Examine Library Resources and Select a Reference Management Tool

Section 2: Planning and Creating Dissertation Literature Reviews

In the previous section, you learned how to identify resource types, which included professional trade journals, popular press publications, business literature, and Internet-based search resources. You  performed an evaluation of business literature, and you were introduced to scholarly resources for professional and academic research projects. You also practiced evaluating differences between business literature in trade journals and popular press. You reviewed the increased use of searches involving Internet resources and examined the criteria for establishing authors' credibility.

In this section, you will investigate literature reviews. Literature reviews are helpful in both professional and academic research. Literature reviews allow you to become acquainted with previous work of other authors. Literature reviews also are useful in developing topics and problem statements for dissertations.

Dissertation topics are important. Often, students come up with an idea for a topic based on experience or because they are passionate about a topic. Caution should be taken in selecting the topic for your dissertation. The topic should be justified. Completing a dissertation takes multiple people’s time and effort. It is important that topics are worthy of the effort. Literature reviews offer support for topic selection as they often have "gaps in the literature" where topics worthy of further study are presented.

The assignments in this section provide practical application of techniques useful in the creation of literature reviews. The reasons for literature reviews, various types of literature reviews, and practice conducting literature review techniques will be examined in the upcoming weeks.

Week 4: Examine and Manage Library Resources (10 Points)

Literature reviews are an essential part of dissertation development. The literature review is the foundation supporting researchers in the creation of topics, problem statements, and research questions. Literature reviews guide researchers in the development of the research methods section, depending on the research method selected. For quantitative methods, the literature review helps determine what types of statistical tests are appropriate for research techniques employed in the study. For qualitative methods, the literature review provides insight on various types of devices for data collection deemed appropriate for inquiry. As already mentioned, be cautious in selecting the topic for your dissertation. Make sure your topic can be justified. 

Once you start the literature search process, organizing your resources is important. As your list of resources increases, effective methods of locating and retrieving information are vita for a successful literature review presentation. This is typically done by managing resources in a reference management tool.

Review the information in the Phelps, Fisher, & Ellis, (2007) text. Decide which method is best for your needs.

Be sure to review this week's resources carefully. You are expected to apply the information from these resources when you prepare your assignments.

Weekly Resources:

Northcentral University. (n.d.). Organizing research. http://library.ncu.edu/dw/index/302

Baker, J. D. (2016). The purpose, process, and methods of writing a literature review. AORN Journal, 103(3), 265-269. doi: 10.1016/j.aorn.2016.01.016

http://search.proquest.com.proxy1.ncu.edu/docview/1769402749?pq-origsite=360link

Williams, A.E. (2017). Promoting meaningfulness by coupling Bloom’s Taxonomy with adult education theory: Introducting an applied and interdisciplinary student writing exercise. Transformative Dialogues: Teaching & Learning, Journal, 10(3), 1-11

http://proxy1.ncu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=126424375&site=ehost-live

Jaffe, R., & Cowell, J. M. (2014). Approaches for improving literature review methods. The Journal of Nursing, 30(4), 236-239. doi: 10.1177/1059840514540427

http://search.proquest.com.proxy1.ncu.edu/docview/1552653073?pq-origsite=360link

O'Mara Eves, A., Thomas, J., McNaught, J., Miwa, M., & Analadou, S. (2015). Using text mining for study identification in systematic reviews: A systematic review of current approaches. Systematic Reviews, 4(1), 1-22. doi: 10.1186/2046-4053-4-5

http://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/2046-4053-4-5

Phelps, R., Fisher, K., & Ellis, A. (2007). Managing yourself, your ideas, and your support structures. In Organizing and Managing Your Research (). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

http://site.ebrary.com.proxy1.ncu.edu/lib/ncent/reader.action?docID=10256852&ppg=18

Read Chapter 9

<Week 4 Excel Spreadsheet>

Assignment 4: Examine Library Resources and Select a Reference Management Tool

The first step in literature reviews is to establish a general, not specific, search topic based on reading from various resources. Review abstracts of articles to get an idea of general topics previously researched by authorities in the discipline of interest. The purpose of the review at this point is to simply narrow the broad topic to a more specific topic. The resulting topic selection can serve as the dissertation topic. From the topic, a problem statement or a specific set of research questions are developed.

The topic in this assignment will be used for subsequent assignments. Rely on the assigned reading and any additional resources from the library that help in completing the assignment. For example, a broad topic might be leadership styles among various corporate CEOs; while a specific research focus or question might be what the most effective leadership style for obtaining operational performance in an organization is. However, the literature needs to support the need for further inquiry into a topic vs. just basing it on your interests. 

In choosing your topics, be sure to keep in mind whether you are seeking a research degree (PhD) or a professional degree (DBA). Review the Dissertation Center document entitled Differentiating PhD and Applied Doctorates for a discussion regarding the differences between PhD and DBA. The topic selected this week will be used in remaining assignments for the course.

Begin this assignment with a search on the general topic. The first step in the process is to create the search results. There will be a large number of articles showing in the library aggregator. The library aggregator is the tool that results in the output list of articles. Aggregators include ProQuest and ESBCOhost. Enter the search terms and see the results.

The next step is to consider how you will manage your articles and searches. You will have to keep track of what search items and keywords you used on which data, using which databases/aggregators. Very quickly, you will collect a large number of articles and will likely not remember how you found them, or which set of authors concluded what. Hence, you will need to keep track of articles in a manner that enables you to find citations, articles on specific topics, research conclusions, and other relevant pieces of information, without having to re-read articles. A good way to start is to review abstracts and identify a subtopics and keywords that may be of interest to you. 

Third, review the MS Excel spreadsheet provided in this week’s materials, including the example provided. Identify five (5) recent (published within the last five years) research articles related to your topic of interest. The articles should result from a library search, using relevant keyword or search terms. Read the articles and extract relevant information, then add this content to the spreadsheet provided. 

Finally, write a summary paper in which you explain the reference management process and how you might use a reference management tool to organize and find your sources later. Using this week’s readings as a guide, compare and contrast the different reference and citation management tools you could use for your searches. Include 3-4 tools in your analysis, including the Excel spreadsheet used for this assignment, EndNotes and RefWorks (the two latter tools are available to you for free through NCU). Optional: You may include one other software tool with which you are familiar in your analysis. Your compare and contrast analysis should cover advantages and disadvantages of each tool. 

Based on your analysis of these systems, which do you think will be the nest fit for you as you begin to review the literature and why?

Length: 3-4 pages, not including the references pages

References: Include a minimum of five scholarly resources, and include an APA formatted reference list.

Your assignment should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts that are presented in the course and provide new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect doctoral-level writing and APA standards. Be sure to adhere to Northcentral University's Academic Integrity Policy.

Upload your document and click the Submit to Dropbox button.

Learning Outcomes: 2, 3, 4