On October 22, 2022, Associate Professor CAI Yuzhuo from Tampere University delivered a lecture online on the topic of the literature and theory in research for IICE’s International Education Podium. The lecture was chaired by IICE Professor LIU Baocun and attended by faculty members and graduate students from the IICE.

Associate Professor CAI focused on the three questions of “Use of literature in research”, “How to conduct conceptual research based on literature analysis?” and “Role of theory in research”. At first, he interacted with the students through the question “What do you see the role of literature in your research?”, and then pointed out the four major roles of literature in research according to John W. Creswell’s classification, namely, finding out the research gap, constructing the analytical framework, forming the conclusion discussion and serving as the data source.

Associate Professor CAI introduced the application of literature in research through cases, and further clarifies the traditional literature review and systematic review. On this basis, he believed that the goal of conceptual research is generally to conceptualize a focal phenomenon or improve a particular concept; The application of theory in research, that is, the theory can be divided into four levels. The theory we use should be at the same level as the research problem as far as possible. In the research, we should find the theory that has guidance for life and cognition, and use the theory that we agree with. Finally, he used vivid research cases to show how to apply theory in three situations: theory is at the same level as the research problem, theory is higher than the research problem and the two are at different levels.

At the end of the lecture, he had further discussions with teachers and students.