WRITING A LITERATURE REVIEWAdvice for Searching, Organizing and Synthesis of Your Literature Review Process

MAIN MESSAGE OF PRESENTATION:…DEVELOP & IMPLEMENT A PLAN

Don’t Procrastinate!

ReadReviewEvaluate

DEFINITION OF A LITERATURE REVIEW:…BOTH BASIC AND FUNDAMENTAL

“A research literature review is a systematic, explicit, and reproducible method for identifying, evaluating, and synthesizing the existing body of completed and recorded work produced by researchers, scholars, and practitioners.”

Fink (2005) Conducting Research Literature Reviews

DEFINITION OF A LITERATURE REVIEW…WHY DO A LITERATURE REVIEW?

• Identify Investigations similar to your own

• Learn about methods or techniques

• Reveal relevant data sources• Identify researchers in your area

• Stimulate new ideas to problem solving

• Place your study in historical context

DEFINITION OF A LITERATURE REVIEW:…TYPES OF REVIEWS

Traditional Reviews assess the history, theories and methods of a subject.

Conceptual Reviews synthesize conceptual knowledge that contributes to awareness of an issue or subject matter.

Expert Reviews rely heavily on someone’s body of professional knowledge.

State of the Art focuses on the most recent research expecting that you know the background.

Scoping Review focuses on clarifying key questions in the literature, setting the stage for addressing those knowledge gaps.

Environmental Scanning casts a broad net to review the social, technological, economic, educational, political, legal and ethical issues of any specific subject. (Not limited to peer-review resources).

PROJECT MANAGEMENT:...ORGANIZING YOUR THOUGHTS

Evolved?Devolved?

PROJECT MANAGEMENT:…THE CONCEPT MAP

What is a Concept Map?

It is a way to visualize your research and help assist you in your eventual search for

resources.

People & Places

Questions of

Interest

Organizations to review

Thesis Statement

PROJECT MANAGEMENT:…USING ‘CMAPS’

A very basic Concept Map

PROJECT MANAGEMENT:…USING ONLINE TOOLS

A more complex

Concept Map using

‘MindMeister’

PROJECT MANAGEMENT:…USING EXCEL TO RECORD YOUR SEARCH PROCESS

PROJECT MANAGEMENT:… USING ‘TRELLO’ FOR YOUR CHECKLISTS

PROJECT MANAGEMENT:… BIBLIOGRAPHIC SOFTWARE

Refworks is available through your University’s

database options.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT:… GIVING YOURSELF A TIMEFRAME

SEARCHING STRATEGIES:…INFORMATION DETECTIVE

• Be patient in finding resources

• Experiment with terminology• Use advanced Boolean operators

• Understand ‘thoroughly’ the database you are searching

• Ask for help from the librarian

SEARCHING STRATEGYTHE RESEARCH QUESTION

Personal Experience with a Challenging Research

Endeavour

I was asked once to provide a literature review on Knowledge Transfer mechanisms. The literature is large and complex. Without a focus from the project leader, I found myself with too broad a mandate. The first few drafts were far too broad… we eventually focused on the professional roles of Knowledge Transfer.

Personal Experience with a Clear Research Endeavour

A clear literature review experience was being asked to find out about interventions for helping women who develop Lymphedema after Breast Cancer

• Surgery (Laser, conventional, etc.)

• Clothing• Exercise• Drug Treatment

SEARCHING STRATEGIES… FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF REGINA

Provides a strategy for breaking down your question into searchable concepts/keyword

s.

SEARCH STRATEGY:…USING BIBLIOMETRICS IN SCOPUS DATABASE

SEARCH STRATEGY:…USING BIBLIOMETRICS IN SCOPUS DATABASE

SEARCHING STRATEGY:…SOME BASIC ADVICE

Search for information using your selected key words

Skim, scan and reflect on the articles you’ve found.

Identify other keywords, authors, etc. from the articles you’ve identified.

Keep track of your searches in Excel or Word.

Remember to use Boolean advanced searching techniques (which your librarian help you with).

SEARCHING STRATEGY:…REMEMBER TO USE CITATION ANALYSIS

Use Google Scholar to find articles that

cite your ‘ideal paper’, then search for the full-text in your databases

SEARCH STRATEGY:…WHEN TO END THE SEARCH

When should I end my search?

• Keep retrieving the same authors/papers in continued searches.

• Keeping finding the same opinions.

Additional questions to ask

• Have you searched all the appropriate resources?

• Are there any gaps in the information sources searched?

• Have you used Complex search statements as required by individual databases?

• Have you identified all the relevant references?

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:…NOW WHAT?

You now have retrieved academic resources

through your searching strategy. Now what do you do? How to you

approach your Literature Review?

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:… CRITIQUE OF A RESEARCH ARTICLEPrima Facie Elements

Title Witty titles in Academia are fun, but a straightforward title is the most valuable title.

Abstract Well structured abstracts will have a clear purpose, method, theoretical background (if any), results and/or conclusions

Tables Clear tables with labels and explanations. You should not have to interpret what the table means.

Writing Style Understandable? Too Technical?

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:…CRITIQUE OF A RESEARCH ARTICLEJustification for Research

Nature and Intent of ResearchIs there a clear research question or problem? An understandable Thesis statement?

Is it clear they are collecting quantitative or qualitative data?

Why do we need this knowledge? Does it answer a “So what?” test?

Does it answer the ‘So What?’ test?

How does the journal article or book you’re reviewing contribute to the literature?

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:…CRITIQUE OF A RESEARCH ARTICLE

Data CollectionDo the data actually match the intentions of the research?

Is the methodology sound? An attempt to reduce subjectivity?

