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5 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
The Role of a Lit Review
Includes both theory and prior research
Re-view is to “look again” at what others have done; “I stand on the shoulders of giants”
Besides pinning down your own research problem, a review:
Introduces you to new ideas and approaches
Other researchers doing something similar
How others handled methodological problems
Show you new sources of data that you can access
Introduce new measurement tools (questionnaires)
How to deal with challenges you face
Show you how to interpret findings and how to relate your findings to those of other researchers
Bolster confidence your topic is worth studying
Sources and Strategies for Locating Related Literature
Your sources are books, journals, dissertations, newspapers, government documents, conference proceedings, Internet websites
You have to identify the keywords--a few words or phrases that sum up your topic
As you get “hits,” you will zero in on more precise terms--terms that other researchers have used
Three important places to start:
Library catalog on computers in library
Indexes and abstracts in reference section of library
On-line databases
Your sources are books, journals, dissertations, newspapers, government documents, conference proceedings, Internet websites
You have to identify the keywords--a few words or phrases that sum up your topic
As you get “hits,” you will zero in on more precise terms--terms that other researchers have used
Three important places to start:
Library catalog on computers in library
Indexes and abstracts in reference section of library
On-line databases
Using one Fish to Catch Many
If you have an older article and want to find more recent articles on the same topic, find the “Search Citations” section of the database to get more recent articles that are referencing (citing) the older article
If you have a recent article and want to find more, read the literature review and in the References section find other articles that the author(s) used in the article you have
Research ethics demands that the author always attempt to find the original article and not to rely upon what others have said about it; could be biased and be embarrassing!
Don’t be intimidated to email author with request for his or her article
If you have an older article and want to find more recent articles on the same topic, find the “Search Citations” section of the database to get more recent articles that are referencing (citing) the older article
If you have a recent article and want to find more, read the literature review and in the References section find other articles that the author(s) used in the article you have
Research ethics demands that the author always attempt to find the original article and not to rely upon what others have said about it; could be biased and be embarrassing!
Don’t be intimidated to email author with request for his or her article
Organizing Your Info
Organizing Your Info
Use your computer to create your own database so you can organize your articles
You could use software specifically designed (EndNotes, ProCite) or use Microsoft Excel, Access, or other
If you are putting together lots of citations/references, you need to organize them
You know it’s time to quit when what you find starts to look like what you have already found, when you get the “been there, done that” feeling

An amateurish lit review simply lists what has been found
An academic lit review evaluates, organizes, and synthesizes what others have said and done
Evaluate: Don’t take what others say at face value; critically evaluate what they have said and done and if their conclusions are justified
Organize: Use your SPs as a general guide for organizing your lit review--general to specific (SP1) and so on
Synthesize: Pull together the diverse opinions and results in to a cohesive whole:
Compare and contrast theoretical views
Changes in approaches to topic over time
Describe general trends in findings
Indentify discrepant or contradictory findings
Identify general themes through literature
Writing a Clear, Cohesive Lit Review
Proper psychological perspective
Have a clear, concrete, carefully thought-out plan
Emphasize relatedness
Give credit where credit is due
Review the literature; don’t reproduce it
Summarize what you have said
Tell your audience what your going to say
Say it
Tell your audience what you have said
Revise, revise, revise--1st draft is never the final version
Seek the advice of others