Page 81 - [Uma_Sekaran]_Research_methods_for_business__a_sk(BookZZ.org)

LITERATURE SURVEY 65

3. The problem statement can be made with precision and clarity.
4. Testability and replicability of the findings of the current research are enhanced.
5. One does not run the risk of “reinventing the wheel” that is, wasting efforts
on trying to rediscover something that is already known.
6. The problem investigated is perceived by the scientific community as relevant
and significant.

Conducting the Literature Survey
Based on the specific issues of concern to the manager and the factors identified
during the interview process, a literature review needs to be done on these vari-
ables. The first step in this process involves identifying the various published and
unpublished materials that are available on the topics of interest, and gaining
access to these. The second step is gathering the relevant information either by
going through the necessary materials in a library or by getting access to online
sources. The third step is writing up the literature review. These are now discussed.

Identifying the Relevant Sources

Previously, one had to manually go through several bibliographical indexes that
are compiled periodically, listing the journals, books, and other sources in which
published work in the area of interest can be found. However, with modern
technology, locating sources where the topics of interest have been published
has become easy. Almost every library today has computer online systems to
locate and print out the published information on various topics.
Global business information, published articles in newspapers and periodicals,
and conference proceedings, among other sources, are all now available on data-
bases. Computerized databases include bibliographies, abstracts, and full texts of
articles on various business topics. Statistical and financial databases are also eas-
ily accessible. Computer hardware and software enable the storage, updating,
and display of information on global activities. Economic indicators and other
data for various countries can be tracked easily. Statistical abstracts and the like,
now available on CD-ROM and on the Internet, bring to the researcher all the
information needed for research at the press of the appropriate computer keys.
Basically, three forms of databases come in handy while reviewing the litera-
ture, as indicated below.
1. The bibliographic databases, which display only the bibliographic citations,
that is, the name of the author, the title of the article (or book), source of pub-
lication, year, volume, and page numbers. These have the same information
as found in the Bibliographic Index books in libraries, which are periodically
updated, and include articles published in periodicals, newspapers, books,
and so on.
2. The abstract databases, which in addition provide an abstract or summary
of the articles.
3. The full-text databases, which provide the full text of the article.