Literature review

Subject : Research Methodology

Literature reviewGroup 5

Outline

1. Definition of literature review

2. Steps to take before beginning to write a

literature review

3. Researching for a literature review

4. Organization of a literature review

5. Writing recommendations

What is literature review?

Presenter: Minh Dang

What is literature?

A collection of all the scholarly writings on a topic

Literature Review

• A selection of available resources and materials with a strong relation to the topic including a description & a critical evaluation and comparative analysis of each work.

– It focuses on those resources and materials that are directly relevant to your topic, and as such, is highly selective.

• Focused on a particular question or area of research

– Not a widespread, comprehensive list of all materials relating.

– Narrowly focused to concentrate only on truly relevant materials

• A selection of available, relevant resources and materials available in any formats.

– The material's relevance to your research question is what's important, not the format.

Common mistakes of making literature review

• Make a summary of available materials without any critical description or component; or an annotated bibliography.

Purpose of literature review

• To convey to readers what knowledge and ideas have been established

• It gives us a solid overview of the research on a topic

• Makes a case for further investigation and research, highlighting gaps in knowledge and asking questions that need to be answered

Format of literature review

• A literature review is a prose document similar to a journal article or essay, not a list of citations and descriptions

Types of literature review

Characteristics of literature review

• A Good Literature Review:

– Focused

– Logical

– Developed

– Integrative (consistent)

– Current (popular)

BEFORE WRITING LITERATURE REVIEW

Presenter : Ngân Giang

Decide on your areas of research

Before you begin to search for articles or books, decide beforehand what areas you are going to research.

Make sure that you only get articles and books in those areas, even if you come across fascinating books in other areas.

Search for the literature

Cover a comprehensive search of specific reference books and articles as well as useful sources online involve in your area.

Set a specific time frame for how long you will search.

Find relevant information in your books and articles to look for :1. Claims, conclusions, and findings about the constructs youare investigating2. Definitions of terms 3. Disagreement about the constructs you are investigating

Narrow your topic

The narrower your topic, the easier you can get a good survey of the material.

Consider whether your sources are current

Some disciplines require that you use information that is as current as possible.

E.g: In the sciences, treatments for medical problems are constantly changing according to the latest studies.

In a review in the humanities, history, or social sciences, a survey of the history, what is important is how perspectives

have changed through the years or within a certain time period.

Construct a working thesis statement

Use the focus you’ve found to construct a thesis statement.

Is a single declarative sentence that states what you want your readers to know,

believe, or understand after having read your essay.

To discover ideas and connections

between ideas that you didn't

recognize before

RESEARCHING FOR A LITERATURE REVIEW

FIND A FOCUS

WRITE A THESIS STATEMENT

GATHER YOUR SOURCES

CONSIDER HOW CURRENT YOUR SOURCES MUST BE

Presenter : Hữu Lộc

CONSIDER HOW CURRENT YOUR SOURCES MUST BE

When researching subjects that are constantly changing, such as technology, science or medicine, having the most recent, cutting edge information is critical.

In other areas, such as the history or the humanities, it may be most important to show how the particular perspectives on the topic have changed or are affected by other factors.

FIND A FOCUSLook for themes or issues that tie together your sources. Do the authors share perspectives or are they

varied?Are research results consistent or divergent? Are there raging debates? Does the research reveal certain trends or

directions? Are there certain aspects or populations left out of

the research? Selecting one of these themes will give a focus and

sense of organization to your lit review.

WRITE A THESIS STATEMENT

After you have settled on a focus for your lit review, write a thesis statement that will provide the perspective that your paper will take. For example:

Over the years, dieting trends have come and gone out of fashion. The latest seems to be a back-to-basics approach that combines a balanced diet with regular exercise.

GATHER YOUR SOURCES

If you intend to use journal articles, select the journal index(es) that pertain to your subject area (in the case above, health or nutrition). List the keywords that best describe your topic; generally, use nouns (such as diets and trends) rather that verbs (such as effect or behave).

Over the years, dieting trends have come and gone out of fashion. The latest seems to be a back-to-basics approach that combines a balanced diet with regular exercise.

Begin by searching broadly, adding keywords to narrow your topic. Ask a Reference Librarian to suggest search terms and for help selecting and navigating databases. When you find good sources, consider “harvesting” additional sources by examining the reference lists of pertinent articles.

Scan the materials you have collected (in other words, skim the abstracts, beginning and conclusions) to decide which you think might be most relevant.

Make a pile of the best, most important works, and put the others aside (do not toss them out for now – you never know what you may return to in the future).

Once you have decided which are the best and most important sources, read them more carefully and take notes.

Keep all of your printouts until after your paper is returned, just in case you need to refer to them.

RESEARCHING FOR A LITERATURE REVIEW

FIND A FOCUS

WRITE A THESIS STATEMENT

GATHER YOUR SOURCES

CONSIDER HOW CURRENT YOUR SOURCES MUST BE

CONSIDER HOW CURRENT YOUR SOURCES MUST BE

When researching subjects that are constantly changing, such as technology, science or medicine, having the most recent, cutting edge information is critical.

In other areas, such as the history or the humanities, it may be most important to show how the particular perspectives on the topic have changed or are affected by other factors.

FIND A FOCUSLook for themes or issues that tie together your sources. Do the authors share perspectives or are they

varied?Are research results consistent or divergent? Are there raging debates? Does the research reveal certain trends or

directions? Are there certain aspects or populations left out of

the research? Selecting one of these themes will give a focus and

sense of organization to your lit review.

WRITE A THESIS STATEMENT

After you have settled on a focus for your lit review, write a thesis statement that will provide the perspective that your paper will take. For example:

Over the years, dieting trends have come and gone out of fashion. The latest seems to be a back-to-basics approach that combines a balanced diet with regular exercise.

