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Research Methods STA630

Lesson 9

CONDUCTING A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

Define and refine a topic

Prior to the review of literature have a good idea of the topic of your interest. Although, the new

thoughts emerging out of the review of literature may help in refocusing the topic, still the researcher

needs to have some clear research question that could guide him/her in the pursuit of relevant material.

Therefore begin a literature review with a clearly defined, well focused research question and a plan. A

good review topic should be as focused as a research question. For example "crime" as such may be too

broad a topic. A more focus may be a specific "type of crime" or "economic inequality and crime

rates." Often a researcher will not finalize a specific research question for a study until he or she has

reviewed the literature. The review helps bring greater focus to the research question.

Design a search

The researcher needs to decide on the type of review, its extensiveness and the types of material 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, the maximum number of research reports

you will examine, how many libraries you will visit, and so forth.

Also decide how to record the bibliographic citations for each reference. May be begin a file folder or

computer file in which you can place possible sources and ideas for new sources.

Locate research reports

Locating research reports depends on the type of report or "outlet" of research being searched. Use

multiple search strategies in order to counteract the limitations of single search method.

Articles in Scholarly Journals. Most social and behavioral research is likely published in scholarly

journals. These journals are thee vehicles of communication in science. There are dozens of journal,

many going back decades, each containing many articles. Locating the relevant articles is formidable

task.

Many academic fields have "abstracts" or "indexes" for the scholarly literature. Find them in reference

section of the library. (Many available on compute as well). Such indexes and abstracts are published

regularly.

Another resource for locating articles is the computerized literature search. Researchers organize

computerized searches in several ways by author, by article title, by subject, or by keyword. A

keyword is an important term for a topic that is likely to be found in a title. You will want to use six to

eight keywords in most computer based searches and consider several synonyms.

Scholarly Books. Finding scholarly books on a subject can be difficult. The subject topics of a library

catalog systems are usually incomplete and too broad to be useful. A person has to be well conversant

with the library cataloging system.

Dissertations. A publication called Dissertation Abstract International lists most dissertations. It

organizes dissertations by broad subject category, author, and date.

Government Documents. The "government documents" sections of libraries contain specialized lists of

government documents.

Policy Reports and Presented Papers. The most difficult sources to locate are policy reports and

presented papers. They are listed in some bibliographies of published studies; some are listed in the

abstracts or indexes.

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Research Methods STA630

What to Record

After you locate a source, you should write down all details of the reference (full names of the authors,

titles, volumes, issue, pages)

Write the Review

A literature review requires planning and good, clear writing, which requires lot of rewriting. Keep

your purposes in mind when you write, and communicate clearly and effectively.

To prepare a good review, read articles and other literature critically. Skepticism is the norm of science.

It means that you should not accept what is written simply on the basis of authority of its having been

published. Question what you read, and evaluate it.

Critically reading research reports requires skills and take time and practice to develop. When reading

an article, read carefully to see whether the introduction and title really fit with the rest of the article.

Sometimes, titles, abstracts, or the introduction are misleading. They may not fully explain the research

project's method and results.

The most critical areas of an article to read are the methods and results sections. Few studies are

perfect. Researchers do not always describe the methods they used as fully as they should. Some times

the results presented in tables or charts do not match what the researcher says. Some points may be over

emphasized and others ignored. Check the conclusions, theses may not be consistent with the results.

What does a good review look like?

The author should communicate a review's purpose to the reader by its organization. The wrong way to

write a review is to list a series of research reports with a summary of the findings of each. This fails to

communicate a sense of purpose. It reads as a set of notes strung together. Perhaps the reviewer got

sloppy and skipped over the important organizing step in writing the review.

The right way to write a review is to organize common findings or arguments together. A well accepted

approach is to address the most important ideas first, to logically link statements or findings, and to note

discrepancies or weaknesses in the present.

The writing process

Your audience:

Professional writers say: Always know for whom are you writing. This is because communication is

more effective when it is tailored to a specific audience. You should write research report differently

depending on whether thee primary audience is the instructor, students, professional colleagues,

practitioners, or the general public. It goes without saying that the writing should be clear, accurate, and

organized.

Instructors assign reports for different reasons and may place requirements on how it is written. In

general, instructors want to see writing an organization that reflect clear, logical thinking. Student

reports should demonstrate a solid grasp of substantive and methodological concepts. A good way to do

this is to use technical terms explicitly when appropriate: they should not be use excessively and

incorrectly.