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64 THE RESEARCH PROCESS

unaware of their impact, or because the variables seem so obvious to the inter-
viewees that they are not specifically stated. If there are variables that are not
identified during the interviews, but influence the problem critically, then
research done without considering them would be an exercise in futility. In such
a case, the true reason for the problem would remain unidentified even at the
end of the research. To avoid such possibilities the researcher needs to delve into
all the important research work relating to the particular problem area.
The following example will help to highlight the importance of the literature sur-
vey. In establishing employee selection procedures, a company might be doing the
right things such as administering the appropriate tests to assess the applicants’ ana-
lytical skills, judgment, leadership, motivation, oral and written communication
skills, and the like. Yet, it might be consistently losing excellent MBAs hired as man-
agers, within a year, although highly paid. The reasons for the turnover of MBAs
may not be identified while conducting interviews with the candidates. However, a
review of the literature might indicate that when employees have unmet job expec-
tations (that is, their original expectations of their role and responsibilities do not
match actual experiences), they will be inclined to quit the organization. Talking
further to the company officials, it might be found that realistic job previews are
never offered to the candidates at the time of the interview. This might explain why
the candidates experience frustration on the job and leave after a while. This impor-
tant factor significantly influencing the turnover of managerial employees, may not
have come to light but for the literature survey. If this variable is not included in the
research investigation, the problem may not be solved at all!
Sometimes it might happen that the investigator spends considerable time and
effort to “discover” something that has already been thoroughly researched. A liter-
ature review would prevent such a waste of resources in reinventing the wheel.
However, because every situation is unique, further research has to proceed taking
into consideration the relevant variables applicable to it. Finally, a good literature
survey could in itself be the basis of qualitative research, as for instance, tracing the
origins and progress of technology and predicting where it is headed in the future.
A survey of the literature not only helps the researcher to include all the rele-
vant variables in the research project, but also facilitates the creative integration
of the information gathered from the structured and unstructured interviews with
what is found in previous studies. In other words, it gives a good basic frame-
work to proceed further with the investigation. A good literature survey thus pro-
vides the foundation for developing a comprehensive theoretical framework
from which hypotheses can be developed for testing. The development of the
theoretical framework and hypotheses is discussed in the next chapter.
A good literature survey thus ensures that:

1. Important variables that are likely to influence the problem situation are not
left out of the study.
2. A clearer idea emerges as to what variables would be most important to con-
sider (parsimony), why they would be considered important, and how they
should be investigated to solve the problem. Thus, the literature survey helps
the development of the theoretical framework and hypotheses for testing.