What Are The Reasons For Literature Survey?

The purpose of literature review is to ensure that no important variable that has in the past been found repeatedly to have had an impact on the problem is ignored. It is possible that some of the critical variables are never brought out in the interviews, because the employees cannot articulate them or are unaware of their impact or because the variables seem so obvious to interviews that they are not specifically stated. If there are variables that are not identified during the interviews, but influence the problem critically then research done without considering them would be an exercise in futility.

In such a case the true reason for the problem would remain unidentified even at the end of the research. To avoid such possibilities the researcher needs to delve into all the important research work relating to the particular problem area. The following example will help to highlight the importance of the literature survey. In establishing employee selection procedures a company might be doing the right things such as administering the appropriate tests to assess the applicant's analytical skills, judgement, leadership, motivation, oral and written communication skills and the like. Yet, it might be consistently losing excellent MBAs hired as managers within a year although highly paid.