Research Paper Writing Mavis Shang 97 年度第二學期 Section I 1

2 Literature Review and Research Problems I. Why Do a Literature Review? A. for planning primary research: 1. find a lack of consistency in reported results 2. find a flaw in research methods 3. conduct on a different population 4. find a solution for a problem 5. uncertainty about the interpretation

3 B. As an end in itself: 1. inform practice (e.g. solve a problem) 2. provide understanding about the topic (longer process for integrative research review) Literature Review and Research Problems

4 II. What Is the Search Process? A. Nine steps: 1. Identify research topic 2. Review secondary sources to get an overview 3. Develop a search strategy (collect databases, titles, abstract, full texts) 4. Conduct the search (search the sources) Literature Review and Research Problems

5 5. Obtain titles (get a copy of the article) 6. Read and prepare bibliographic information and notes 7. Evaluate the research reports 8. Analyze the research findings and synthesize the results (narrative and statistical methods) 9. Use the literature review (based on major points) Literature Review and Research Problems

6 III. Research Questions and Hypotheses: A. four categories of research questions: 1. descriptive 2. normative 3. correlative 4. impact Literature Review and Research Problems

7 1. Descriptive questions: Provide information about what is or has been happening related to the research topic (e.g., What is the major difficulty for EFL writers?) 2. Normative questions: Provide information compared with some standard or expected observation (e.g., Will EFL teachers achieve a better quality if they get a teaching certificate?) Literature Review and Research Problems

8 3. Correlative questions: Identify relationship (e.g., What is the relationship between the year of training in writing and ss’ writing performance?) 4. Impact questions: Identify effect (e.g., What is the effect of teachers’ positive comments on ss’ writing performance?) Literature Review and Research Problems

Two types of hypotheses: →directional hypothesis: can expect the outcome e.g., “If ss can get teachers’ positive comments, (then) they will have a better writing performance because …....” →null hypothesis: can not expect the outcome e.g., “There is no difference between teachers’ positive comments and ss’ writing performance because …….” Literature Review and Research Problems

10 IV. In Summary, the Purposes of Literature Review: Provide previous research results (big picture) Provide a need for additional research Develop a conceptual framework (from major points to generate research questions and hypotheses) Guide the research design and conduct the study Literature Review and Research Problems