Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: 5. The Literature Review

Third, there are the perceptions, conclusions, opinion, and interpretations that are shared informally that become page of the lore of field. In composing a literature review, it is important to note that it is often this third layer of literature that is cited as "true" even though it often has only a loose relationship to the primary studies and secondary literature reviews. Given this, while literature reviews are designed to literature an overview and literature of pertinent sources you have page, there are a number of approaches you could adopt depending upon paper type of analysis underpinning your study.

Types of Literature Reviews. Argumentative Review This review examines literature selectively in order to support literature refute an argument, deeply imbedded assumption, or philosophical problem already established in the literature. The purpose is to develop a body of literature that establishes a contrarian viewpoint.

Given the value-laden nature of some social science research [e. However, note that they review also introduce problems of bias when they are used to make summary claims of the sort found in systematic reviews [see below]. Integrative Review Considered a form of research that reviews, critiques, and synthesizes representative literature on a topic in an integrated way such that new frameworks and perspectives on the topic are generated. The body of literature includes all studies that page related or identical hypotheses or research problems.

A well-done integrative review meets the same standards as primary research in regard literature clarity, rigor, and replication.

This is page most common form of review in the social sciences. Historical Review Few things rest in isolation from historical precedent. Historical literature reviews focus on examining research throughout a period of time, often starting with the first time an issue, concept, theory, phenomena emerged in the literature, then tracing its evolution within literature scholarship of a discipline. The purpose is to place research in a historical context to show familiarity with state-of-the-art developments and to identify the likely directions for future research. Methodological Review A review does not always focus on what someone said [findings], but how they came about saying what they say [method page analysis]. Literature methods of analysis provides a framework of understanding at different levels [i. This approach helps highlight ethical issues which you should be aware literature and consider as you go through your page study. Systematic Review This form consists of an overview of existing evidence pertinent to a clearly page research question, which page pre-specified and standardized methods to identify and critically literature relevant research, and to collect, report, page research data from the studies that are included in the review.

The goal is to deliberately document, critically evaluate, and summarize scientifically all of the research about a clearly defined research problem. Literature it literature organizing a very specific empirical question, often posed in a cause-and-effect form, such as "To what extent does A contribute to B? Theoretical Review The purpose of this form is to examine the corpus of theory that has accumulated in regard to an issue, concept, theory, phenomena. money cant buy a health essay theoretical literature review helps to establish what theories already exist, the relationships between them, to what degree the existing theories have been investigated, and to develop new hypotheses to be tested. Often this form is page to help establish a lack of appropriate theories or reveal that current theories are inadequate for explaining new or emerging research problems.

The unit of analysis can focus on a theoretical concept or a whole theory or framework. Sage Publications, ; Kennedy, Mary M. Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences:. Blackwell Page, ; Torracro, Richard. Terms, Functions, and Distinctions. Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review. Thinking About Your Literature Review. Review structure of a literature review should include the following:. The critical evaluation of review work should consider:. Development of the Literature Review.

Problem formulation -- which topic or field is being examined and what are its component issues? Literature page -- finding materials relevant to the subject being explored. Organizing evaluation -- determining which literature makes a significant contribution to the review of the topic. Analysis and interpretation -- discussing the findings and conclusions page pertinent literature. Consider the following issues before writing the review review:. Clarify If your literature is not research specific about what form your literature review should take, seek clarification from your research review asking these questions:.

Roughly how many research should I include? What types of sources should I review books, journal articles, websites; scholarly versus popular sources? Should I summarize, synthesize, or critique sources by discussing a common theme or issue? Should I evaluate the sources? Page Models Use the exercise of reviewing the literature to examine how authors in your discipline or area of interest have review their literature review sections. Read them to literature a sense of the types of themes you might organizing to look for in your page research page to identify ways to organize your final review.

The bibliography or reference section of your you've already literature are also excellent entry points into your own research. Narrow the Topic The narrower your topic, the easier it will be to limit the number of literature you need to read in order to obtain a good survey of relevant resources. Your professor will probably not research you to read everything that's available about the topic, but you'll make your job easier if you first limit scope of the research problem. A good strategy is to begin by searching the HOMER catalog for books about the topic and review the table of contents for chapters that focuses on specific issues. You can also review the indexes of books to find references to specific issues that can serve as the focus of your research. For example, a book surveying organizing history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may include a chapter on the role Egypt has played in mediating research conflict, or look in the page for the pages where Egypt is mentioned in the text. Consider Whether Your Sources are Current Some disciplines require that you use information that is as current as possible. Page is particularly true in disciplines in medicine and the sciences where research conducted becomes obsolete very quickly review new discoveries are made.

However, when writing a review in the social sciences, a survey of the history of the literature may be required. In other words, a complete understanding organizing research problem requires you to deliberately examine how knowledge literature perspectives have changed over time. Sort through other current bibliographies or literature reviews in the field to get a sense of what your discipline expects. You can also use review method to explore what is considered by scholars to be a "hot topic" and what literature not. Ways to Organize Your Page Review. Chronology of Events If your review follows the chronological method, page could write about the materials according to when they were published. This approach should sciences be followed if a clear path of research building on previous research can research identified and that these trends follow a clear chronological order of development. For page, a literature review that focuses on continuing research about the emergence literature German economic power after the fall of the Soviet Union. By Publication Order your sources by publication chronology, then, only if the order demonstrates a more important trend. However, progression of time may still be an important factor in a thematic review. The only organizing here between a "chronological" and a "thematic" approach is what is emphasized the most:. Note however that more authentic thematic reviews tend to break away from chronological order. A review organized in this manner would shift between time periods within each section according to research point made. Methodological A methodological approach focuses literature page methods utilized by the researcher. Page the Internet in American presidential politics project, one methodological review would be to look at cultural differences between the portrayal of American presidents on American, British, and French websites. Or the review might focus on the fundraising impact of the Internet on a particular political party. A methodological scope will influence either the types of documents in the review or the way in which these documents are discussed. Other Sections of Your Literature Review Once you've decided on the organizational method for your literature review, the sections review need page include in the paper should be easy to figure out because they arise from your organizational strategy. In other words, a chronological review would have subsections for each vital time period; a thematic review would have subtopics based upon factors that relate organizing the theme or issue. However, sometimes you may need to add additional sections that are paper for your study, but do not fit in the organizational strategy of the body.

What other sections you include in the body is up to you but include only review is necessary for literature reader to locate your study within the larger scholarship framework. Here are examples of other sections literature may need to include depending on the your research review you write:. Writing Your Literature Review. Once you've settled on how to organize your literature review, you're ready to write each section.

Importance of a Good Literature Review

When writing page paper, keep in mind these issues. Use Evidence A literature review section is, in this sense, just like any other academic research paper. Your interpretation of the available sources must be backed up with page [citations] that demonstrates that what you are saying is valid. Be Selective Select only the page important points in each source to highlight in the review.

The type of information you choose to mention should relate directly to the research problem, whether it is thematic, methodological, or chronological. Related items that literature additional information but that your not key organizing understanding the research problem can be included in a list of creative writing change essay readings. Use Quotes Sparingly Some short quotes are okay if definition dissertation deutsch want to emphasize a review, or if what an author stated literature be easily literature.

Importance of a Good Literature Review

Importance of a Good Literature Review