1. MA and MSC: Choosing and Appraising Sources
This workshop will:
Provide critical strategies for source searching and selection
Demonstrate different ‘levels’ of reading from preliminary to in-depth methods
Introduce you to ways of appraising a body of literature you’ve identified
Offer tips to improve your understanding of reviewing skills, such as mapping and indexing
Louise Livesey
Academic Skills Adviser
9/20/2018
Academic Skills Advice

2. Academic Skills Advice
Today’s plan
Enhancing your literature searching skills
Reading for source selection
Preliminary reading of chosen sources
In-depth reading
Systematic reviewing
What else you need to remember about reading
Literature mapping
Indexing and classifying literature
All in one click
9/20/2018
Academic Skills Advice

3. 1.Enhancing your literature searching skills
Contact your subject librarian:
9/20/2018
Academic Skills Advice

4. 2.Reading for source selection
Stage 1: choosing from your literature search Stage 2: the content of each source
Activity 1: Applying the Code
Code
Extension
Meaning
SPL
Summary of Previous Literature
The sentence, paragraph, or page describes a simple summary of the results from prior studies.
ROF
Results of Findings
Describes the primary results of the article.
WTD
What They Do
What the author purport to do in a paper/book; this code captures the main research question that the author is posing in the text.
CPL
Critique of Previous Literature
The author is providing a critique and a limitation of the previous and existing scholarly works. CPL usually follows SPL since the author has to first proffer a body of ideas before it can be criticized.
GAP
Gap
The author is pointing out the missing elements in current literature.
Click for graphic
9/20/2018
Academic Skills Advice

5. 2.Reading for source selection
Activity 1: Applying the Code
Patterns of deviance in crime news 1)Existing research has failed to develop a satisfactory theoretical explanation of journalists’ decisions about which crimes to highlight and which to ignore. (2)We proposed that four forms of deviance (normative…statistical…status…and cultural…) account for much of the variation in decisions about crime news. (3)To test deviance-based explanations for crime news, we conducted a comprehensive investigation of Milwaukee, WI , homicides and how two newspapers covered them. (4)We used content analysis and interviews with journalists. (5)The results showed that the newsworthiness of a homicide is enhanced when whites are suspects or victims, males are suspects, and victims are females, children or senior citizens.(6)We concluded that status deviance and cultural deviance are important components of newsworthiness and that statistical deviance (unusualness) may be much less important than commonly assumed.
CPL
Gap
WTD
ROF
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Academic Skills Advice

6. Academic Skills Advice
3.Preliminary reading of
chosen sources
Skim:
reading quickly for a general impression
guideline markings made
Scan:
reading for better sense of text
identify topic sentences and evidence
brief summative notes
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Academic Skills Advice

7. Academic Skills Advice
4. In-depth reading
Read for detail:
Read from start to finish
Dig deeper
Explore and map
Use your research questions
Evaluate and appraise arguments
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Academic Skills Advice

8. Academic Skills Advice
4. In-depth reading
CONCLUSION +
WARRANTING
ARGUMENT =
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Academic Skills Advice

9. Academic Skills Advice
4. In-depth reading
TALKING POINT
Review question: What are the characteristics that make up a student peer mentor in HE?’
A. Why am I reading this?
B. What are the authors trying to do in writing this?
C. What are the authors saying that is relevant to what I want to find out?
D. How convincing is what the authors are saying?
E. In conclusion, what use can I make of this?
Activity 2
Click for answer to review question
Click for each bullet
9/20/2018
Academic Skills Advice

10. Academic Skills Advice
4. In-depth reading
Activity 2
A. Part of reading to answer review question: ‘What are the characteristics that make up
a student peer mentor in HE?’
B. By reviewing literature (secondary research) the researchers aim is to produce a taxonomy of characteristics of student peer mentors in HE, therefore indicating what an ideal peer student mentor ‘looks like’.
C. Authors put together a list of 10 characteristics of student peer mentors for both types of mentoring function (career-related and psychosocial), and reflect the debate about the overlaps and distinctions between the two. There are definitions of traditional and peer mentoring.
D. The authors underlying assumption is that criteria relating to business mentoring can be applied to higher education peer mentoring. They explain their selection methods including one criterium stating literature was included ‘regardless of industry’ leading to inclusion of non-education sector articles. In addition, the framework they apply to categorise functions originates from an article by Kram based on mentoring in business. This could lead to the function classification being inappropriate to use in higher education. However, the researchers provide additional sources to support their taxonomy from education, and have also synthesised an additional (five) prerequisites needed by university peer mentors. They have fulfilled their aim of producing a taxonomy with the conclusion linking back to it. The conclusion also reflects an appreciation of a western bias to the research, and suggests further research in other cultures as well as in programme administration and practice.
E. Very useful text as provides a list of comprehensive and well-researched list of characteristics for a student peer mentor in HE. This paper is also useful as an example of how to conduct a literature review.
Click for answer to review question
Click for each bullet
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Academic Skills Advice

11. Academic Skills Advice
5.Systematic reviewing
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Academic Skills Advice

12. Academic Skills Advice
6. What else you need to remember about reading
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13. Academic Skills Advice
7.Literature mapping
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Academic Skills Advice

14. Academic Skills Advice
8.Indexing and classifying literature
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Academic Skills Advice

15. Academic Skills Advice
References
Giangregoria, E. (2013) What’s in a name? The meaning of “Aikaizen”? Accessed 6 January 2016.
Hart, C. (2007) Doing your masters dissertation. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
Library Service. (2014) Systematic reviews. London: King’s College London. Accessed 13 January 2015.
Pritchard, D. and Hughes, K.D. (1997) Patterns of deviance in crime news. Journal of Communication. 47 (3)
Shon, P. (2012) How to read journal articles in the social sciences. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
Terrion, J.L. and Leonard, D. (2007) A taxonomy of the characteristics of student peer mentors in higher education: findings from a literature review. Mentoring & Tutoring. 15 (2) 149–164.
Wallace, M. and Wray, A. (2011) Critical reading and writing for postgraduates. 2nd ed. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
Writing Skills Support. (2014) Annotated bibliography. Sydney: University of North South Wales. Accessed 13 January 2015.
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Academic Skills Advice

16. Academic Skills Advice Service
Location: via B0.23, Chesham Building
Website:
Phone:
This is a link to Academic Skills’ induction film. Check if they’ve seen it and if not, show it. If have, get an open discussion about anything going.

17. Academic Skills Advice
Any questions?
Developed by Louise Livesey January 2016
9/20/2018
Academic Skills Advice