it can be said that no method is perfect in nature and the selection of one methodology over another depends on the situation where the method has to be applied. Selection of research techniques is a tradeoff where it is chosen for its advantages and the accommodation of disadvantages that a particular situation provides.
Literature review is an easy and resource optimized method of research where the researches are substantially based on existing data rather than new experiments (D. M. 2014). This method is largely applicable in situations where data present is sufficient to draw insights from for a particular subject. This method however cannot be generalized due to its large dependency on the sources of error such as human discretion (I. 2013).
Interview method on the other hand is required in situations where the focus on the opinions and thought process of the respondents forms great importance. This method is, however, difficult to administer and analyze and can vary from one individual to another. However in interview method, the generalization is possible if all the factors responsible are for generalization such as large population size, representativeness of the sample and competent interviewer and overall research team (D. 2013).
References
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