Bias and LimitationsBias can be defined as any influence, condition, or set of conditions that singly or together distort the data. Were there guidelines for the data collection?

Do questions asked actually provide real data?

Just because something is published, does not make it logical, sound

and relevant!

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:…PROCESS FOR REVIEW

• Examine the literature• Evaluate the research• Establish their position

• Compare to other research

• Argue your point

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:…LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF AN ARGUMENT

Other Important Skills Logical Fallacies

Ad Hominem / Tu Quoque Appeal to Authority Appeal to Common Practice Red Herring Straw Man Begging the Question False Dichotomy

Deductive Reasoning Inductive Reasoning Moral Reasoning Arguing Back

Logical Analysis concerns the structure of an argument. If I say, “All Vulcans are pink. Mr. Spock is a Vulcan. Therefore Mr. Spock is Pink”, then I am saying something perfectly logical. When analyzing someone’s argument, pay attention to the structure as well as the content.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:…ANALYZING TEXT

Example of how you can critically review text.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS…USING EXCEL FOR YOUR LIT REVIEW

Using Excel to classify literature into meaningful

categories.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS / WRITING YOUR REVIEW… NVIVO QUALITATIVE SOFTWARE

…BE INSPIRED BY OTHER AUTHORS…

WRITING YOUR REVIEW:…SOME POINTS TO REMEMBER

• More than just a description, it critically compares and contrasts.

• It is original, in your voice.

• It is fair (unbiased)…assessing resources for and against your position.

• Identifies knowledge gaps.

WRITING YOUR REVIEW:…TRADITIONAL STRUCTURE OF REVIEW

Example of a structure for a traditional narrative literature review.

WRITING YOUR REVIEW…SOME OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Explain your topic clearly

Bring to light the important connections in the literature Theoretical vs. Empirical Longitudinal, Survey, Focus Group Analysis

Health, Economic, Policy, etc.Geographical Highlights

Don’t be afraid to criticize; Don’t be afraid to praise

WRITING YOUR REVIEW… TWO VITAL POINTS ABOUT WRITING YOUR REVIEW

Write it Down!If you have an interesting thought about your lit review, make sure to write it down. Put it in Word, Google Docs, use your Smartphone or Tablet device. Don’t lose the thought!

Write as you Go!Don’t wait for the ‘perfect’ moment to write your review. Start writing now… keep writing down your ideas and observations. It is easier to cut material later, then write it up in the last week.

WRITING YOUR REVIEW:…UTILIZE AVAILABLE SERVICES

Don’t be afraid to ask for help! Utilize all the services at your

disposal to improve your research and your writing.

WRITING YOUR REVIEW… EXAMPLE IN THE LITERATURE

Presented a clear mandate…

“relevant literature on the use of

phenomenology as a research

method in music education research”

They have even provided the thematic

categories:

General EducationMusic ResearchMusic education

researchDissertations

Important figuresThemes

The Future

WRITING YOUR REVIEW… ESTABLISHING RELEVANCY

The author uses a lengthy quote (perhaps too lengthy) for

establishing a need for

understanding lived

experiences...setting up the

paper to assess qualitative methods, more specifically, phenomenology.

WRITING YOUR LITERATURE REVIEW…AUTHOR DEFINES HIS TERMS

The author defines what he

means by “phenomenology”

.

WRITING YOUR REVIEW… PROVIDES A TARGET AUDIENCE

The author also provides us with an assessment of

the target audience. “helpful for those who are

new to phenomenology”

WRITING YOUR REVIEW… MISSING METHODOLOGY

Author DID NOT include details on the methods of the

review. What databases were searched? What

terminology were used? How do we really know it was

comprehensive?

WRITING YOUR REVIEW… MOVING YOUR IDEAS FORWARD

See how much information was communicated in JUST ONE sentence.

WRITING YOUR REVIEW… REINFORCING YOUR MESSAGE

Notice how the author reinforces his message, supports the main proposition about using

phenomenology in music education research.

WRITING YOUR REVIEW… NOTE THE USE OF TABLES

Although tables are nice to view, what is this table actually telling us? We’re not actually

looking at a summary of data…such as a table that would provide the exact number of articles retrieved in “Musical Nuance”, “Musical Education”, etc. What is the percentage?

WRITING YOUR REVIEW… MISSING CATEGORY

At the beginning, the abstract indicates that the review is

divided into different categories,

including “the Future” but that category does not

exist in this paper. Is it buried in the

Conclusion? If so, the author should indicate this

clearly.

WRITING YOUR REVIEW… CONCLUDING REMARKS

The author is summing up the literature in his conclusion, providing a way to interpret the

literature reviewed… it is championed due to the

‘real life people’ sharing their experiences.

WRITING YOUR REVIEW… CONCLUDING REMARKS

The author is exploring possibilities for future

endeavours in the conclusion.

PLAN OF ACTION:…HOW TO THINK ABOUT THIS PROCESS

1. Compose a Concept Map2. Formulate a basic Research Question3. Talk to your professor & Librarian 4. Search the top Five Databases

a. Record your searchesb. Store important articles in bibliographic software

5. Read a few of the Articlesa. As you read, put important info into Word or Excelb. DO NOT be preoccupied with perfection at this

stage6. Re-work, reformulate you concept map and

research question7. Seek Advice again from your Professor and

Librarian8. Write a Draft

THINGS TO REMEMBER Coverage

Reasons for inclusion / exclusion of a paperSynthesis

What has been done in a field, what must be done

Placed the topic in a broad field Placed in historical context Acquired and enhanced subject vocabulary Articulated important variables & phenomena

Synthesized and gained new perspectiveComposition

What you add is an effective, analytical, original assessment of previously published information

CONCLUSION:…ANY QUESTIONS