t&l702 sum2014
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
T & L 702 – Principles of Research Agenda
• Introduction • Literature reviews • The library as a research tool and resource
– Discovery & Retrieval
• Managing your library accounts and requests • Managing your research
Graduate level research • Graduate research differs from undergraduate
research because it requires: – an increased depth and breadth of research/evidence; – a comprehensive understanding of your subject, its
history, and the questions it raises for your field; – presentation of your work in a professional, scholarly
writing style, using the citation format required for publishing.
• Literature review – Demonstrate command of subject area and
understanding of the problem; justify research topic, design and methodology
Topic selection Use review papers first, scan bibliographies, do citation tracking If you have identified a lot of literature, and know that there is even more to uncover, it may be the case that your chosen topic is simply too broad. Consider limits: a particular influence on your main theme, a time-limited treatment. Also remember you will need to be justify your decisions in your thesis. Switch from “historic” search to “current” search Build safety nets with alert services You will reach a stage where you switch from building your literature review in an emergent fashion, to enhancing its content through additional of material from directed reading
Literature Reviews
• Formulate a viable and relevant research question
• Select the most appropriate research terms and tools
• Evaluate the scholarly merit of sources against a set of supportable criteria
• Ethically and legally use information to support or refute your research hypothesis
• Validate understanding and interpretation through discourse with other experts and practitioners
Common Lit Review Errors
• Insufficient time allowed to define best search strategies to use – too hurried
• Problems with selecting and using most relevant keywords and descriptors
• Lit review findings not clearly related to the researcher’s own study – too general
• Relies too much on secondary sources rather than primary sources
• Accepts another researcher’s findings as valid rather than examining with own eye
Common Errors
• Search procedures in lit review not reported • Isolated statistical results are reported rather
than synthesizing the results • Contrary findings and alternative
interpretations are not considered or mentioned
How to conduct a lit review
• The same way you will conduct your primary research – Problem formulation – Data collection – Data evaluation – Analysis and interpretation – Presentation
Literature review of your topic • Some of the questions a lit review can answer
– What are the key sources? – What are the key theories, concepts and ideas? – What are the major issues and debates about the
topic? – What are the political, social, economic,
technological aspects of your topic? – What are the origins and definitions of your topic? – How is knowledge on the topic organized? – What are the main problems that have been
addressed to date?
The search begins - selecting and using research tools
• Discovery Layer – Catalogs
• SearchIt, Summit, WorldCat • Review of Educational Research
– Databases • ERIC, Education Full-Text, Ed Admin Abstracts • PsycInfo, SocAbtracts • Dissertations Abstracts
Selecting and using search terms KEYWORD AND DESCRIPTORS ERIC descriptors that may be of use as you conduct a literature review on a subject
include: Bibliographies Literature Reviews Meta Analysis ERIC descriptors can also be used both to find research studies using a specific method
of inquiry, as well as studies of the research method itself. For example, you may use any of the following descriptors to locate materials related to a specific research method:
Case Studies Ethnography Field Studies Focus Groups Interviews Participant Observation Qualitative Research Statistical Analysis
Click on the “SearchIt” link from the Library’s homepage. You will be asked to login. If you have a WSU Network Id and Password, login using the WSU login selection. If not, use the guest login. Type the title of the journal into the WSU Libraries search box. Select WSU Vancouver from the drop down box and click “Search”. If we own print and online versions of the journal, there will be at least two entries for the journal on the following screen. Follow links in SearchIT to determine if we own the exact issue needed
Impact factors and more
Impact factors and more
Managing your research
– Citation management programs • Zotero And more • EndNote
– Citation management comparison chart available at:
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/lls/choose_citation_mgr.html
Managing research
• Keeping current – RSS – Database alerts – TOC alerts: http://www.journaltocs.ac.uk/
• Citation management
Other resources
• LibGuide – Checklists and rubrics – Literature Review Checklist – Other resources
• Questions? Contact: [email protected]