Chapter 3 – Conducting a literature review. In this chapter students will be able to: Compare insights from various scholarly articles, develop a clear purpose statement and research questions, make a case for your purpose statement and research questions, take notes in a manner useful to conducting a literature review.
Planning an Applied Research Project Chapter 3 – Conducting a Literature Review © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Learning Objectives » Compare insights from various scholarly articles » Develop a clear purpose statement and research questions » Make a case for your purpose statement and research questions » Take notes in a manner useful to conducting a literature review © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Key Terms » » » » » » » » Abstract Annotation Annotated bibliography Bibliographical tools Literature review Order of reading a scholarly article Purpose of a literature review Perspective © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Definition of a Literature Review » Description of the major findings in studies focusing on a particular topic » Comparison of insights from various articles and different authors » Picture of the patterns and gaps of scholarship on a topic » Coherent essay synthesizing current scholarship © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Purposes of a Literature Review » » » » » » » » Provides background to your research design Demonstrates patterns of research Builds credibility for your design Prevents rediscovering the wheel Benefits from others’ work Expands your thinking of the purpose statement Assists in the analysis of your findings Makes a case for your purpose statement and research questions © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Finding Scholarly Articles » Review your research questions and purpose statement » Come up with key words and phrases that fit your purpose statement and research questions » Search on your library website or using your local search engine to find articles » Review the abstracts of the articles » Save the ones that seem relevant © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Finding Scholarly Articles (cont’d) » Start to build a bibliography of articles for your literature review » Use one bibliography to give you names to search and titles of other articles » Save the articles (at least the references) during this part of the search » Recognize that a wider net works better © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Finding Scholarly Articles (cont’d) » Consider synonyms of key words from your purpose statement and research questions » Read abstracts of articles for key words » Look in bibliographies for current scholar’s names » Contemplate parallel topics and studies » Conduct interviews of faculty members or others who know the field to find out key articles © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Order of Reading Scholarly Journal Articles © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Order of Reading Scholarly Journal Articles (cont’d) » Many people typically follow the pattern of: ˃ Abstract ˃ Introduction ˃ Literature review ˃ Research design (sometimes called Method) ˃ Research results and key findings ˃ Analysis (sometimes called Discussion) ˃ Applications ˃ Limitations and Opportunities for more research ˃ Conclusion or Summary © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Order of Reading Scholarly Journal Articles (cont’d) » A more efficient method is: ˃ Abstract ˃ Introduction ˃ Conclusion or Summary ˃ Research results and key findings ˃ Limitations and Opportunities for more research ˃ Applications ˃ Research design (sometimes called Method) ˃ Analysis (sometimes called Discussion) ˃ Literature review ˃ Introduction (again) ˃ Full reading of entire article © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved What to Look for When Reading Articles » » » » » Insights or findings Type of research – quantitative, qualitative, mixed Structure of the research design Use of pilot study Research techniques – survey, questionnaire, experiment, focus group, observation, content analysis © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved What to Look for When Reading Articles (cont’d) » » » » » » Type of sample Demographics of the sample Statistical methods of analysis Limitations of the study Suggestions for future research Dates of works cited in the bibliography © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Taking Notes as You Read » Read an article fast » Complete two annotated bibliography paragraphs ˃ Summary ˃ Assessment ˃ Other comments » For each finding, write a paragraph and put the footnote in MLA or APA format at the bottom of the page (Mayo 545) or (Mayo 2013) » Use separate pages on your computer © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Taking Notes as You Read (cont’d) ˃ Topics for note paragraphs: ˃ Methods ˃ Findings ˃ Limitations ˃ Sampling ˃ Validity ˃ Opportunities ˃ Contexts » Write as many paragraphs as you think relevant or interesting or potentially valuable © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Taking Notes as You Read (cont’d) » Make several copies of these notes » Start a back up file » After a few notes, write a paragraph or several and save it » Write early and often © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Evaluating Articles » Did they have an appropriate way of drawing those conclusions from the data they collected and the ways they were analyzed? » Are there qualifications to the statements that they can make from their research? » What qualifications should they have made? » What limitations did they mention? » What limitations did they fail to point out or other limitations you identified? » What generalizations do they draw and can they draw from what they discovered? © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Preparing an Annotated Bibliography Literature Review Annotated Bibliography » A coherent essay » Assessment of a field of inquiry or area of research » Written to build credibility for the article, proposal, or report » Organized according to the logic of the argument » A few paragraphs » Overall assessment of a single article or document » Written to provide future resource advice for scholars and researchers » Organized according to alphabetical names © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Preparing an Annotated Bibliography (cont’d) ˃ Three parts C A full citation in correct MLA format S A summary of the contents of the article, book, website, or other document or source (including interviews) A An assessment, evaluation, critique of the merits, validity, or usefulness of the source ˃ Summary and comments indented after the bibliographical citation and in single spaced format © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Making a Literature Review Effective and Interesting to Do » Consider what aspects of the subject might be studied and what the investigators might have found from their work » Explore key authors in the article’s bibliography » Investigate parallel organizations or situations. » Play with words that might serve as search terms © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved The Research Hourglass » » » » » » » » » » » » Topic Purpose statement Research questions Literature review Research design Research method Data analysis plan Findings Applications Limitations Opportunities Conclusions © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Review of the Class Session » Anything unclear? » One thing that surprised me to learn from this class is … © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved ... Makes a case for your purpose statement and research questions © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Finding Scholarly Articles » Review your research questions and purpose statement » Come up with key words and phrases that fit your ... Abstract ˃ Introduction ˃ Conclusion or Summary ˃ Research results and key findings ˃ Limitations and Opportunities for more research ˃ Applications ˃ Research design (sometimes called Method) ˃ Analysis (sometimes called Discussion)... Demonstrates patterns of research Builds credibility for your design Prevents rediscovering the wheel Benefits from others’ work Expands your thinking of the purpose statement Assists in the analysis of your findings