Literature Review Project - Getting started

Assignment

On Tuesday at the Research class we were assigned to do a literature review on a subject of our own interest and prepare a 5' presentation of our project for the 20th of October. As a first step, we were asked for the next Tuesday (13/10/'09) to show a diagram which contains the resources we are planning to use and how they relate to eachother.

What is a literature review?

A literature review, according to Mr. Mark's lecture, is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers. Specificly, it lists a number of resources which contain information about the subject of the literature review, with a description and an evaluation for each one of them. The literature review usually precedes the research on the subject defined, and its value is significant since it:

1. ensures that a research on the chosen subject hasn't already been done
2. justifies the research (why it is worthy a research on this subject to be done?)
3. provides context for the research

Begining the project

The first step of a literature review, is to specify the subject of the research which would follow the review. I have been thinking about it since Tuesday and I thought of the following:

The use of new media by Nike and its reflect on Nike's profile and profits.

Since I am not really sure if this could be the subject of a research, it might change in the next days.

Why new media and Nike?

The reasons I chose this subject are the following:

1. Nike is a world-known sportswear brand, which from its begining had an elegant and meticulous profile reflected on its products, stores and advertising campaigns.
2. Nike is one of the first companies which realized the power of new media and took advantage of them since their very begining (websites, installations etc.). A representative example is the Human Race which will take place at the 24th of October '09.
3. As strange as it might sound, NikeTown is a source of inspiration for me.

To-do

The next step is, firstly to ensure this could be an acceptable subject of a research and if so (crossing fingers) I will search for resources on the subject and start analysing them according to the methods Mr. Mark showed and "e-mail"ed us.