GATHER YOUR SOURCES

If you intend to use journal articles, select the journal index(es) that pertain to your subject area (in the case above, health or nutrition). List the keywords that best describe your topic; generally, use nouns (such as diets and trends) rather that verbs (such as effect or behave).

Over the years, dieting trends have come and gone out of fashion. The latest seems to be a back-to-basics approach that combines a balanced diet with regular exercise.

Begin by searching broadly, adding keywords to narrow your topic. Ask a Reference Librarian to suggest search terms and for help selecting and navigating databases. When you find good sources, consider “harvesting” additional sources by examining the reference lists of pertinent articles.

Scan the materials you have collected (in other words, skim the abstracts, beginning and conclusions) to decide which you think might be most relevant.

Make a pile of the best, most important works, and put the others aside (do not toss them out for now – you never know what you may return to in the future).

Once you have decided which are the best and most important sources, read them more carefully and take notes.

Keep all of your printouts until after your paper is returned, just in case you need to refer to them.

Organization of a literature review

Presenter: M.Sang

Organization of a literature review Similar to other papers you have written, your literature review should also contain three basic parts: • An introduction, giving the reader a quick idea of your topic and the central theme or organizational pattern you will follow.

Gives a quick idea of the topic of the literature review, such as the central theme or organizational pattern.

• The body, which contains your discussion of sources.

• Conclusions/Recommendations: Discuss what you have drawn from reviewing literature so far. Where might the discussion proceed?

1 ) Chronological If the research in your sources appears to follow a chronological progression, whether in thought or practice, this could be a logical framework for organizing your lit review.

Start with the earliest references and discuss them at the beginning, and then gradually work you way logically through time, to the references that are most recent.

E.G : What is the relation of love theme for movies of all time ?

Sample references : Titanic, Gone with the wind, Romeo and Juliet.

How will you order these references ?

1. Gone with the wind ( 1936 )

2. Romeo and Juliet ( 1968 )

3. Titanic ( 1997 )

2) Trends: You may be able to certain identify trends within the research or treatment of your topic. This may be similarly chronological, but certain trends may encompass greater historical era.

examine the sources under another trend, such as the history, geographical, cultural, etc.

E.g : What is the impact of racism on humanity ?

History : • In those earlier days in the 20th century, the face of racism was largely black and

white.

• The 21st Century has brought about many attempted changes in society. There is legislation and memoranda against discrimination in its many forms.

Geography : • In Western countries , racism is largely for black and white people.

• In Asian, racism is largely for the different classes in society.

3)Thematic: thematic reviews focus on central issues or topics.. As you write the review, you will use your sources to reinforce the theme that you have chosen as central to your paper.

Thematic reviews of literature are organized around a topic or issue, rather than the progression of time. But more authentic thematic reviews tend to break away from chronological order.

4) Methodological:

Instead of the content, this framework is organized around the methodologies (qualitative, quantitative, in-depth case studies ) used in the research

This approach to lit review is often used by researchers who wish to justify their choice of one methodology over others. They give an analysis of research techniques according to criteria as to whether they are valid and reliable.

E.g : A specific qualitative method results :

The results were very surprising to the management team. The major qualitative findings included the following:

Women viewed convenience stores to be primarily designed for men, with little or no consideration for women.

QuickStop was seen as one of the worst of convenience stores "kind of the place for a man to buy gas, get a six-pack of cheap beer and cigarettes, but not the kind of place I want to go".

Writing recommendations

Presenter: Ngọc Cẩm

Read and write with purpose

• Focus on your goal

• See how the major concepts, theories, arguments, conclusions, etc. related or similar to each other

=> Purpose: evaluate and show the relationships between the research.

Use evidence, but be selective

However, other studies have shown that even gender-neutral antecedents are more likely to produce masculine images than feminine ones (Gastil, 1990). Hamilton (1988) asked students to complete sentences that required them to fill in pronouns that agreed with gender-neutral antecedents such as “writer,” “pedestrian,” and “persons.”

provide the reader with evidence to back up and justify what you write

Be selective

Include only the information that points back to your thesis. The type of information you choose to mention

should relate directly to the review’s focus, whether it is thematic, methodological, or chronological.

Use quotes sparingly

• Use quotes sparingly, if at all – make your own voice clear and center.

• Use care when paraphrasing to be sure you accurately represent the authors’ thoughts and findings.

• Keep your own voice

However, other studies have shown that even gender-neutral antecedents are more likely to produce masculine images than feminine ones (Gastil, 1990). Hamilton (1988) asked students to complete sentences that required them to fill in pronouns that agreed with gender-neutral antecedents such as “writer,” “pedestrian,” and “persons.” The students were asked to describe any image they had when writing the sentence. Hamilton found that people imagined 3.3 men to each woman in the masculine “generic” condition and 1.5 men per woman in the unbiased condition.

Summarize, synthesize and transition

• Present/summarize for readers, and synthesize your findings

• Provide transitions from one thought or source to another

Drafts and revisions

• Refer often to your thesis statement when writing your text from your outline.

• Use terminology that is appropriate to your field and audience, avoiding slang, jargon and contractions.

• Add subheadings when appropriate to break up longer sections

Drafts and revisions• Check that you have documented your

sources correctly (text + reference list)

• Include everything cited in your paper on your reference list, and vice versa

• Edit and revise your paper as needed

• Ask someone else look it over for technical or organizational errors

Recommendations for writing Lit. Review

Read and write with purpose Use evidence, but be selective Use quotes sparingly Summarize, synthesize and transition Drafts and revisions

Thank you for listening !

Group 5 : 1. M.Sang2. H.Lộc3. Ngân Giang4. Ngọc Cẩm5. M.Đăng6. Tố Ngân