The Literature Review Dr Areefa Albahri

The Literature Review The review of the literature is defined as a broad, comprehensive, in-depth, systematic, and critical review of scholarly publications, unpublished scholarly print materials, audiovisual materials, and personal communications

The Literature Review The review of the literature is traditionally considered a systematic and critical review of the most important published scholarly literature on a particular topic. Scholarly literature refer to published and unpublished data based literature and conceptual literature materials found in print and non print forms Data based literature reports of completed research Conceptual research reports of theories, concepts

The value of literature Glean idea Study other research Give idea areas where research needs to be done

Types of Resources General Reference tools : come first (Systematical information) Examples: articles, books, reports, indexes, abstracts Primary sources : their study directly to the reader(Detail information) Example: journal

Secondary sources : author describe the work of others Secondary sources : author describe the work of others.(quick overview) Examples: educational encyclopedias, textbooks

Steps Involve in a Literature Research Define research problem Look relevant secondary sources Select and peruse general reference Formulate search terms Search relevant primary sources Obtain and read relevant primary sources, and note and summarize key points in the sources.

Doing a Computer Search Define the problem Decide the extent of the search Decide on the database Select search words and discover descriptors Conduct the search

The Benefits of Computer Search Fast Cheap Provides printout also

Steps of Searching the Literature Determine concept/issue/topic/problem Conduct computer (and/or hand) search Weed out irrelevant sources before printing Organize sources from printout for retrieval Retrieve relevant sources Conduct preliminary reading and weed out irrelevant sources Critically read each source (summarize & critique each source) Synthesize critical summaries

Steps in Writing Literature Review Organize analyze Integrate categorize Synthezise Locate and Evaluate the Sources

Why we need them? Improve & restate the question Helps to clarify purpose & scope of the literature review. Examine the topic more deeply.

5 parts of Literature Review Introduction Body Summary Conclusions Reference List

The Use of Literature Review in Quantitative Research Design and method The literature review reveals strengths and weaknesses of designs and methods of previous research studies Outcome of the analysis (findings, implications, and recommendations) The literature review is used to discuss the results or findings of a study. The discussion relates the study’s findings to what was or was not found in the review of literature

Primary and Secondary Sources Primary source: is written by a person(s) who developed the theory or conducted the research Secondary source: is written by a person(s) other than the individual who developed the theory or conducted the research

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