COURSE TITLE: Research Methodology in Commerce

COURSE CODE: IC701

SUBMITTED TO:

Dr. Biswajit Ghose,

Department of Commerce,

Tezpur University

SUBMITTED BY:

Padum Chetry

Roll No: COP20102

Research Scholar,

Department of Commerce,

Tezpur University
Literature Review

Every research needs to be informed by existing knowledge in the particular field. The literature
review recognizes and organizes the concepts in relevant literature. Literature review is not
simply a summary to assemble information from different sources like journals and articles. It is
a process which involves a critical evaluation of concept in the particular field, identifying the
similarities as well as differences between existing literatures and the study being undertaken. It
basically reviews what have already been done in the selected area. Therefore, on the basis of the
existing knowledge, people can build up innovative idea and concept for further research
purpose.

Purpose of Literature:

Following are the purpose of literature review according to Hart (1998)

 Highlight specific augments and idea about the particular area.

 Helps to show what is known and or has been studied on the topic and also to identify the
flaws and gap for further study.
 Demonstrates to the reader the importance of researching the topic.
 Helps to justify the originality of the research i.e. to avoid unnecessary duplication.
 Can help to evaluate promising research methods.
 Helps to relate the findings to previous knowledge and suggest further research.

The literature review helps to answer the following queries:

 Knowledge about the research area

 The current theories, trends and themes in the particular field
 Helps in identifying the inconsistencies, implications and shortcomings of previous
studies.
 Helps in identifying the need of further investigation because evidence is lacking,
inconclusive, contradictory and/or limited
 Helps to identify the methodological approaches followed in the particular studies
 Helps to identify the contribution of the current study make to the current stock of
knowledge.
Different approaches to conduct a literature review:

There are different approaches for conducting the review. Based on the outcome expected, an
approach is selected. The broad types that will be presented and discussed include the systematic
review, the semi-systematic review, and the integrative review.

Systematic Literature Review approach

A systematic review can be explained as a process for identifying and critically appraising
relevant research, as well as for collecting and analyzing data from said research. The aim of a
systematic review is to identify all empirical evidence that fits the pre-specified inclusion criteria
to answer a particular research question or hypothesis. By using explicit and systematic methods
when reviewing articles and all available evidence, bias can be minimized, thus providing
reliable findings from which conclusions can be drawn and decisions made (Moher et al., 2009).

Semi-systematic or narrative review approach

It is considered as traditional method of literature review. It tries to review the qualitative aspect
of existing literature. It is designed for topics that have been conceptualized differently and
studied by various groups of researchers within diverse disciplines and that hinder a full
systematic review process (Wong et al., 2013). Typically, this type of literature review is
conducted to evaluate the state of knowledge on a particular topic. It can be used, for example, to
create research agendas, identify gaps in research, or simply discuss a particular matter.

Integrative review

In an integrative review usually has a different purpose, with the aim to assess, critique, and
synthesize the literature on a research topic in a way that enables new theoretical frameworks
and perspectives to emerge. The purpose of using an integrative review method is to overview
the knowledge base, to critically review and potentially re-conceptualize, and to expand on the
theoretical foundation of the specific topic as it develops. This type of review often requires a
more creative collection of data, as the purpose is usually not to cover all articles ever published
on the topic but rather to combine perspectives and insights from different fields or research
traditions.

The process of conducting a literature review:

In the following, the basics steps to be considered in conducting a literature review are discussed
using six phases (Rhoades, 2011):

1. Define the topic or research question

A good research question acts as a guide, clearly providing focused structure for the literature review
process. Formulation of an appropriate research topic enables the reviewer to develop a plan of action
for the literature search.
2. Identify the relevant information: inclusion/exclusion criteria and keywords
The second step of the review process involves establishing inclusion and exclusion criteria based on
the variables of interest within the research question. . Keywords are central to the search for studies
considered relevant to the topic or research question studies; keywords are used to search different
databases.
3. Screen all and exclude the irrelevant studies
When all papers are compiled and abstracts are read, the next step is to identify those studies
potentially relevant to the research question. The irrelevant ones excluded, then relevant papers are
screened again to ensure consistent relevance to the research question and all identified variables.
4. Scrutinize the relevant studies
Using a critical appraisal framework, the methodological quality, relevance, and credibility of each
paper is determined. Based on this qualitative level of assessment, all biases are noted and poor
quality studies are excluded.
5. Extract data and develop graphic organizers
Remaining studies are determined to be relevant, credible, and essentially of sound methodological
design. Reported findings from these studies are extracted onto a data extraction form.
6. Develop conclusions and recommendations
The last part of a good literature review, regardless of whether it is qualitative or quantitative,
provides an impartial summary description of the evidence generated by each relevant and credible
study.

