MASTER DISSERTATION

Systematic
Literature

MSU ,GNIREENIGNE LIVIC FO LOOHCS

Review
Dr. Noorhazlinda Abd Rahman
 Key takeaways:

Things
SLR in overview
SLR: Concept

to discuss
SLR: Protocol
SLR: Searching Strategy
SLR: Data Extraction
SLR: Data Analysis and Synthesis
SLR: Dissertation Structure

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SLR in Overview
Purpose and where to apply.

SLR is a process or methodology that can be utilized

in order to:
Case 1: produce articles [publication];
Case 2: conduct a secondary research/case study;
Case 3: write and produce thesis;
Case 4: practice the systematic searching strategies
for Chapter 2 of the thesis only.

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SLR in Overview
SLR process

A. Planning:
Review protocol or established guideline;
Formulation of research questions;
B. Conducting:
Systematic searching strategies
(identification, screening, and eligibility);
Appraisal of quality (quality assessment
criteria);
Data extraction and synthesis;
C. Reporting:
Reporting the process and the review
(results).
SLR: A Concept
What is SLR?
What is SLR?
A research methodology designed to answer
The definition a focused research/review question.
Objectives
A method/ process/ protocol in which a body
of literature is aggregated, reviewed, and
SLR vs. Traditional LR assessed by utilizing pre-specified and
standardized techniques.
The differences

SLR is one of the many research

methodologies that can be used to conduct
secondary research.
Advantages
The importance

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 What is SLR?
SLR: A Concept
The whole process in SLR can be summarized into
three (3) phases:
What is SLR? Phase 1: The planning.
The definition The systematic review protocol will be
established first and followed by the
Objectives
formulation of review questions.
Phase 2: The conducting.
Three different sub-processes are performed
SLR vs. Traditional LR in searching the right scholarly sources. Also,
The differences the work involved in extracting the data,
analyzing and synthesizing data. the
Phase 3: Reporting phase.
The phase of writing up all the protocols
Advantages involved in SLR and data extraction and
The importance synthesis findings. It also answers the review
questions formulated in the first phase.

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SLR: A Concept
SLR: A Concept
Objectives
What is SLR? The objective of SLR is to confirm the
The definition rigorousness of searching efforts
Objectives conducted for scholarly sources.

The SLR in chapter two of the thesis is a

PROCESS where it ensures that students/
SLR vs. Traditional LR
researchers have conducted a rigorous
The differences search to ensure that the material they obtain
to form a review is relevant, good quality, and
up-to-date [Dr. Hayrol Azril Mohamed Shafril,
2020].
Advantages
The importance

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 SLR vs. Traditional LR
The differences
tpecnoC A :RLS
SLR: A Concept
Advantages
[The importance]

1. Collection from a broad range of sources.

2. Reduce bias because the rationale, the
hypothesis, and the methods of data
collection are prepared before the review
and are used as a guide for performing the
process.
3. Offer a sense of rigor.
4. Increase replicability of the review.

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SLR: Protocol
The protocol specifies all of the procedures
followed by researchers during a review to
neutralize author bias.
The review protocol is one of the main aspects that
differentiate SLRs from conventional literature
reviews.

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SLR: Protocol
FORMULATION OF REVIEW QUESTIONS (RQs)

A systematic review is based on a pre-defined specific

review topic and objectives.
Then, from there, the review questions can be formulated.
Systematic reviews can address a diverse range of
questions;
However, RQ should be clear, focused, well-formulated,
and answerable.

Well-formulated questions will guide many aspects of the review process, including determining eligibility criteria,
searching for studies, collecting data from included studies, and presenting findings

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SLR: Searching Strategy
Process to enrich the keywords.
01.
Database.
IDENTIFICATION
Diverse search techniques.

The filtering process based on:

1. timeline;
02.
2. publication types;
SCREENING
3. language.

A second process in screening:

03. A process to ensure that all articles selected
ELIGIBILITY
from the screening process meet the set
criteria.
 NEXT

SLR: Searching Strategy

Identification - to enrich the keywords

1. Derive main terms: from topic/objectives (or research questions);

2. Enrich the main terms: synonym, related and variation terms;
3. More terms (keywords), then more research articles can be obtained,
hence more papers can be reviewed.

SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

4. Perform searching in different database: (a) leading database; (b)
supporting database.
5. Use different techniques for searching: (a) advanced searching, (b)
manual (handpicking, snowballing, and contact author).
6. Using Boolean “OR” for synonym, related and variation terms.
7. Link main terms using Boolean “AND”;
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SLR: Searching Strategy

Boolean Operator
Advanced searching :
(1) full search string;
(2) partial search string.

"OR"
synonym, related and variation terms
Example: "compression member" OR "column" OR
"strut"

"AND"
to link main terms
Example: ("cold-formed steel") AND ("compression
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member" OR "column" OR "strut")
 NEXT

SLR: Searching Strategy

Screening - filtering process

1. Screening articles should be after we have identified potential articles

to be reviewed in "Identification" process.
2. The purpose of screening is to select which articles are relevant to be
reviewed.
3. Decide relevancy to be reviewed by "include and exclude" process based
on 3 criteria: (a) timeline publication; (b) publication types; (c) language.

SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

4. Timeline publication: based on the maturity of the study.
5. Publication types: research articles, review articles, books chapter,
newspaper, encyclopedia.
6. Language: English and BM.
7. Screening can also be based on other relevant factors (according to the
topic you want to research): country, field of research, etc.
 NEXT

SLR: Searching Strategy

Eligibility - 2nd phase of filtering process

1. In "Screening" process, we have "cut down" few numbers of articles to

be reviewed and we now have the relevant articles to be reviewed.
2. 2nd filtering process - read titles and abstract to confirm eligibility of
the articles to be reviewed.

SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

3. Finalized articles to be reviewed.
4. Should be conducted by at least 2 reviewers (e.g.: yourself and
supervisor)
 SLR: Searching
Strategy
Eligibility - 2nd phase of filtering process

Quality assessment appraisal is conducted to

confirm the reliability of the articles being reviewed
in SLR.
One of the reliable mechanisms of increasing the
level of confidence in the findings of an SLR is by
defining the quality criteria of the data being
reviewed.

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 SLR: Searching Strategy
Some of the quality criteria are:
Is there a rationale for why the study was undertaken?
Is there an adequate description of the context (e.g. industry,
laboratory setting, products used, etc.) in which the research was
carried out?
Did the paper present sufficient detail about the empirical and
numerical approach to allow it to be understood and assessed?
Did the case study (if exists) employ a single or multiple case
research design?
Did the case study consider construction validity, internal validity,
external validity, and reliability to the study?
Is there a description and justification of the research design,
including a statement of what the result should be (e.g. a construct, a
model, a method, or an instantiation)?
Is there a clear statement of findings with sufficient data to support
any conclusions?
Do the authors discuss the credibility of their findings?
Are the limitations of the study discussed explicitly?
 Data extraction is the process by which researchers
obtain the necessary information about study

Data
characteristics and findings from the included studies.
Data extraction requirements will vary from review to
review, and the extraction forms should be tailored to

Extraction the review question.

The first stage of any data extraction is to plan the
type of analyses and list the tables that will be
included in the report.
 Key steps:
a. Identify the data that you want to extract
(descriptive data or analytical data).

Data
b. Build or pilot your data extraction form/ data
extraction table(s)
c. Extract relevant data

Extraction d. Complete the data tables for your thesis

e. Report your extracted data in your thesis.
Data extraction forms/tables and data tables should
be developed for each RQ.
 Data Extraction
Descriptive data = study characteristic
Example of a “study characteristics” table:
 Data Extraction
Analytical data = outcomes (results)
Example of a “study results” table: Data Table of Experimental Works
 SLR: Data SLR: Data
Analysis Synthesis
concisely summarizing and linking
a detailed examination of anything
different sources in order to review
complex in order to understand its
the literature on a topic, make
nature or to determine its essential
recommendations, and connect your
features
practice to the research.

Types of analysis:
Common structures:
Qualitative analysis
Chronological: Organize by time
Quantitative analysis
Qualitative + quantitative + Thematic: Organize by theme
mixed method Methodological: Organize by
methodology
Theoretical: Organize by
theoretical approach
Data Analysis and Synthesis
What to look for......... Trends in the literature over time
Key themes
Debates and disagreements
Pivotal publications
Research gaps

Study characteristics:
Demographic distribution: publication based on years, types,
theme, methods, etc.
Geographic distribution: publication based on countries and
continents.
Encourage to use software: Spreadsheet software and VOS
viewer.
Data Analysis and Synthesis
In reporting the analysis and synthesis, try to
answer the following questions:
1. What are the main findings of my review?
2. How do my findings fit with the previously
published research?
3. What are the strengths and limitations of the
included studies?
4. What are the strengths and limitations of the
review process?
5. Can the findings be generalized?
6. What are the implications of the review?
7. What conclusion can be drawn from the
review?
SLR:
Dissertation Chapter 1: Introduction

Structure Chapter 2: SLR Protocol

Chapter 3: Data Extraction, Analysis

and Synthesis – A Methodology

Chapter 4: Literature Review:

Findings and Discussion
As depicted in Table 7 in
the Guideline Chapter 5: Conclusion and
Recommendation

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 Bibliography
1. Boland, A., Cherry, G. and Dickson, R. eds., 2017. Doing a systematic review: A student's
guide.
2. Counsell, C., 1997. Formulating questions and locating primary studies for inclusion in
systematic reviews. Annals of internal medicine, 127(5), pp.380-387.
3. Noyes J & Lewin S., 2011. Chapter 5: Extracting qualitative evidence. In: Noyes J, Booth
A, Hannes K, Harden A, Harris J, Lewin S, Lockwood C (editors) (2011). Supplementary
Guidance for Inclusion of Qualitative Research in Cochrane Systematic Reviews of
Interventions. Version 1 (updated August 2011). Cochrane Collaboration Qualitative
Methods Group, 2011. Available from URL http://cqrmg.cochrane.org/supplemental-
handbook-guidance.
4. Okoli, C., 2015. A guide to conducting a standalone systematic literature review.
Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 37(1), p.43.
DR. NOORHAZLINDA ABD RAHMAN
[email protected]

BENG. (HONS.),
UKM (1999)
Civil & Structural
Engineering
0000-0002-6523-6909
MSC, USM (2005)
Structural
Engineering
ID: 57209023614

PHD, KYOTO
UNIVERSITY (2015)
ResearcherID: AAM-4237-2020
Crowd Dynamics and
Behaviour

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