Qualitative Research Methods

Unit 5.3
Synthesizing Literature Review
 Key Points
01 What is Synthesis?

02 Strategies for Synthesizing Literature Review

 What is Synthesis in LR?
Combining separate elements into a whole is the basic
definition of synthesis.  

While writing literature review, synthesizing is a way to make

connections among numerous and varied source materials.  

A literature review should not be arranged source by source.

Rather it should be arranged topic by topic to create a whole
view of the literature relevant to your research question.
 Strategies for Synthesizing Literature Review
• Read each of the key studies you have found related to your
topic and summarize them using the Article Summary Table.
• Read each of the key studies you have found related to your
topic and summarize them using Article Summary Table.

• After you have created the Article Summary Table, look for
main ideas/themes present across the findings of the articles
summarized in the table.

• Complete the Synthesis Matrix by writing the main

ideas/themes and relevant papers in the boxes.
• Organize the themes/main ideas in a logical and coherent
sequence.

• Write each of the theme in a separate paragraph as a sub-

topic/sub-section in your literature review by using only the
important evidence from the relevant studies.

• Create topic sentences for your paragraphs and use

transitions between sentences and paragraphs.
 Unsynthesized Example
Franz (2008) studied undergraduate online students. He looked at 17
females and 18 males and found that none of them liked APA.
According to Franz, the evidence suggested that all students are
reluctant to learn citations style. Perez (2010) also studies
undergraduate students. She looked at 42 females and 50 males and
found that males were significantly more inclined to use citation
software (p < .05). Findings suggest that females might graduate
sooner. Goldstein (2012) looked at British undergraduates. Among a
sample of 50, all females, all confident in their abilities to cite and
were eager to write their dissertations.
 Synthesized Example
Studies of undergraduate students reveal conflicting conclusions
regarding relationships between advanced scholarly study and
citation efficacy. Although Franz (2008) found that no participants
enjoyed learning citation style, Goldstein (2012) determined in a
larger study that all participants watched felt comfortable citing
sources, suggesting that variables among participant and control
group populations must be examined more closely. Although Perez
(2010) expanded on Franz's original study with a larger, more diverse
sample...
 Synthesis Checklist
• Have you introduced the paragraph with a clear, focused
topic sentence?

• Have you discussed more than one source in the paragraph?

• Have you mentioned only the most relevant findings, rather

than describing every part of the studies?

• Have you discussed the similarities or differences between

the sources, rather than summarizing each source in turn?
• Have you put the findings or arguments of the sources in
your own words?
• Is the paragraph organized around a single idea?
• Is the paragraph directly relevant to your research question
or topic?
• Is there a logical transition from this paragraph to the next
one?
 References
Frederiksen, L., & Phelps, S. F. (2018). Literature reviews for education and
nursing graduate students.

McCombes, S. (2020, March 28). How to synthesize written information from

multiple sources. Simply Psychology. Retrieved from
https://www.simplypsychology.org/synthesising.html