Systematic Review of the Literature

In many times, a systematic review is referred to as “best-evidence syntheses” or “practice-based

research syntheses” (Dunst, 2009). This is a comprehensive, transparent as well as unbiased
review of the literature undertaken according to a clearly defined and systematic approach. The
process of integrating findings across many studies pertinent to a particular research question is
an ideal first step in systematic literature review. Systematic reviews are time consuming process
that involves a focused cross-disciplinary search strategy with clearly stated criteria for inclusion
and exclusion of the literature. Often, statistical methods, such as the meta-analysis, are used to
integrate the results of the selected studies. A meta-analysis is a statistical method of combining
results from different studies to compare and to identify patterns, disagreements, or relationships
that appear in the context of multiple studies on the same topic.

There are several advantages of conducting a systematic review. For example, we can determine
whether an impact is constant across studies and helps to identify the future studies that are
required to be conducted to demonstrate the effect. Techniques such as whether studies
conducted in one cultural context show significantly different results from those conducted in
other cultural contexts

Literature review on Forensic accounting education:

The financial scandals, unique differences between financial audit and methodologies of fraud
audit, traditional education system, increased used of Information Technology (IT) has given an
extra push to Fraud and Forensic Accounting Education. Financial crimes, scandals, economic
and technological innovation and other societal factors are the trigger point for education in
Forensic Accounting (FA) in digital environment (Pearson &Singleton, 2008). The higher level
of Investigative and Forensic Accountant’s (IFA) works requires professional education (Brooks
& Labelle, 2006). Similar notion is described by Akyel (2012) i that the basic bachelor’s degree
in FA is not enough. The education system must provide training in four issues i.e. financial
transaction, Investigation, Legal issues and Criminology. The challenges in imparting Forensic
Accounting Education (FAE) is institutional in nature rather than lack of demand from employer
and students i.e. lack of qualified instructor, allocation of teaching resources, integration of FA
curriculum, delivering up to date topics, (Rezaee& Burton, 1997; Brooks & Labelle, 2006,
Rezaee, et.al, 2015; Kramer et al., 2017). Existing accounting education does not adequately
prepare students for fraud detection skills and does not fulfil the demand of society (Pearson &
Singleton, 2008; Rezaee, et.al, 2015ii). The probable solutions offered by scholars in the domain
are:

Options Particulars Source

Introducing separate program Short (fractional course) Brooks & Labelle, 2006
module in senior year in Ramamoorti, 2008iii
accounting.
Faculty of business,
criminology and law to
impart training, education
and research in the field of
fraud and FA

Integrating FA topics with In accounting and auditing (Rezaee& Burton, 1997)

existing topics courses at the graduate or at a (Rezaee, et.al, 2015)
combined graduate-
undergraduate level
Introducing separate FA Graduate and post graduate Kramer et.al (2017); Seda &
course level. Kramer (2014); (Rezaee&
The collaboration of Burton, 1997)
departments like criminal
justice, digital forensics,
cyber securities, economics,
finance, law, IT.
Organizing training Training on fraud audit is Pearson &Singleton (2008)
programs/ conferences/ important
seminars/ workshops

Collaboration between Academic and practitioners Charles et al.(n.d)iv

professional institutes and community should
Universities for offering FAE collaborate for providing
better educational
 opportunity

Considering its importance, researcher concluded that students having FAE and training have
higher chances of selection in job market (Burton, 1997). There is no fix course/program design
and the topic selection is depends upon the target audience, desired level of understanding and
availability of delivery time (Brooks & Labelle, 2006). National Institute of Justice (NIJ) project v
had developed a model curriculum for imparting fraud and forensic accounting education
(Pearson &Singleton, 2008).
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