What is this thing called a literature review: a brief note (information from perplexity.ai)
My question 1: "As a lecturer of Research Methods, I would like to verify my understanding of the following research tasks:
The reply: "For your verification on the research tasks:
Using published data from an academic journal article to conduct a quantitative data analysis designed by the student-researcher is considered a secondary quantitative research method. It involves analyzing existing data collected by others rather than collecting new primary data.
Gathering government statistics via the Internet and conducting quantitative data analysis on them is also a secondary quantitative research method. The data is pre-existing and collected by others (government), making the research secondary rather than primary.
Gathering public media-reported news and conducting an inductive qualitative data analysis on these news sources is a form of secondary qualitative research method, not simply a literature review exercise. This approach involves analyzing existing textual data for new insights.
Gathering public media-reported comments from columnists and conducting a critical review with development of new viewpoints is also best described as a secondary qualitative research method rather than a literature review. Here, pre-existing qualitative data is critically analyzed for new understanding.
In summary:
Use of existing published quantitative data or government statistics for new quantitative analysis is secondary quantitative research.
Use of media or publicly reported textual data for new qualitative analysis or critical review is secondary qualitative research.
Literature review generally involves summarizing and synthesizing existing studies without new data analysis or novel interpretation.
This framing aligns with academic definitions distinguishing literature reviews from secondary research methodology in both quantitative and qualitative contexts."
My question 2: "Could it be said that a literature review exercise has to review academic literature (e.g. academic journal articles, textbooks, academic dissertation reports and academic conference papers)? If the review documents are non-academic publications, the review review exercise should be treated as a kind of secondary research method exercise?"
The reply: "A literature review exercise typically involves reviewing academic literature such as peer-reviewed journal articles, edited academic books, academic dissertations, and conference papers. These are considered acceptable and credible sources because they contribute scholarly knowledge and have been subject to scrutiny such as peer review or editorial processes.
If the review documents are non-academic publications, such as news articles, trade journals, or other public media, the exercise generally shifts from a traditional literature review toward a form of secondary research. In this case, the researcher is analyzing existing non-scholarly sources, which aligns more closely with secondary research methods that use existing data or information for new analysis rather than synthesizing scholarly knowledge.
In short:
Literature review = review of academic, peer-reviewed, or scholarly sources to synthesize existing knowledge.
Secondary research method exercise = review and analysis of non-academic or other existing sources beyond traditional scholarly literature.
This distinction helps clarify the purpose and scholarly rigor of the exercise."
A collection of blog notes on using chatgpt for research purpose.