Evaluating Literature and Asking Research Questions

Seminar 2: Evaluating Literature and Asking Research Questions (week 3)

Part A: Evaluating Literature

Your task:

For this you will need the three articles obtained for Seminar 1. Alternatively obtain three more but they must be recent high quality peer review journal articles relevant to your special area of interest. articles can be used if they are still the latest in your special area of interest but no article should be over ten years old. The articles should report empirical studies.

Make brief notes on each article following the headings below.

A. The journal and authors:

Is the journal trustworthy? Who edits it? Who reads it? How is it valued by academic agencies and critics, for example the Association of Business Schools? (see http://www.associationofbusinessschools.org/node/1000257 accessed 1/2/12).

Are the authors trustworthy? Which institution are the authors from (e.g. one of the top Universities in the world, see http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings, accessed 1/2/12)? Is there work generally cited by other authors? Who cites them?

B. Content of the paper

Is it relevant to your purpose? Why?

What is the key message of the paper? Is this clear or is it ambiguous or unclear? Is it new?

What is the contribution of the paper? What theory or body of knowledge is it contributing to? (i.e. What theories are referred to in the paper? What theories are the main focus of the argument?)

Is the argument clear (if unclear is it because of the use of technical language or is it weak argument?)