Conducting research
Reviewing the literature
Before commencing your research, you will need to review what has already been written on the subject.
You will need to find out:
- What is the most important writing on the subject
- What key contributions to findings have been made in this area, and who contributed them
- How previous research leads up to your research
You will also need to:
- Show awareness of current state of knowledge of the topic
- Evaluate what has been written already
- Only mention relevant texts, not everything you have read – select carefully
- Group similar ideas together
- Compare results of different investigations
- Keep records of what you’ve read
Planning your research
Think about:
- How will you obtain answers to your questions?
- Who are you researching? Who do you plan to speak to/observe?
- Where will your study be based (geographical area)?
- When will you carry out your research?
- How will you collect your data?
- What will you look for from your data?
- What kind of data will you collect? (e.g. ideas, opinions, numbers)
(Adapted from O’Leary, 2017, 125)