TY - GEN
T1 - A Framework for Rigorously Identifying Research Gaps in Qualitative Literature Reviews
AU - Müller-Bloch, Christoph
AU - Kranz, Johann
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Identifying research gaps is a fundamental goal of literature reviewing. While it is widely acknowledged that literature reviews should identify research gaps, there are no methodological guidelines for how to identify research gaps in qualitative literature reviews ensuring rigor and replicability. Our study addresses this gap and proposes a framework that should help scholars in this endeavor without stifling creativity. To develop the framework we thoroughly analyze the state-of-the-art procedure of identifying research gaps in 40 recent literature reviews using a grounded theory approach. Based on the data, we subsequently derive a framework for identifying research gaps in qualitative literature reviews and demonstrate its application with an example. Our results provide a modus operandi for identifying research gaps, thus enabling scholars to conduct literature reviews more rigorously, effectively, and efficiently in the future.
AB - Identifying research gaps is a fundamental goal of literature reviewing. While it is widely acknowledged that literature reviews should identify research gaps, there are no methodological guidelines for how to identify research gaps in qualitative literature reviews ensuring rigor and replicability. Our study addresses this gap and proposes a framework that should help scholars in this endeavor without stifling creativity. To develop the framework we thoroughly analyze the state-of-the-art procedure of identifying research gaps in 40 recent literature reviews using a grounded theory approach. Based on the data, we subsequently derive a framework for identifying research gaps in qualitative literature reviews and demonstrate its application with an example. Our results provide a modus operandi for identifying research gaps, thus enabling scholars to conduct literature reviews more rigorously, effectively, and efficiently in the future.
KW - Research Gap Identification
KW - Qualitative Literature Review
KW - Grounded Theory Framework
KW - Methodological Guidelines
KW - State-of-the-Art Procedure
KW - Research Gap Identification
KW - Qualitative Literature Review
KW - Grounded Theory Framework
KW - Methodological Guidelines
KW - State-of-the-Art Procedure
M3 - Conference article
SN - 0000-0033
JO - Proceedings / International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS)
JF - Proceedings / International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS)
ER -