Locating and Reviewing Related Literature
The second major section of a research article is the review of literature –
essentially the link between existing knowledge and the problem to be
investigated. A good review offers credibility to your research.
Broadly stated the purpose of this section is to relate the previous literature to
your problem (to the problem under investigation).
Refining the research problem – early research problems tend to be general and
somewhat tentative. By reviewing related studies and discussions in that area the
researcher learns how others have defined the general problem in more specific
ways.
Developing significance for the research – the researcher must link the study to
previous knowledge to demonstrate how this will link to, add and build upon the
base.
Identifying methodological techniques – approaches of others that have been
useful in other studies can be accessed from methods employed to select
subjects, measure variables and implement procedures
Identifying contradictory findings – SES or classroom and school effects might fit
here.
Developing research hypotheses – sound research hypothesis is usually based
upon previous studies closely linked to the literature.
Learning about new information – either in the topic of interest or in some related
area
Jigsaw or perhaps give each group one of these to anticipate where it fits in then
explain to the rest of the class what is happening. Pages 50 to 60 of ER.
Step One: Use Secondary Sources to Locate Existing Reviews and Related
Research (textbooks, scholarly books, Reviews, Handbooks, ERIC (Educational
Resources Information Center www.eric.ed.gov),
Step Two: Identify Key Terms that represent the problem.
Step Three: Identify the appropriate Journal Indexes and Abstracts
Step Four: Search Indexes for Primary Sources
Step Five: Summarize and Analyze Primary Source Information
Step Six: Organize and Write the Review
Consumer Tips for Evaluating the Review of Literature
There are some examples on pages 68 and 69 of ER to workshop this with.
1. The review of literature should adequately cover previous research on the
topic.
2. The review of the literature should cite findings from other studies.
3. The review of the literature should be up to date.
4. The review of the literature should analyze as well as summarize.
5. The review of the literature should organize logically (topic author?).
6. The review of the literature should summarize minor studies and discuss
more major ones.
7. The review of the literature should relate previous studies explicitly to the
research problem or methods.
8. The review of the literature should provide a logical basis for the
hypothesis.
9. The review of the literature should establish a theoretical framework for
the problem.
10.The review of the literature should help establish the significance of the
research.
Searching ERIC online
Boolean operators are keywords that enable the retrieval of terms in specific
combinations. The most common are AND and OR. AND is used when only those
documents containing both keywords as descriptors will be retrieved. OR will
offer up all documents with both those key words
Using Refworks
Optional assignment - Annotated bibliography in RefWorks (with own commentary)