A profound understanding of the current literature is key to high-quality research! Our guest, Nazeefa, explains the importance of conceptual literature review.

Research is nothing but searching again and again for a solution to some issue unless you get a satisfactory answer for the particular problem.

In everyday life we come across many types of problems, we think and think continuously about solving it, but as an individual, we cannot solve or change the entire system. Yet, the problem keeps on appearing in front of you time and time again.

A common person tries to adjust their life to somehow live with these problems. On the other hand, a researcher always thrives to find a way out to solve these problems.

Why conceptual literature review is key to developing a successful research project?

The main part of the research is the review of the literature. The more you dig into the literature, the broader understanding you’ll have of the issue you selected to investigate. By reviewing more and more literature, you get a more profound idea about your selected topic. Many researchers will have previously conducted studies regarding various topics which may or may not relate to the current situation. But as you review the literature, the doors for the solution are opening.

To take a systematic approach to the literature review, you can review the current literature according to the concepts in the topic. It is also known as a conceptual literature review. Here are the key steps you can take to perform such a conceptual literature review for your research project

Start your conceptual literature review with a broader sense, and then get into the specifics

Researching is a huge task. So it can be confusing as to how and where to start the basic internet search.

Online resources like Google and Wikipedia, though not always accurate, are a great way to orient in a topic, since they usually give a basic overview with a brief history and any key points.

These can direct you to more authoritative sources, such as academic books and journals.

Track your progress and manage your time

Doing research may appear to take a long time, but the time flies very fast when you actually start doing research.

As a researcher, you should always keep track of your activities and the time you spend on them. A well-planned timetable will be useful for you, as it will give you a sense of progress and deadlines to track your progress.

If the resource of time is not utilized properly, you will need to rush your research, compromising the quality of your work.

Learn how to recognize a quality source for your conceptual literature review

Remember, not every source is reliable. So to deliver high-quality research, it’s crucial that you can distinguish the good sources from the not-so-good ones.

To determine a reliable source, you’ll need to use your analytical skills and critical thinking, and ask yourself the following questions:

• Does this source agree with other sources I have found?
• Is the author an expert in the field?
• Does the author’s point of view have a conflict of interest regarding this topic?
• Has this source been peer-reviewed?
• Is the journal published by recognized publisher?

Verify information from several sources

The internet is a large and confusing place. And, for the most part, anyone can say whatever they want online—many websites don’t evaluate their content for factual accuracy. This means that there are plenty of unreliable resources out there, and even many that are outright incorrect.

The best way to combat this is to make sure that whatever you find in your research, several different sources can verify that it is true. Rather than using a single source, make sure that you find at least two sources that say something similar.

Be open to surprising answers from your conceptual literature review

Good research and conceptual literature review are all about finding answers to your research questions—not necessarily as a way to verify what you already think you know.

Solely looking for confirmation is a very limiting research strategy, since it involves picking and choosing what information to collect and prevents you from developing the most accurate understanding of the topic.

When you conduct research and write your conceptual literature review, make sure to keep an open mind, consider the pros and cons of the solutions you evaluate, so that you can gain as profound understanding of the problem you evaluate as possible.

Stay organized during your research

During the data collection process, you’ll be seeing a huge amount of information. Depending on your area of study, you may use anything from web pages through PDFs to videos.

It’s vital that you keep all of this information organized in some way to prevent yourself from losing something or not being able to cite something properly.

There are plenty of ways to keep your research project organized, but here are a few common ones: Bookmarks in your Internet browser, index cards, and an annotated bibliography that you keep updated as you proceed in your collection of information. You can also use tools like Mendeley or Zotero to keep track of your references.

Take advantage of library resources

If you still have questions about researching, don’t worry—there are plenty of places to help you out, even if you’re not a student doing academic or course-related research.

In fact, many high school and university libraries offer resources not only for faculty members and research students, but also for the larger community. Be sure to check out library websites for research guides or access to specific databases related to your topic.

Conclusions

In conclusion, there would many obstacles in the research process, including problems in getting the relevant literature related to your topic. A conceptual literature review can do just that!

But as a researcher, your enthusiasm and passion for your topic should be enough to overcome any difficulty in research. As a researcher, you are a light that fades away the darkness. If you are interested and very much committed to your research, then no one could stop or discourage you.