Question: Why the studies of previous researches are so important

for conducting a research project?

To undertake any research it is important to know what has been written previously about the
topic wish to investigate. By previous studies researchers become able to critically summarize
the current knowledge in the area under investigation, identify the problems and strengths in
previous work which help them to identify potential strengths and eliminate the potential
weaknesses. In addition, a good and full literature review provide researchers the context which
to place in the study.

The studies of previous researches require developing a complex set of skills and a researcher
can do it by conducting literature reviews. Therefore, before commencing writing research
proposal, a researcher needs to allocate time to read the literature that is relevant to his or her
proposed research study.

By reading many different studies, researchers will begin to:

 Gain an impression about the important aspects of the topic;

 Identify data sources that other researchers have used;
 Identify and become familiar with the style of writing that is used - particularly within the
ethos of the area that a researcher is researching;
 Identify the relationship between concepts;
 Identify ideas for further consideration;
 See how can prevent themselves from repeating errors that have been identified in
previous work;
 Create own reading and critiquing strategy.

Advantages of the Studies of Previous Research:

1. Identify the problem

2. Better define the problem
3. Develop an approach to the problem
4. Formulate an appropriate Research design
5. Answer certain research questions and test some hypothesis
6. Interpret primary data more insightfully
The Importance of the Studies of Previous Research:

Doing a careful and thorough study of previous research is essential when a researcher writes
about research at any level. It is basic homework that is assumed to have been done vigilantly,
and a given fact in all research papers. By providing one, usually offered in introduction before
reaching thesis statement, the researcher is telling his or her reader that he or she has not
neglected the basics of research. It not only surveys what research has been done in the past on
corresponding topic, but it also appraises, encapsulates, compares and contrasts, and correlates
various scholarly books, research articles, and other relevant sources that are directly related to
the current research. Given the fundamental nature of providing one, the research paper will be
not considered seriously if it is lacking one at the beginning of paper.

1. It Creates a Rapport with Audiences:

A previous study helps researchers to create a sense of rapport with audiences or readers so they
can trust that researchers have done their homework. As a result, they can give credit for due
diligence: researchers have done fact-finding and fact-checking mission, one of the initial steps
of any research writing.

By listing a thorough review in the research paper, researchers are telling the audience, in
essence, that they know what they are talking about. As a result, the more books, articles, and
other sources they can list in the literature review, the more trustworthy their scholarship and
expertise will be. Depending on the nature of research paper, each entry can be long or short. For
example, if researchers are writing a doctoral dissertation or master’s thesis, the entries can be
longer than the ones in a term paper. The key is to stick to the gist of the sources as they
synthesize the source in the review: its thesis, research methods, findings, issues, and further
discussions.

2. It Helps Avoid Incidental Plagiarism:

If a researcher has written a research paper, an original paper in your area of specialization,
without a previous study and the paper is about to publish then soon learn that someone has
already published a paper on a topic very similar to his or her, it is not plagiarism from that
publication; however, if and when a researcher publishes his or her work, people will be
suspicious of authenticity. They will ask further about the significance of repeating similar
research. In short, researchers could have utilized the time, money, and other resources they have
wasted on research on something else. If researchers have prepared a literature review at the
onset of their research, they could have easily avoided such mishap. During the compilation of
review, they could have noticed how someone else has done similar research on this topic. By
knowing this fact, they can tailor or tweak their research in such a way that it is not a mere
rehashing of someone else’s original or old idea.
3. It Sharpens Research Focus:

As researchers assemble outside sources, they will condense, evaluate, synthesize, and
paraphrase the gist of outside sources in their own words. Through this process of winnowing,
they will be able to place the relevance of their research in the larger context of what other
researchers have already done on that topic in the past. The previous studies will help researchers
to compare and to contrast what they are doing in the historical context of the research as well as
how their research is different or original from what others have done, helping them rationalize
why they need to do this particular research.

Perhaps researchers are using a new or different research method which has not been available
before, allowing them to collect the data more accurately or conduct an experiment that is more
precise and exact thanks to many innovations of modern technology. Thus, it is essential in
helping researchers shape and guide their research in the direction they may not have thought of
by offering insights and different perspectives on the research topic.

However, the importance of previous studies search and review is that the research proposal will
be so easy to write once researchers have done this. Everything in research proposal flows from
researchers literature review - indeed, they may find from the literature that the questions they
wish to deal with in their own research have already been answered, and so there is no need to
undertake research. In that case, researchers may decide that either there is no need to do any
research, or your review of the literature may have pointed you in the direction of another piece
of research related to this interests or practice, etc., because researchers have identified gaps in
the literature and you want to examine those.