Week 4 - Reviewing the scholarly literature and planning a study

Question 1

The reviewing of the scholarly literature serves three main functions

Answer 1

• It helps narrow down a broad topic by showing how others conducted their studies. Previous studies give a model of how narrowly focused a research question should be, what kind of study designs others have used;
• It informs about the state of knowledge on a topic. From the study of others, you can learn the key ideas, terms and issues that surround the topic.
• It stimulates the creativity and curiosity. A published study offers an example of what the final report on a study looks like – it’s a major part, its form, and its style of writing

Question 2

How to conduct a systematic review of literature review

Answer 2

• Define and refine a topic
• Design a search strategy
• Locate research reports
• Taking notes

Question 3

Define and refine

Answer 3

• A literature review begins with a clearly define topic , well-focused topic research question and a plan
• A good review topic should be focused as research question
• A good review topic should be slightly broader than the specific research question being tested. It is impossible to finalize a specific research question for a study without a review of literature that helps bring greater focus to the research question.

Question 4

Design a search strategy

Answer 4

• After choosing a focused research question for the review, the next step is to plan a search strategy;
• The reviewer needs to decide on the type of review, its extensiveness, and the types of materials to include;
• The key is to be careful, systematic, and organized.
• Set parameters on your search: how much time you will devote to it, how far back in time you will look
• Decide how to record the bibliographic citation for each reference you find
• How to take notes (e.g., in a notebook, index cards, in a document or spreadsheet file on your computer).

Question 5

Locate research reports

Answer 5

• As a general rule, use multiple search strategies to counteract the limitations of a single search method;
• Don’t limit yourself to one database, use several;
• You will likely encounter many of the same articles by using multiple databases, but you will also find that one database may pick up a valuable research article that others did not

Question 6

Taking notes

Answer 6

• As you discover sources, it is a good idea to create two kinds of files for your note cards or computer documents: a Source File and a Content File
• Record all bibliographic information for each source in the Source File.
• Do not forget anything in a complete bibliographic citation, such as a page number or the name of the second author
• The Content File contains substantive information of interest from a source, usually its major findings, details of methodology, definitions of concepts, interesting quotations, etc.

Question 7

What to record

Answer 7

• Researchers have to decide what to record about an article, book, or other source. It is better to err on the side of recording too much rather than too little.
• Record the hypotheses tested, how major concepts were measured, the main findings, the basic design of the research, the sample used, ideas for future study, etc.
• Photocopying or downloading all relevant articles or reports will save you time recording notes and will ensure that you will have an entire report. Notes can also be made on the photocopy

Question 8

There are several warnings about photocopying

Answer 8

• First, photocopying can be expensive for a large literature search.
• Second, be aware of and observe copyright laws; Canadian copyright laws permit photocopying for personal research use.
• Third, remember to record or photocopy the entire article, including all citation information

Question 9

Writing a review

Answer 9

-an author should communicate a review’s purpose to the reader by its organization.