1. Why a Literature Review? … or tips for getting started with research
Dr. Donna Harp Ziegenfuss
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2. By the end of this workshop you will have:
Focused in on a topic for a grant or research project
Identified some databases and other scholarly sources
Disciplinary & Pedagogical
Learned about some other resources you can use to help conceptualize and plan their research project
Learned about tools to make your research and planning more efficient and productive

3. Focus in on a grant or research project topic: Do you all have topics or research questions? What type of research are you interested in?
Is it disciplinary specific research?
Is it related to your teaching or student learning?
Still undecided?

4. Let’s Start with a Literature Review … Why?
Identify gaps in the literature to be researched
Rationalize the importance of your topic
Discover the subtopic and variables of the topic
By ‘synthesizing’ the literature you will gain new insights and perspectives about the topic
Use evidence to make a case for your findings
Boote & Beile, 2005

5. Definition
“In any subject area, the literature review provides that previous knowledge, and gives us an anchor to which to attach our new ideas ... This requires careful thought and planning, a clear structure, analytic thinking, extremely good information search skills, the ability to synthesize and summarize information in a clear writing style, and the ability to integrate this with the rest of your research work”.
(Oliver, 2012, p.1)
Central to the research
Need to understand weaknesses and strengths of prior research
We need to build of the research of those who came before us
Sets the broad context of the study – what is and is not within the scope of the study
Identifies gaps
Not just a summary but a synthesis
Is a form of scholarship

6. Types of Literature Reviews
Traditional Narrative Type Review of the Literature (Critical Analysis)
A stand alone literature review article
A review done as part of a a research project
A review done as part of evaluation/report/grant
Other:
Systematic Literature Review – detailed approach
Meta-Analysis Literature Review – a systematic review focused on topics/subtopics or themes - statistical
Different from an essay/ research paper with an argument research paper – use research to make a point and support your own argument, literature review – review and analyze arguments and ideas of others
Systematic reviews usually done in the sciences – comparing and contrasting clinical studies

7. The Literature Review - 5 step process (Creswell, 2002, p. 86)
Framing the topic/question and identifying terms to use in your search
Locating the literature relevant to your topic
Evaluating/analyzing the resources you find
Organizing the literature you have selected in a structured order
Writing the literature review

8. 1. Frame the topic/question and identify terms to use in your search
Browse background information
Google / Google Scholar / Broad Database / Books
Identify topics, concepts and keywords
Concept map, matrix, word clouds
Narrow your topic through more research
Develop a thesis statement or research questions to guide your searching

9. Locating the literature relevant to your topic
Develop the search strategy
Start Broad
Begin in Google Scholar – Go deeper into library resources
Keep a research journal (example excel template in canvas)
Select databases for topic
Track journals you are finding
Keep a list of keywords

10. Evaluating/analyzing the resources you find
Type of resources you use depends on your topic
Write an annotated bibliography
Summary annotation – summary no judgment
Critical / Informative
Combination
Library guide on doing an annotated bibliography
Library guide for a literature review

11. 4. Organizing the literature you have selected in a structured order
Thematic Organization of concepts / subtopics
By subtopics
Chronological (timeline – historical order)
By publication history or by trend history
Methodological
Organized by the different methods used by the authors

12. 5. Writing the literature review
Introduction/Body/Conclusions
Focus on the analysis /critical evaluation of the sources
Use evidence and examples from your sources
Use quotes for emphasis, but not routinely
Be selective on what aspects of sources you use to tell the story about your topic
May need to come back to the literature after your analysis as findings emerge

13. Research resources to plan their research project
OSP Grants Researcher Corner Page
Library Grants page
Foundation Directory Database
Scival Funding Database
COFA grant page

14. Tools and Resources Citation Management Systems
Endnote Basic, Zotero etc.
to store and organize PDFs
Evernote, Word or Excel for research journaling and tracking research and/or annotations
Word cloud software (Wordle) to look at key concepts or concept mapping (Cmap) software
Adobe Acrobat Pro – highlighting and comments in articles
Dragon Dictate app to record a-ha moments

15. References
Boote, D. N., & Beile, P. (2005). Scholars before researchers: On the centrality of the dissertation literature review in research preparation. Educational researcher, 34(6), 3-15.
Creswell, J. W. (2002). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.
Oliver, P. (2012). Succeeding with Your Literature Review : A Handbook for Students. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education. p. 1
Websites