Building the Literature Revie · 2018-03-08 · What’s so important about the lit. review? “A literature [review] assures investigators and eventually their readers that the inquiry

Building the Literature Review

And Joining the Scholarly Conversation

Agenda for TodayI. Review standards for graduate level writingII. Discuss the purpose of literature reviews within larger

academic and research contextsIII. Examine strategies for synthesizing and incorporating

source material in to your paper

Heady, Emily. Introduction to Graduate Writing. Lynchburg: Liberty University Graduate Writing Center, 2007. Web.

Link: http://www.liberty.edu/media/1136/Introduction%20to%20Graduate%20Writing%20(full%20text).pdf

G LW

Step 1: Getting Started

Research

Reading

Critical Analysis

Writing

Revising/Rewriting

The Research Process

Irvin, Lenny. “A Word or Two on the Writing Process.” The Write Place. 7 Sept. 2015. Web.

Link: http://www.lirvin.net/WGuides/wprocess.htm

Writing (& Research) is a Recursive Process

AKA...

MESSY

E S

Is it published by a reputable press?

➢ University Presses➢ Established commercial publishers (Norton, Routledge, etc)

Is it peer-reviewed?

Is it current?

Does it contain a bibliography?

Has the source been frequently cited by others?

➢ Citation indexes➢ Follow a bibliographic trail

Booth, Colomb, & Williams. The Craft of Research. Chicago University Press, 2008.

F Y A

What You’re Probably Used to: Argument of Advocacy

★ Analyzes and critiques the knowledge gained from the synthesis of data produced through the discovery argument

★ Typically framed as your thesis statement/central claim

While other leadership styles may be advantageous in certain situations, the participatory leadership style is the most beneficial for the 21st century workplace because...

Machi and McEvoy. The Literature Review. Corwin, 2012.

F Y A

What You’ll Need To Do Before: Argument of Discovery

★ Discusses and explains what is known about the subject

★ Based on extensive research of secondary sources

★ Sometimes called “State of the Field” or “Literature Review”

Research indicates that various leadership styles have different benefits in the workplace.

Machi and McEvoy. The Literature Review. Corwin, 2012.

Step 2: Putting Things Together

“A literature [review] assures investigators and eventually their readers that the inquiry is not redundant, that it advances an important strand of research in the field, and that it coheres within that strand” (Lauer and Asher 9).

● Articulates the relationship of your project to existing research● Articulates the value of your project based on existing research

What’s so important about the lit. review?

PRAGMATICALLY: FRAMES YOUR PROJECT AND ITS IMPACT

Lauer, Janice M. and J. William Asher. Composition Research: Empirical Designs. Oxford, 1988.

“When [the writer] incorporates words, ideas, and conclusions which have already appeared elsewhere, she does not present these because they are unfamiliar to her readers so much as she presents them as a reminder to the disciplinary colleague of knowledge they presumably have in common...The writer, by citing other literature, implies a narrative of the process by which she has arrived at her own ideas or new information…”

What’s so important about the lit. review?

RHETORICALLY: ESTABLISHES YOUR ETHOS AS A RESEARCHER

Rose, Shirley. “What’s Love Got to Do with It? Scholarly Citation Practices as Courtship Rituals.” Research on the Language of the Disciplines, vol.1, no.3, 1996. 34-48. https://wac.colostate.edu/llad/v1n3/rose.pdf

Basic Structure:I. Introduction:

● What problem are you looking at? Why is this research relevant to your field?

● Thesis: Makes a claim about the sources→ What have you learned from this research?

II. Review of Literature:● Synthesizing source materials together to illustrate the academic

conversation happening about your topic→ What are people saying about this issue?

III. Conclusion:● What “gap” have you noticed in this research? ● Is there anything that needs to be researched further (and why)? ● Is there something current research is not considering, and if so,

what?

