2/7/2011

Chapter 4
Reviewing the Literature

Key Concepts
Defining a literature review Distinguishing between a quantitative and qualitative literature review Understanding the 5-step process of conducting a literature review

Power Point Slides by Ronald J. Shope in collaboration with John W. Creswell

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? Identify key terms Locate literature Critically evaluate and select the literature Organize the literature Write a review

Educational Research 2e: Creswell

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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

ERIC PsyINFO Sociofile Social Science Citation Index Dissertation Abstracts Others: PubMed

Critically Evaluate and Select the Literature

Is it a good, accurate source? National journal? Reviewed source? Research study?

Educational Research 2e: Creswell

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

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Sample Hierarchical Literature Map

Study Abroad Programs
The need for Teaching Programs to be Culturally Responsive Bennett, 1995; Eastman, Smith, 1991; Grant 1994; Noel, 1995

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

U.S. Programs
Personal insights of Preservice Teachers Cockrell, Placier, Cockrell, Middleton 1999; Goodwin, 1997; Kea, Bacon, 1999

Attitude Toward Study Abroad King, Young,1994

Personal insights of Preservice Teachers Friesen, Kang McDougall, 1995; Mahan, Stachowski, 1991

Possible Improvements Martin, Rohrlich , 1991; Stachowski, 1991

Predominately English Speaking Countries Mahan, Stachowski, 1990; Quinn, Barr, McKay, Jarchow, Powell, 1995; Vall, Tennison, 1992

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?
Educational Research 2e: Creswell

Conventional Programs Colville-Hall Macdonald, Smollen, 1995; Rodriguez, Sjostrom, 1995; Vavrus, 1994

Cross-Cultural Programs Cooper, Beare Thorman, 1990; Larke, Wiseman, Bradley, 1990

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

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) Personal insights of Preservice Teachers (Friesen, Kang, McDougall, 1995)

U.S. Programs
Conventional Programs Preservice Teachers (Friesen, Kang, McDougall, 1995) Personal Insights of Teachers (Cockrell, Placer, Cockrell, Milleton, 1999

Predominately English Speaking Cultures (Maha, Stachowski, 1990)

Educational Research 2e: Creswell Educational Research 2e: Creswell

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

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

Educational Research 2e: Creswell