lecture 4-literature reveiw

8/13/2019 Lecture 4-Literature Reveiw

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Research Methodology

Lecture 4

The Literature Review

Dr. Muhammad TariqAssistant Professor

Deptt of Electrical Engineering

FAST-NUCES Peshawar Campus


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What is a Literature Review?

Definition

According to Creswell (2005), a review of the

literature is a written summary of journal articles,

books and other documents that describes the pastand current state of information, organizes the

literature into topics and documents a need for a

proposed study.

Creswell, J.W. (2005) Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative

Research


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Literature Reviews (contd.)

It is a well-writtenanalytical narrative that

brings a reader up-to-dateon what is known

on a given topic, but also provide fresh

insights that advance knowledge

Resolve conflicts between studies

Identify new ways to interpret research results

Creating a path for future research


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Planning for Literature Review


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Planning for Literature Review (contd.)

The literature review is a summaryof research:

It is not a listof found research but a coherent

and articulateaccount of past and current research

findings Task: read 2 or 3 literature reviews in order to

become familiar with summary styles


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The sources typically arejournal articles, books andother documents that describe past and present status

of research in a given field:

The literaturereviewshould be exhaustive and ascurrent as possible.

How many articles?

There is no set number. As long as the search is exhaustive and focused on the

research topic, the review will be acceptable.


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How far back should one search?

A reasonable and widely accepted timeframe

includes research conducted during the past 10

years.

Important studies (i.e., studies that had a

significant impacton the field of study) should

also be mentioned even if these go beyond thementioned timeframe.


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The literature review should be organized:

The review should not only be coherent, butshould organize the studies reviewed under

themes or topics.

The revieweris a guide and should be able toprovide readers with an in-depth and currentstatus of research in a given area.

This aspect is essential for readers to understandwhat the reviewer found during the search.


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The literature review should document theneed for a proposed study:

Studies should not duplicate research that hasbeen already done.

Even in cases when research is duplicated(replicated is the appropriate term), one isresponsible for documenting the need forreplication, e.g., need to explore the samemethodology with a different group or population,or need to change methodology with the samegroup.


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Creswells 5 steps to Conduct a Literature

Review

Step 1:

Identify Key Terms or Descriptors

Extract key words from your title (remember,

you may decide to change the title later)

Use some of the words other authors

reported in the literature


Research


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Creswells 5 steps to Conduct a Literature

Review (contd)

Step 2:Locate Literature

Use academic libraries, do not limit your search to

an electronic search of articles

Use primary and secondary sources.

A primarysourceis research reported by the

researcher that conducted the study.

A secondarysourceis research that summarizes or

reports findings that come from primary sources


Research


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Step 2: Locate Literature(contd)

It is best to reportmostly primarysources Search different types of literature:

summaries, encyclopedias, dictionaries and

glossaries of terms, handbooks, statistical indexes,

reviews and syntheses, books, journals, indexedpublications, electronic sources, abstract series,

and databases

Creswell, J.W. (2005) Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and QualitativeResearch


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Creswells 5 steps

Step 3: Critically Evaluate and Select Literature Rely on journal articles published in national

journals

Prioritize your search:

first look for refereed journal articles,

then, non-refereed articles,

then books,

then conference papers, dissertations and theses

and then papers posted to websites


Research


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Step 3: Critically Evaluate and Select Literature

(contd)

Look for research articles and avoidas much aspossible opinionpieces

Blend qualitative and quantitative research in

your review


Research


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Creswells 5 steps

Step 4: Organize the Literature

Create a fileor abstractsystem to keep track

of what you read.

Each article you read should be summarized inone page containing

Title (type the title so that you can later copy-paste

this into the References section of your paper)

Source: journal article, book, glossary, etc.


Research


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Step 4: Organize the Literature (contd)

Research problem: one or two lines will be sufficientResearch Questions or Hypotheses

Data collection procedure (a description of sample

characteristics can be very handy as well)

Results or findings of the study

Sort these abstracts into groups of related topics

or areas which can then become the different

sections of your review


Research


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Creswells 5 steps (contd)

Step 5: Write a Literature Review

Types of Reviews:

1. Thematic Review:A theme is identified and studies found under this theme are

described.

Major ideas and findings are reported rather than details.


Research


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Creswells 5 steps (contd)

2. Study-by-study Review:

a detailed summary of each study under a broad theme

is provided.

Linksummaries (or abstracts) using transitional

sentences.

Must be organized and flow coherently under various

subheadings.

Avoid string quotations (i.e., lengthy chunks of text

directly quoted from a source)


Research


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Guidelines on Style, Mechanics, and

Language Usage

Does your draft follow the logic or idea that is

presented in your intro and title?

Avoid overusing direct quotations, especially

long ones

Check style manual for correct use of citations

(Doe, 2005); Doe (2005); (Doe & Smith, 2005); Doe and

Smith (2005);(Black, 2005; Brown, 2006; Yellow, 2007)


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Guidelines on Style, Mechanics, and

Language Usage

Avoid using synonyms for recurring words

This is not creative writing and stay consistent withterminology

Group I, Phoenix Cohort, Experimental Group

Spell out all acronyms when first using them Traditional - American Psychological Association (APA)

Non-traditional - Collective Efficacy (CE)

Yes- Do NOT use contractions; NoDont usecontractions

Coinedtermsshould be set off by quotes


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Guidelines on Style, Mechanics, and Language

Usage

Avoid the following:

Slangcool

Colloquialismsthing>> itemor feature

Idiomsrise to the pinnacle>> to become

prominent

Use great care to avoid Plagiarism


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What needs to be included in the

Literature review

Provides contextual background

Reveals related issues

Reviews similar problems elsewhere

Provides significance to your approach to the study

Includes major/seminar research articles pertainingto study

Written in an integrated manner

Uses peer-reviewed research Includes a Reference section


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Literature Review Summary


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Questions?

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