1 Eye of the Beholder: Focusing the Lit Review Literature reviews are funny things. They are enormously useful to read; they are frightfully difficult to write. Cognitively speaking, your brain begins creating a "review" of what you are reading because we are wired to find patterns. Literature reviews are never simple listing or rehashing or summary of all the information a writer has encountered while conducting research. Instead, information is selected according to the perspective on the topic. Ultimately, the lit review (whatever its use) is a pattern imposed upon -- or found within -- the information you are reading. When you have lots of time, you can wait for the patterns to gel on their own. This is called "emergent analysis" and it is fairly common at the dissertation level, especially in the humanities and social sciences, or whenever qualitative research is being conducted. When you do not have much time, or you are working within a field with strongly conventionalized patterns of organization, structure is imposed on the literature -- I call this "endemic analysis". For example, if a medical clinician wants to review the of side effects of different medications for ADHD, then the clinician reads dozens of articles solely for the information they provide on side effects. The literature review presents only that information, most probably structured according to class of drug. I say "probably" because in medicine, endemic analyses include a hierarchy wherein "drugs" is a higher node and "side effects" is one of the nodes branching off the drug. Since classes of drugs generally share side effects AND both patients and providers will discuss drugs-for-treatment as the starting point, then organizing according to drugs makes most sense. A medical anthropologist might take a very different point of view (POV). This researcher might be quite interested in the patient experience of side effects for the purpose of discovering which side effects bother patients the most (all in all, the medical field does not ask this question! It usually ranks severity of side effects with regard to causing dysfunction from a medical POV). In this case, the organization of the lit review will emerge from the data collected by the researcher. Whatever form of analysis your work entails, you begin the process of writing a literature review by deciding what part of the universe you will be investigating. While the outcome of the work you do is assumed to be unique, to contribute to the field, to change what we already know, all academic work begins with what has already been established. This is the domain of the literature review.
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1
Eye of the Beholder: Focusing the Lit Review
Literature reviews are funny things. They are enormously useful to read; they are frightfully
difficult to write. Cognitively speaking, your brain begins creating a "review" of what you are
reading because we are wired to find patterns. Literature reviews are never simple listing or
rehashing or summary of all the information a writer has encountered while conducting research.
Instead, information is selected according to the perspective on the topic. Ultimately, the lit
review (whatever its use) is a pattern imposed upon -- or found within -- the information you are
reading.
When you have lots of time, you can wait for the patterns to gel on their own. This is called
"emergent analysis" and it is fairly common at the dissertation level, especially in the
humanities and social sciences, or whenever qualitative research is being conducted. When you
do not have much time, or you are working within a field with strongly conventionalized patterns
of organization, structure is imposed on the literature -- I call this "endemic analysis".
For example, if a medical clinician wants to review the of side effects of different medications
for ADHD, then the clinician reads dozens of articles solely for the information they provide on
side effects. The literature review presents only that information, most probably structured
according to class of drug. I say "probably" because in medicine, endemic analyses include a
hierarchy wherein "drugs" is a higher node and "side effects" is one of the nodes branching off
the drug. Since classes of drugs generally share side effects AND both patients and providers
will discuss drugs-for-treatment as the starting point, then organizing according to drugs makes
most sense.
A medical anthropologist might take a very different point of view (POV). This researcher might
be quite interested in the patient experience of side effects for the purpose of discovering which
side effects bother patients the most (all in all, the medical field does not ask this question! It
usually ranks severity of side effects with regard to causing dysfunction from a medical POV). In
this case, the organization of the lit review will emerge from the data collected by the researcher.
Whatever form of analysis your work entails, you begin the process of writing a literature review
by deciding what part of the universe you will be investigating. While the outcome of the work
you do is assumed to be unique, to contribute to the field, to change what we already know, all
academic work begins with what has already been established. This is the domain of the
literature review.
2 Intelligent Searching: FFSP
A literature review requires literature to work with! This means searching. Begin this process
using the UF Subject Guides. The guides are discipline-specific; just find your area and get
familiar with the databases identified as being central to your field.
It is time to create order out of chaos. To search effectively for the masses of information
you need at this level, you need a process. The four steps below take a close-up view of the
locating-literature process. Steps 1-2 are often blended, and if you are working in an area you are
very familiar with, then you can combine them. Steps 3 and 4 are best done individually. Keep in
mind -- if you are pressed for time, ANY of these steps can be done on their own with just a bit
of discipline and practice.
Find -- got search skills? At first, searching is hard, but gets easier the more you practice.
use key words from research question to supply search terms
mark likely candidates
set a time limit, then move onto filtering
Filter -- this is a quick perusal of possibilities
use titles and abstracts to find likely candidates
move likely candidates for actual reading into a folder or send to self or use tech
4. Evaluation begins the process of synthesis -- as your brain begins to find patterns
in the information, the evaluation portion allows you to start noting this, thereby
jump-starting the process of mapping knowledge with a particular focus in mind.
