Reviewing the Literature
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Transcript of Reviewing the Literature
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Reviewing The Literature
Nor Hashimah Hashim
1
Review of Related Literature
Purpose and Scope
Involves systematically identifying, locating, and analyzing documents pertaining to the research topic.
The major purpose is to identify information that already exist about your topic.
Point out research strategies, procedures, and instruments that have and have not been found to be productive in investigating your topic.
A smaller, well organized review preferred.
Famous vs. Infamous Topics
Usually provide enough references directly related to a topic.
Eliminate the need for reporting less related or secondary studies.
Usually require review of any study related in some meaningful way.
Researcher need to develop a logical framework and rationale for the study.
Heavily Researched
Areas
Little Researched
Topics
Qualitative Research and the Review of Related Literature
Qualitative researchers
Construct review after starting study.
Qualitative research review
Demonstrate the underlying behind the research question,
Convince proposal reviewers that the researcher is knowledgeable.
Provide the researcher with the opportunity to identify any gaps in the body of literature and how the proposed study may contribute to the existing body of knowledge.
Help the qualitative researcher to refine research questions.
Conducting a Literature Review
Identify and make a list of keywords to guide your literature search.
Using your keywords, locate primary and secondary source that pertain to your research topic.
Evaluate your source for quality.
Abstract your sources.
Analyze and organize your sources using a literature matrix.
Write the literature review.
Identifying Keywords, Identifying, Evaluating, and Annotating Sources
Identifying Keywords
Most sources have alphabetical subject indexes to help you locate information on your topic.
A list of keywords should guide your literature search.
Identifying Your Sources
Narrow search of pertinent educational
These resources provide broad overviews of issues
Primary source
An article or report written by the person who conducted the study.
Secondary source
A brief description of a study written by someone other than the original researcher.
Primary sources are preferred in the review.
Encyclopedias, handbooks, and annual reviews found in libraries.
Various subject areas.
Searching for Book on Your Topic in the Library
Most libraries use an online catalog system as well as collective catalogs to access materials from other libraries.
Should familiarized with library website and the resources available within and beyond your library.
A keyword search uses terms or phrases pertinent to your topic to search for and identify potentially useful sources.
Keyword searches can be focused by using the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT.
Using AND or NOT narrows a search and reduces the number of sources identified.
Using OR broadens the search and increases the number of sources.
It is often best to start with a narrow search.
Steps for Searching Computer Databases
Identify keywords related to topic.
Select the appropriate databases
some databases using the same interface may allow you to search more than one database simultaneously.
Initiate a search using keywords selectively.
Reformulate your search using appropriate subject headings or descriptors combining terms as is appropriate.
Once you have found the relevant article:
Check the item record for links to additional subject heading or descriptors, author (s),
Cited references,
Times cited in databases,
Or other references for finding additional related items using the features within the database.
Searching the Internet and the World Wide Web
The Internet links organizations and individuals all over the world. The World Wide Web (www) is on the internet.
To access the Internet, you need a computer with a modem or Ethernet / cable line and a browser that connects to the Web.
The available resources on the www are almost limitless, so the best way to become familiar with its use is to surf in your spare time.
The Web contains a variety of sites relevant to an educational researcher. Each site is reached by using its Internet address.
Search engines have established subcategories and allow keyword searches to review large portions of the www quickly.
Becoming a Member of Professional Organizations
The websites for professional organizations maintain links to current research in a particular discipline.
Examples of popular professional organizations includes Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, National Council for the Social Studies, and the International Reading Association.
Evaluating Sources
What was the problem statement of the study?
Is the study relevant given your research interests?
Who was studied?
Where was the source published?
When was the study conducted?
How was the study conducted?
Annotating Sources
Involves creating summaries by
locating,
reviewing,
summarizing, and
classifying your references.
Annotating Sources
The main advantage of beginning with the latest references on your topic is that the most recent studies are likely to have profited from previous research.
Annotation assess
the quality,
relevance,
and accuracy of a source
Annotation articulate your response to a source,
Indicate why the source is important to your research.
Annotating Sources
For each source work, list the complete bibliographic record.
Make a copy of your references and put it in a safe place.
A helpful way to keep track of the literature is to use a matrix.
Analyzing, Organizing, and Reporting the Literature.
Reporting
Describing and reporting research call for a specialized style of writing.
Technical writing requires
Documenting facts and substantiating opinions,
Clarifying definitions and using them consistently,
Using an accepted style manual,
Starting sections with an introduction and
Ending with brief summary.
Organizing
When organizing a review
Make an outline;
Sort references by topic;
Analyze the similarities and differences between references in a given subheading;
Give a meaningful overview in which you discuss references least related to the problem first;
And conclude with a brief summary of the literature and its implications.
Meta-Analysis
Meta-Analysis
Statistical approach to summarizing the results of many quantitative studies addressing the same topic.
It provides a numerical way of expressing the composite result of the studies.
A central characteristic of meta-analysis is that it is as inclusive as possible.
An effect size is a numerical way of expressing the strength or magnitude of a reported relation.
In meta-analysis, an effect size is computed for each study, and then the individual effect sizes are averaged.
More Information in This Video.
References
Gay, L. R., Mills, G.E., & Airasian, P. (2011). Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Applications, Tenth Edition. Pearson Education International.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiQJJXTD0VI
The EndThank You