RESEARCH METHODS UNIT I ASSGNMNT
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LiteratureReview.pptxLiterature Review
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Overview
What is a Literature Review?
What does a Literature Review do (purpose)?
A Literature Review is not.
Now what? What do we do with it?
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What is a Literature Review?
It is an essay, a synthesis of information relevant to your work.
Provides context and background for your work.
Literature Review surveys, summarizes, and links information about your topic.
Assesses the information and distills it for the reader.
A literature review discusses published information in a particular subject area, and sometimes information in a particular subject area within a certain time period.
A literature review can be just a simple summary of the sources, but it usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis. A summary is a recap of the important information of the source, but a synthesis is a re-organization, or a reshuffling, of that information. It might give a new interpretation of old material or combine new with old interpretations. Or it might trace the intellectual progression of the field, including major debates. And depending on the situation, the literature review may evaluate the sources and advise the reader on the most pertinent or relevant.
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What does a Literature Review do?
Clarifies understanding of the field.
Explains the rationale for your research.
Evaluates the results of previous research.
Defines key concepts and ideas.
Identifies research in related areas that is generalizable or transferrable to your topic.
Identifies relevant methodological issues.
The main focus of an academic research paper is to develop a new argument, and a research paper is likely to contain a literature review as one of its parts. In a research paper, you use the literature as a foundation and as support for a new insight that you contribute. The focus of a literature review, however, is to summarize and synthesize the arguments and ideas of others without adding new contributions.
Literature reviews provide you with a handy guide to a particular topic. If you have limited time to conduct research, literature reviews can give you an overview or act as a stepping stone. For professionals, they are useful reports that keep them up to date with what is current in the field. For scholars, the depth and breadth of the literature review emphasizes the credibility of the writer in his or her field. Literature reviews also provide a solid background for a research paper’s investigation. Comprehensive knowledge of the literature of the field is essential to most research papers.
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A Literature Review is NOT
Is not an annotated bibliography.
Annotated bibliographies:
Cite various works
Summarize major points of those works.
Discuss the importance of each work to the reader.
Annotated bibliographies are useful tools
First steps to a good literature review.
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OK now what?
Define/refine the topic.
Research effectively.
Read critically.
Analyze and evaluate.
Take great notes.
Draft the written product.
Edit and refine.
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Read Critically
What is the source, the claim, and the conclusions of the article?
Perspective and/or bias
Reasons for publishing
Significance of findings
What are the assumptions and evidence?
Is the methodology valid?
Flawed reasoning or fallacies
Alternative explanations.
Omissions
How does it relate?
What does it mean?
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OK now what?
Define/refine the topic.
Research effectively.
Read critically.
Analyze and evaluate.
Take great notes.
Draft the written product.
Edit and refine.
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Take Great Notes
Highlighting is good for skimming
Margins notes suggest your analysis and connections of material
Outlines may be useful for important works
Summaries with additional note from your analysis and processing—written in your words
Paraphrase important information, eliminate direct quotes if possible.
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OK now what?
Define/refine the topic.
Research effectively.
Read critically.
Analyze and evaluate.
Take great notes.
Draft the written product.
Edit and refine.
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Draft Written Product
A list of who said what is the starting point, not the final product
Tell the story, make your case
Use your words paraphrase, paraphrase
Write to your audience
Make connections for your readers, use both thematic and mechanical transitions.
Cite accurately, error free APA formatting is a requirement.
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Summary
Defined what it is and what it is not.
Described what to do with the Literature Review Assignment(what’s next).
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