Examples
Bolton-maggs PH. Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. Arch Dis Child. 2000;83(3):220-2. “The problem with all these treatments [corticosteroids, anti-D, IVIgG] is that they do not treat the underlying disorder, only the low count, so that relapse is common." Page 221. Acute ITP occurs in about 4 children per 100,000 and is usually a benign, self-limiting disorder which may be caused by previous illness and often spontaneously remises. For this reason, and due to the potentially serious side effects of standard treatments for ITP, children with mild bleeding may be best treated with no treatment at all, but simply observation. [excellent source for our main point: that ITP under most circumstances is better left alone with only observation and careful watch of child's activities]
Postill, J. (2010), Researching the Internet. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 16: 646–650. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9655.2010.01644.x A review of four recent anthropological studies of the Internet (Boellstorff 2008, Hinkelbein 2008, Kelty 2008, Roig 2008; search through this blog for details). Considered together, these studies suggest that the Internet is becoming ever more (sub)culturally diversified and that no ‘network logic’ (or totalising logic of another kind) is at work. " I shall argue that the studies’ chief contributions to the field are the strong case made for the existence of virtual places, detailed accounts of a wide range of new and old Internet practices, and the rigorous conceptual work around key notions such as ‘third place’, ‘recursive public’, ‘collaborative filmmaking’, and ‘digital integration’” (647) [am particularly interested in his arguments regarding internet as virtual places and how they become 'third places' -- I think this is a potential lead to how internet users assign 'real life' status to virtual acquaintances]
Mapping Knowledge
Mapping Knowledge is the process by which the writer begins to organize the information
according to a particular perspective. To do so, the writer begins with the focus, the POV about
the literature. Mapping does not work without a clear POV.
structure, process, or system that is already known. If your project is comparative or exploratory,
though, then the lit review is likely to be emergent as you discover the categories of information
that make sense of your data.
Endemic Example
CHAPTER 3 CONSERVATION IN MUSEUMS
Although this project focuses on the actual conservation treatment of seven paintings, this section provides a broader perspective on the profession of conservation and its role in museums. The following discussion addresses conservation, the museum’s role in conservation, including conservation budgeting and preventative care by museums.
Conservation
Conservation is the profession devoted to the preservation of cultural property for the future. It is also defined as the application of science to the examination and treatment of museum objects and to the study of the environment in which they are placed. Conservation activities include examination, documentation, treatment, and preventative care, supported by research and education.1
Examination is the investigation of the structure, materials, and condition of cultural property including the identification, the extent and the causes of alteration and deterioration.2
Documentation is the recording in a permanent format of information derived from conservation activities.3 This includes conservation reports and photographic evidence of before, during and after treatment.
Treatment is the deliberate alteration of the chemical and/or physical aspects of cultural property, aimed primarily at prolonging its existence. Treatment may consist of stabilization and/or restoration.4...
Conservation vs. Restoration
Conservation is different from restoration. Conservation in this respect is the control of the environment to minimize the decay of artifacts and materials. Conservation treatment arrests decay and stabilizes artifacts to prevent further deterioration. Restoration is an extension of stabilizing against further deterioration....
Role of the Museum
“Museums collect, preserve, and interpret the things of this world."11 This definition of museums by the American Association of Museums (AAM) summarizes the three important aspects of most museums: collection, preservation and interpretation. The museum’s responsibility to care for the collection for the future lies under the heading of preservation...
Note the careful construction of this chapter. The subheadings of the chapters are laid out in an
opening statement, then the sections are presented in the order they appear in the opening. The
three definitions of "examination", "documentation", and "treatment" are written in parallel
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format using the classic academic form of "X is a (type of) Y (that)". It is not meant to be
thrilling prose; it is supposed to be clear, easy to follow scholarly prose.
Emergent Example
In the following, the entire dissertation is an emergent analysis as a way of examining tourism in
terms of a particular philosopher's treatment of language. The dissertation is carefully organized
with parallel chapter titles making the overall conception of the whole document clear.
20 The Review Paper
The review paper is a stand-alone publication that offers "...critical evaluations of material that
has already been published. By organizing, integrating, and evaluating previously published
material, the author of a review article considers the progress of current research toward
clarifying a problem. In a sense, a review article is tutorial in that the author
defines and clarifies the problem;
summarizes previous investigations in order to inform the reader of the state of current
research;
identifies relations, contradictions, gaps, and inconsistencies in the literature; and
suggests the next step or steps in solving the problem." (APA Style Guide, 2001, 7).
There are many different types of reviews, for example, reviews of methods or historical
reviews. You will probably be writing the most common type of review: The State of the Art
Review-- "A state-of-the-art review presents an up-to-date, interpretative synthesis of our
knowledge of a certain subject or issue, with emphasis on the most recent literature. For
example, an author might look at what is currently known about the advantages and
disadvantages of a particular surgical method for mastectomy, or a particular chemotherapy
regime in the treatment of breast cancer." --"How and Why Biologists Write", Writing Papers in the