SYNTHESIS: the combination of ideas to form a

theory or system

How NOT to synthesize sources

SOURCE 1

Summary of argument

SOURCE 3

Summary of argument

SOURCE 2

Summary of argument

Hirschi’s (1969) social control theory argued that adolescents who had no strong bond to conventional social institutions were more likely to commit delinquency. Many empirical studies that follow Hirschi’s theory found general support that juveniles who have strong social bonds are engaged in fewer delinquent acts (Agnew 1985; Costello and Vowell 1999; Erickson, Crosboe, and Dornbush 2000; Hindelang 1973; Hirschi 1969; Junger-Tas 1992; Sampson and Laub 1993; Thornberry et al. 1991). Some studies that specially employed social control theory to explain juvenile drug use have also found support for this theory (Ellickson et al. 1999; Krohn et al. 1983; Marcos et al. 1986; Wiatrowski, Griswold, and Roberts 1981). This research makes evident that during the adolescent period (12-17), family and school play influential roles in influencing behavior. Whereas a defective family bond increases the probability of youthful drug use or juvenile delinquency (Denton and Kampfe 1994; Wells and Rankin 1991; Rankin and Kern 1994; Radosevich et al. 1980), students who have a weak school bond also have a higher risk of drug use (Ahlgren et al. 1982; Bauman 1984; Radosevich et al. 1980; Tec 1972).

Adapted from Roanoke College, “Guidelines for Writing a Literature Review”:https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0ahUKEwjUrLGL5NjZAhVxT98KHW22DAwQFghtMAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.roanoke.edu%2FDocuments%2Fsociology%2FGuidelines_Writing_Literature_Review.doc&usg=AOvVaw3Pak6qY4GObCsaSSnR0Gv4

Keep in mind...● Know what you are focused on in your own study in

order to synthesize articles for it

● Mostly utilize summary rather than direct quotation from the articles

● Use signal phrases/transitions to show the relationship between sources/ideas

● Draw a conclusion for the reader, so the reader will know what is important about the studies you have summarized

Using a MATRIX to OrganizeSource 1 Source 2 Source 3 Source 4 Source 5

Citation:

Key terms:

Main Idea 1:

Main Idea 2:

Main Idea 3:

TEMPLATES FOR INTEGRATING RESEARCH• Critical Summary: In summary, studies reviewed in the field of _____ show that _____; however, the issue of _____

remains unresolved.

• Synthesis, showing relationship between sources: By demonstrating ______, X’s work extends the findings of Y.

• Synthesis, perhaps leading to articulating the method you are using: Experiments showing ______ and ______ have led scientists to propose ______. Therefore, _______.

• Synthesis highlighting area for further research: Although most scientists attribute _____ to _____, X’s result _______ leads to the possibility that ________.

• Synthesis highlighting significance of your project: Although previous research suggests_______, the proposed study will _______, and thus __________.

• Synthesis highlighting significance of your project: Because ______ does not account for ______, the proposed study instead used _______.

• Summary highlighting significance of your project/its relationship to pre-existing research: X’s work leads to the question of _______. Therefore, the study investigates ________.

Source: http://www.amazon.com/They-Say-Matter-Academic-Writing/dp/039393361X

THINK OF IT AS…

joining the scholarly conversation to

continue the research process

“The best academic writing has one underlying feature: it is deeply engaged in some way with other people’s views. Too often, however, academic writing is taught as a process of saying “true” or “smart” things in a vacuum, as if it were possible to ever argue effectively without being in conversation with someone else.”Graff, Birkenstein, and Durst. They Say, I Say. Norton & Co, 2014.

Advice from our Center ● Get started early! Your research questions may shift or change focus the

more research you do, so you need to have plenty of time to follow where the process takes you.

● Stay organized! Matrices can help you organize the information you find, and programs such as EndNote or Zotero can help you organize bibliographic information.

● Develop your voice as a scholar! Notice how literature reviews are organized in the articles you read. Do you notice trends in the way information is presented in this field? Learn conventions by reviewing what has already been published.

● Use your resources! Get to know the research librarian for your discipline and get feedback from peers (or WC Tutors!)

Use our “Limit to” feature to

help identify the most

appropriate tutor for the

type of assignment

you are working on

http://writingcenter.msstate.edu/index.html