1 / 17

Conducting the Literature Review

Sponsored by: The College of Graduate Studies University Libraries Fall 2010. Conducting the Literature Review. Overview. What is a Literature Review? Searching for literature Summarizing and Synthesizing Writing it up Resources. What it is …. What is a Literature Review?.

grantc
Download Presentation

Conducting the Literature Review

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Sponsored by: The College of Graduate Studies University Libraries Fall 2010 Conducting the Literature Review

  2. Overview • What is a Literature Review? • Searching for literature • Summarizing and Synthesizing • Writing it up • Resources

  3. What it is… What is a Literature Review? • Compilation of published research by recognized scholars on the topic • Defined by argumentative thesis or research question • Provides background or historical perspective • Identifies areas of controversy in literature • Synthesizes results into summary of what is and is not known • Formulates questions that need further research

  4. What is a Literature Review? What it is not… • An Annotated Bibliography • Literary Review • A Book Review

  5. Purpose of Literature Review • IDENTIFY • What has and has not been investigated • Data sources that other researchers have used • Potential relationships between concepts and to identify researchable hypotheses • DEVELOP • General explanations for observed variations in a behavior or phenomenon • Alternative research projects • DISCOVER • How others have defined and measured key concepts • How a research project is related to the work of others

  6. Lit Reviews Are Written… • Most often as part of the introduction to an essay, research report, or thesis • Occasionally as a stand-alone paper • As a piece of discursive prose • To provide a theoretical framework and rationale for a research study

  7. Stages of a Literature Review

  8. Checklist – Have you… • Created a Research Sentence? This is a Preliminary search strategy. • Talked with your Professor? They can point out important people in the field. • Created a position on your topic? • Found multiple viewpoints on your topic? • Listed major schools of thought on your topic? • Documented where you found your information?

  9. Searching for Literature • How to search and utilize library services in your literature review • Make an appointment with a Reference Librarian—a skilled researcher who can help you find sources and save time Presentation by Mark Horan with “live navigation”

  10. Organizing and Analyzing • Overview articles • focus on abstract, introduction, first few paragraphs, and conclusion • Categorize articles • topics, subtopics, and chronologically within each subtopic • Take notes • Define key terms • Note significant statistics • Select key quotations • Identify trends, patterns, gaps, relationships, strengths and weaknesses

  11. Summarizing and Synthesizing • Build a table as a way of summarizing • Definitions of key terms and concepts • Research methods • Summary of research results • Develop an outline of your review • Purpose • Topic and thesis • Justification

  12. Writing it up INTRODUCTION • Identify broad problem area, but avoid global statements • Indicate topic importance • State explicitly what will and will not be covered • Specify your point of view: this serves as the thesis statement • Provide an overview if your review is long

  13. Writing it up BODY • Indicate why certain studies are important • Be specific when describing time frames • Identify classic or landmark studies as such • Discuss other literature reviews on your topic • Integrate key details of the literature to communicate your point of view • Use subheadings, especially in long reviews • Use transitions to help trace your argument

  14. Writing it up CONCLUSION • If a stand-alone article • makes clear how the material presented supports the assertion or proposition • If part of thesis/dissertation • leads to and justifies the research question that has been posed

  15. Resources • Professor or advisor • Library • Reference Librarians • Writing Center • College of Graduate Studies • Past programs posted online – follow link

  16. Web Resources Lists of useful questions to help analyze, summarize, and synthesize the literature • American University Library [Online] • University of Toronto [PDF] Basic overview of the structure • University of Wisconsin [Online] *Material in this presentation borrowed or adapted from the sources listed on this slide

  17. Questions? • Teri Green, BA • Graduate Assistant in the College of Graduate Studies teresa.green@utoledo.edu • Mark Horan, MA, MLS • Associate Professor of Library Administration andLibrarian for the College of Education Mark.Horan@utoledo.edu

More Related