Review of the Literature
Chapter 2
Introduction
• Topic – subject or subject matter of a study
– e.g., “faculty teaching,” “organizational creativity,” “psychological stress”
• Conduct literature review about the topic
– Worth studying?
– Scope?
– Can be studied
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The Research Topic
• Gain insight into the topic by
– Drafting a working title
• “My study is about…”
– Posing a brief question
• What needs to be answered?
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• First step is to examine research on the topic
• How does this project contribute to the literature?
• New topic, new elements, replication with new participants?
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The Research Topic
• The topic can be researched if
– You have access to participants
– You have resources to collect and analyze information
• The topic should be researched if
– The research will add to the literature about the topic
– Scholars will be interested in the topic
– A study of it will advance your personal goals
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The Research Topic
The Literature Review
• Shares the results of other studies
• Relates the study to the larger dialogue in the literature
• Provides a framework for establishing the importance of the study
• Provides a benchmark for comparing the results to other findings
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The use of the literature:
• Seek opinion of adviser or faculty members
• Tell the reader you are aware of literature
• Literature reviews take several forms:
– Integrate what others have done and said
– Criticize previous scholarly works
– Bridge between related topics
– Identify the central issues in the field
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The Literature Review
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The Literature Review
The use of the literature:
• In quantitative studies, researchers use literature to:
– Provide direction to the research questions and hypotheses
– Introduce a problem
– Introduce and describe the theory that will be used
– Examine the usefulness of the theory
– Compare results with existing literature or predictions
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The Literature Review
The use of the literature:
• In mixed methods studies, researchers use the literature:
– In either a quantitative or qualitative approach
– In each phase, consistent with either the quantitative or qualitative approach
– Relative to the intended audience
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The Literature Review
Steps in conducting a literature review:
• Identify key words
• Search databases
• Identify about 50 research reports in articles or books
• Collect those that are central to your topic
• Design a literature map
• Draft summaries of relevant articles
• Write a literature review, organizing it by important
concepts
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The Literature Review
Searching computerized databases:
• Computerized databases of the literature are available the Internet
• Databases provide access to journal articles, conference papers and dissertations on a wealth of topics
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The Literature Review
Searching computerized databases:
• Some of these online databases include:
– ERIC – ProQuest – EBSCO
– Sociological Abstracts – PsycINFO – PubMed
– Science Direct – Google scholar – SSCI
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The Literature Review
Searching computerized databases:
• Use both free databases and those available in your academic library
• Search several databases, even those outside your field
• Use guides to terms to locate articles
• Locate articles close to your topic and use their terms in your search
• Use databases that provide access to full text
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The Literature Review
A priority for selecting literature material:
• Start with broad syntheses (such as encyclopedias) if you are new to the topic
• Turn to journal articles in national journals
– Best source for research reports
• Next, consider books
• Then examine conference papers
• Scan for dissertations
• Lastly, consider reports on the web
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The Literature Review
A literature map of the research
• A literature map is a visual summary of existing research on a topic
• The structure of the literature map may be:
– Hierarchical pattern
– Flowchart layout
– Series of circles
• Write a narrative description
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The Literature Review
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The Literature Review
Abstracting studies:
• Abstracts summarize major elements of the article
• For research studies:
– Mention the problem
– State the central purpose
– State information about the population and sample
– Review key results
– Point out methodological flaws (if a critique or methods review)
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The Literature Review
Abstracting studies:
• For nonempirical studies (essays, opinions, etc.)
– Mention the problem
– Identify the central theme
– State the major conclusions
– Mention flaws in reasoning or logic (if a methodological review)
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The Literature Review
Style manuals:
• Style manuals provide guidelines for producing scholarly work and include directions on:
– Citing references in-text
– End-of-text references
– Creating headings
– Footnotes (not used in all style manuals)
– Presenting tables and figures
• Reminder: Consistently use the chosen style manual
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The Literature Review
Definition of terms
• Identify and define terms that readers need to understand a
proposal
• Define terms introduced in all sections of the research plan:
– Title of the study
– Problem statement
– Purpose statement
– Research questions, hypotheses, or objectives
– Literature review
– Theory base of the study
– Methods section24
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The Literature Review
Definition of terms
• Qualitative studies
– Inductive and evolutionary in nature
– The definition of terms may appear later in the written report, perhaps in the data analysis
• Quantitative studies
– Deductive with a fixed set of objectives
– All relevant terms are comprehensively defined earlier in the study
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Definition of terms
• Mixed methods studies
– Follows the use of quantitative or qualitative approach
– Clarify terms related to mixed methods
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Definition of terms
• Define terms when they first appear in the manuscript
• Use specific operational definitions
• Do not define terms using everyday language, be guided by the literature
• Define terms so that they accomplish different goals
• One may use a definition of terms section in the manuscript
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The Literature Review
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The Literature Review
A quantitative or mixed methods literature review:
• Introduce the review with a statement about the organization of the sections
• Review literature about the independent variables
• Review literature about the dependent variables
• Review literature that relates the independent variables to the dependent variables
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The Literature Review
A quantitative or mixed methods literature review:
• Provide a summary
– Highlight important studies
– Capture major themes
– Suggest why more research is needed
– Advance how the proposed study will fill this need
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The Literature Review
Summary
• Identify your topic through a brief title or central research question
• Use the literature to
– Present similar studies
– Relate the study to the literature
– Provide a framework for comparison
• Different purpose depending on approach
• Search databases using key terms
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