Week 4 – THE LITERATURE

REVIEW – What’s it all About????

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 Why conduct a literature Review?
 ‘preliminary’ search of existing material
 organise valuable ideas and findings
 identify other research
 generate research ideas
 develop a critical perspective

In short: the more you know

about investigations and
perspectives related to your
own research, the more
effectively you can tackle it!

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THE LITERATURE REVIEW PROCESS:

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KNOW YOUR CATEGORIES!
 What are these? Before you go on shopping you will need to
know what it is you are looking to buy!
 With Literature for Research you have three choices or
species:
 Primary (published or unpublished)
 Secondary
 Tertiary

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Prepare for you Shopping Trip?
Write down – key issues
 Databases and search engines to be used – Construct
relevance trees to determine which databases and keywords
you should use..
 Criteria for selection of relevant and useful studies – If you
are confused as to what in your idea is relevant for searching,
ask a librarian.

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Narrow down your Target
 Isolate your printed sources
 With your databases apply Boolean searches as in this table:

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The Shopping Trip Itself

While shopping
you may be
called upon to
make split-
second choices:
 Define the scope of
your review
 Assess relevance and
value via the abstract
 Assess sufficiency
and robustness of the
material

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KEEP A LOG! Note where the best items are or when
there is a sale so you can return.

Make notes for each item you

read

 Make a note of the FULL

reference.
 Brief summary of content
 Supplementary information
that may remind you of what it
was you found interesting.
 Note where (which database)
you found this on.
 Make links with other works
by the same author
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The Purchase and the Bringing it back
Bring home what is relevant and evaluate it once you return. There is no
“I” in research, but you must use your critical “eye” to evaluate it!

The most important skills are

 The capacity to evaluate what you read

 The capacity to relate what you read to other information.

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How to make the most of your purchase
 Previewing the material, is it a good
specimen? Do you need to return it or
downgrade it?
 Annotation: Make notes in the margins and
on the material.
 Summarise: In your notebook or in a word
document write – in your own words – a
brief summary of the article.
 Compare and contrast: Can you make
notes as to how this article compares with
the others you have brought home? How do
they go together? Can you make an outfit?
Or will this be three separate items?
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Quality over cheap fast-fashion
Questions to ask yourself:
Is this appropriate to my research
Why am I reading this?
What is the author trying to do in writing this?
How convincing and feasible is this?
What use can I make of this?

Remember, you’ve worked hard to bring

this item home and prepare it. Now:
don’t spoil it by skimping on the
accessories!

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Evaluate, Organize, and Synthesize the Literature you
have hunted
 Never take other people’s conclusions at face
value...
 Organize the ideas …

 Synthesize what you learn:

 Compare and contrast
 Show theory in time/
 Describe general trends.
 Contradictory findings.
 Identify themes.

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Review your Experience
 General Points
 Set the research in context.
 Let it lead to later sections
 Begins at a general level and then narrow.
 Three common structures
 A single chapter (like HG)
 A series of chapters (like Gosia)
 Throughout the report (like Adam)
 The Review will:
 Demonstrate
 Link
 Connect
 Narrow.

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Guidelines
1. Get the proper psychological orientation.
2. Have a plan.
3. Emphasize relatedness.
4. Give credit where credit is due.
5. Review the literature, don’t reproduce it.
6. Summarize.
7. Remember that your first draft will not be your last:
CUT TO CLARIFY
8. Ask others for advice and feedback.

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Further Reading
 DENSCOMBE, M. (2012) Research Proposals, A Practical Guide. Open UP
Study Skills Series, Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
 GREASLEY, P. (2011) Doing Essays and Assignments: Essential Tips for
Students. London: Sage.
 GREENER, I (2011) “ Writing up your research – or what can I say I’ve
found?” ad “Writing up Reviews and putting together proposals – or can you
provide some examples of all of this?” in Designing Social Research, a Guide
for the Bewildered. London: Sage, 157 – 190. – Available as a handout from
your teacher and as one document.
 JESSON, J.K., MATHESON, L. and LACEY, F.M. (2011) Doing your
Literature Review, traditional systematic techniques. London: Sage.
 RUDESTAM, K.E, and NEWTON, R.R. (2007) Surviving Your Dissertation:
A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process. London: Sage.
 THOMSON, P. (2013) “Writing as ‘I’ and Writing as We” three entries from
Patter, a Teachers Blog (patthomson.wordpress.com) – Available as a handout
from your teacher and as one document.

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