Analyzing and

Synthesizing Findings

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 Read the articles
 completely in each topic together

 Take notes in an organized manner: computer files,

note cards, etc.

 Include all bibliographic info, especially page

number when quoting!

 Flag like information with same color post-its across

articles.
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 Summarize
 main purpose (research questions)
 methodology
 qualitative/quantitative
 subjects, controls, treatments
 findings
 relevant details

3
 Analyze

 varying definitions of key terms

 methodology used
 size & generalizability of subject pool
 innovative methodology
 enough evidence?
 findings consistent with those of similar
studies?
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 Analyze
 currency: lit review shows the latest work
done in subject area. (last 5 years on average)
Include older articles if:
 landmark study

 only evidence on a topic

 helps explain the evolution of the

research

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 Synthesize the Literature
 How does each article relate to your topic and
purpose?

 Define your argument/thesis.

 Identify major trends or patterns emerging

from your reading.

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 Synthesize

 Reassemble your notes based on results of reading, using

organizational aids such as post-its, flags, etc.

 Revise original outline of categories

 Create a detailed topic outline

 begin with your “argument” or claim
 present evidence from articles researched that proves your claim

Do not string together a summary of articles. The outline is topic

driven.

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 Sample topic outline
Psychological Aspects of Organ Donation: Individual and Next-of-Kin Donation
Decisions
I. Introduction
A. Establish importance of topic (cite statistics
on scarcity of organs).
B. Delimit the review to psychological
components of decisions.
C. Describe organization of the paper,
indicating that the remaining topics in
the outline will be discussed.
II. Individual decisions regarding
posthumous organ donation
A. Beliefs about organ donation
B. Attitudes toward donating
C. Stated willingness to donate
D. Summary of research on individual
decisions
III. Next-of-kin consent decisions
A. Beliefs about donating others’ organs.
B. Attitudes toward next-of-kin donations.
C. Summary of research on next-of-kin consent
decisions
IV. Methodological issues and directions for
future research
A. Improvement in attitude measures and
measurement strategy.
B. Greater differentiation by type of
donation.
C. Stronger theoretical emphasis.
D. Greater interdisciplinary focus.
V. Summary, Conclusions, and Implications
A. Summary of points I-IV.
B. Need well-developed theoretical models
of attitudes and decision making.
C. Current survey data limited in scope and
application points to need for more
sophisticated research in the future.
D. Need more use of sophisticated data analytic
techniques.
E. Conclusion: Psychology can draw from various
subdisciplines for an understanding of
donation decisions so intervention strategies
can be identifiable. Desperately need to
increase the available supply of donor organs.
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 Synthesize
 Note on your topic outline relationships among
studies: which researchers, what page, etc. support
each point?

 Note consistency of results from study to study.

 Note discrepancies among studies and provide

possible explanations such as dates of studies,
different methodologies.

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 Synthesize
 Note landmark studies and if replicated.
 Note how individual studies help illustrate or
advance theoretical notions.
 Note gaps or areas needing more research.
 Make sure your detailed outline follows a
logical sequence of topics and subtopics. This
will give your literature review the coherence
it needs.

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 Some problems could be …
 Lacking organization and structure
 Lacking focus, unity and coherence
 Being repetitive and verbose
 Failing to cite influential papers
 Failing to keep up with recent developments
 Failing to critically evaluate cited papers
 Citing irrelevant references
 Depending too much on secondary sources
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