Validity means that your research method measures what you intended to measure. In surveys, for example, validity is increased if you use a standardized questionnaire. What about validity in literature research? You do not set up your own research, but rely on existing sources. Here, we explain how you can still monitor the validity of literature research.
Validity in a literature review
In literature research, you collect a large number of sources on a particular topic. Based on the results of all kinds of previous research, you draw conclusions about your main and sub-questions. Therefore, it is especially important for validity in a literature review that the chosen sources are relevant to your research question (or to your sub-questions).
How do you increase validity in literature reviews?
When doing literature reviews, there are a number of ways to increase their validity. These are as follows:
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Keep a log where you record how you conducted the research. How did you select sources? Which sources did you specifically exclude and why? This will help to eventually substantiate the chosen method in the methods chapter.
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Decide how you will search for relevant sources and what search criteria you will use. For example, do you search only English sources, or include foreign sources too? In which databases will you search? What is the minimum number of sources you need? What search terms will you use to find the right sources?
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Check the relevance of each source you find. This means that each source must meet at least one of these criteria to ensure validity of your literature review:
- The source addresses your chosen topic.
- The source helps answer the research question (or one or more sub-questions).
- The chosen research focuses on something similar to your research topic.
- A similar research instrument was chosen (e.g., surveys or an experiment) to what you are doing in your research.
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Select only scholarly literature. Usually informal sources, such as blogs or websites, are not appropriate for literature reviews.
Reliability in literature reviews
Reliability is also something to consider with any type of research. This means that future researchers can repeat your research and arrive at more or less similar results. This also relates to reproducibility and replicability. For this, in literature research, it is especially important that you cite sources correctly in your bibliography. Then, readers of your thesis can check the sources themselves. Also, listing your sources correctlyis obviously important to prevent plagiarism.
Have your sources generated automatically
Want to make sure you include sources correctly in your bibliography? Use our APA source generator or our Legal Author's Guide generator. They will instantly show you how to correctly cite the sources you use.
Want to know more about doing research?
Setting up a thesis research project involves a lot of work. Want to make sure you're doing it right and not overlooking anything? Read our articles on research methods, reliability and validity, and data analysis. Then, you can be sure that your research ticks all the boxes.
In addition, check out our knowledge base for more information on writing your thesis and other important things to help you stay on track. We'd love to help you get started!