Transcript Document 7754710

Chapter 4
Reviewing the Literature
Power Point Slides by Ronald J. Shope in collaboration with John W. Creswell
Key Concepts
• Defining a literature review
• Distinguishing between a quantitative
and qualitative literature review
• Understanding the 5-step process of
conducting a literature review
Educational Research 2e: Creswell
What is a Literature Review?
• Written summary of the literature
• Describes past and current information
and research
• Organized into topics
• Reporting the literature based on
themes or individual studies
• Documenting a need for your proposed
study
Educational Research 2e: Creswell
Literature Review in a
Quantitative Study
• Documents the importance of the research
problem at the beginning of the study
• Supports the theory or explanation used in
the study
• Foreshadows the research questions
• Provides an explanation for the results in
other studies and in the theoretical
prediction at the end of the study.
Educational Research 2e: Creswell
Literature Review in a
Qualitative Study
• Documents the importance of the research
problem at the beginning of the study
• Does not foreshadow the research
questions (which are broad in scope to
encourage participants to provide their own
views)
• Is used to compare and contrast with other
studies at the end of the study
Educational Research 2e: Creswell
What is the Process of
Conducting a Literature Review?
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Identify key terms
Locate literature
Critically evaluate and select the literature
Organize the literature
Write a review
Educational Research 2e: Creswell
Identifying key terms
• Write a preliminary “working title” for the
project and select two or three key words that
capture the essence of the project
• Pose a short general research question that
you would like to answer in the study
• Look in a thesaurus of terms to find words
that match your topic
• Scan the contents in your library stacks and
the table of contents of educational journals
Educational Research 2e: Creswell
Priority/Value of Sources for
Searching the Literature
• Summaries
• Journals, Indexes, Databases
• Early stage literature (e.g., Web studies)
Educational Research 2e: Creswell
Databases Used in
Educational Research
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ERIC
PsyINFO
Sociofile
Social Science Citation Index
Dissertation Abstracts
Others: PubMed
Educational Research 2e: Creswell
Critically Evaluate and Select
the Literature
• Is it a good, accurate source?
– National journal?
– Reviewed source?
– Research study?
Educational Research 2e: Creswell
Critically Evaluate and Select
the Literature
• Is the source worthy of inclusion?
– Topic relevance: Is the literature on the same
topic as your proposed study?
– Individual and site relevance: Does the
literature examine the same individuals and
sites you want to study?
– Problem relevance: Does the literature
examine the same research problem as you
propose in your study?
– Accessibility relevance: Is the literature
available in your library or can it be downloaded
from a web site?
Educational Research 2e: Creswell
Organize the Literature:
Abstracting Studies
• Contents of abstract vary for research study
and essay
• Structure essentially same for quantitative
and qualitative research studies:
– Research problem
– Research questions/hypotheses
– Data collection procedures
– Results/Findings
Educational Research 2e: Creswell
Sample Hierarchical Literature
Map
Study Abroad
Programs
Attitude Toward
Study Abroad
King, Young,1994
The need for Teaching Programs
to be Culturally Responsive
Bennett, 1995; Eastman,
Smith, 1991; Grant 1994; Noel, 1995
U.S.
Programs
Personal insights
of Preservice Teachers
Possible
Improvements
Personal insights
of Preservice Teachers
Friesen, Kang
McDougall, 1995;
Mahan, Stachowski, 1991
Martin, Rohrlich ,
1991; Stachowski,
1991
Cockrell, Placier,
Cockrell, Middleton
1999; Goodwin, 1997;
Kea, Bacon, 1999
Predominately English
Speaking Countries
Mahan, Stachowski, 1990;
Quinn, Barr, McKay,
Jarchow, Powell, 1995;
Vall, Tennison, 1992
Need for further study:
Non-English Speaking Cultures
Conventional
Programs
Question: Do short-term study
abroad programs in non-English
speaking cultures help create
cultural responsiveness in
preservice teachers?
Colville-Hall
Macdonald,
Smollen, 1995;
Rodriguez,
Sjostrom, 1995;
Vavrus, 1994
Educational Research 2e: Creswell
Cross-Cultural
Programs
Cooper, Beare
Thorman, 1990;
Larke, Wiseman,
Bradley, 1990
Organize the Literature:
Constructing a Literature Map
• Identify key terms for the topic and put them at
the top of the map
• Sort studies into topical areas or “families of
studies.”
• Provide a label for each box which will become
a heading for the review
• Develop the map on as many levels as possible
Educational Research 2e: Creswell
Constructing a Literature Map
• Draw a box toward the bottom of the figure
that says “my proposed study”
• Draw lines connecting the proposed study
with other branches of the literature
Educational Research 2e: Creswell
Circular Literature Map
Need for Further Study
Non-English Speaking Cultures
Question: “Do short term study abroad programs
in non-English speaking cultures help create
cultural responsiveness in preservice teachers?
Study Abroad
Program
Attitudes Toward
Study Abroad
(King, Young 1994)
U.S. Programs
Personal insights of
Preservice Teachers
(Friesen, Kang,
McDougall, 1995)
Predominately English
Speaking Cultures
(Maha, Stachowski,
1990)
Educational Research 2e: Creswell
Conventional Programs
Preservice Teachers
(Friesen, Kang,
McDougall, 1995)
Personal Insights of
Teachers (Cockrell,
Placer, Cockrell,
Milleton, 1999
Cross-Cultural Program
(Cooper, Beare,
Thorman, 1990)
Write a Literature Review
• Use consistent style manual approach
– End-of-text references
– Within-text references
– Headings
– Tables/Figures
Educational Research 2e: Creswell
Write a Literature Review:
Types of Reviews
• Thematic Review
– Literature documents theme identified by
researcher
– No study discussed in detail
• Study-by-Study Review
– Detailed review of each study
– Studies grouped by themes
– Summaries linked by transitional sentences
and organized under subheadings
Educational Research 2e: Creswell