Conducting Literature Reviews
PhD course
Facts
Richard Herriott, Associate Professor, PhD
Lab for Social Design, Design School Kolding
March 23-24th 2023
Both days 09.00-16.00
Design School Kolding
Aagade 10
6000 Kolding
Programme
Day 1
09.00-10.00 Introduction
10.00-12.00 Literature Review Lecture 1. An overview of literature review aims and methods and the relation to the research question. (Break for coffee at 11.00).
12.00-13.00 Lunch
13.00-15.00 Workshop 1 introduction. The workshop is designed to guide PhD students to placing the literature review in relation to the rest of their PhD project. During this the lecturer will discuss 1:1 the student´s work (Break for coffee at 14.00).
1500-1600 Review: students present their findings which is the expected main themes of the literature review and the implications for the research question. Plenum discussion.
Day 2
09.00-09.15 Introduction
09.15-11.00 Lecture 2. Examples of literature reviews in the arts and humanities.
11.00-12.00 Workshop. Reading and discussing sample material from reading list (from the lecture).
12.00-13.00 Lunch
13.00-14.00 Lecture 3. Organising the literature review material, from a reticular structure to a dendritic structure (mind-map to table of contents). Approaches to data organisation. (Coffee at 14.00)
14.00 -15.00 Workshop. Applying ideas to your literature list: PhD with paper, scissors and glue. Students need to bring a print out of their literature list (on paper).
15.00-16.00 Discussion and wrap up. Selected cases are discussed with the class. The product is a mind-map and tentative TOC-style list of articles.
Course description
The course introduces PhD students to the problem of the literature review. Seen by many as essential to the positioning of the PhD, the literature review must be correctly constructed so as to a) outline the state of the art in the field and b) lead up to the formulation of the research question. The literature review requires the student must handle a large amount of data and also address the nature of its content. This presents a number of challenges to do with the structuring of knowledge but also to take a creative approach so that it is more than a digest of articles and books.
The process is also one requiring an agile approach to information and theory since the lengthy immersion in the literature will doubtless challenge some of the assumptions upon which the PhD application is based. Students therefore need to take a critical approach not only to the new material they encounter but also to their own initial work. Benefits of a good literature review are that it adds to the final output of the PhD, helps formulate the research question and can be the basis of a peer-reviewed publication.
Participants in the course should have an up-to-date literature list available in hard copy as well as digital copy for the course. The reading material is an example of a literature review methodology.
Reading list
Müller, R. M., & Thoring, K. (2012). Design thinking vs. lean startup: A comparison of two user-driven innovation strategies. Leading through design, 151, 91-106.
Bibliography of Richard Herriott
Richard Herriott is Associate Professor of Industrial Design at Design School Kolding. He currently researches design processes and methods in Universal Design. He also writes and teaches about research methodology, and design theory (aesthetics and research design). Richard Herriott has worked with the concept of Inclusive Design in his PhD project, which is a method that originated in product design. His PhD project examined this in relation to public transport, where the methods and intentions of inclusive design are applicable but where there are different design conditions. The PhD project was completed in 2014 at the Aarhus School of Architecture. Richard Herriott is author of The Aesthetics of Industrial Design (Routledge, 2022). His current research focus is Universal Design, supported by the Bevica Foundation.
