Chapter 3 Searching the Literature

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Chapter 3Searching the Literature
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Reading the Literature

• You will need to understand what has already been
  written about a topic before you can ask a new
  question or develop a new way of answering an old
  question.

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Importance of Literature Review

• Once the basic question has been identified, you
  need to consult the literature to assist in fully
  defining the problem.
• Two kinds of literature that should be consulted
  
• Conceptual literature
• Related research

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• Conceptual literature books and articles that
  have been written by experts or authorities in a
  problem area.
• They have passed on their ideas, theories, and
  opinions about what is good, bad, desirable, and
  undesirable.

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• Related research previous studies in the
  problem area.
• Similar or related studies are reviewed to
  determine what is already known about the main
  issues inherent in the problem.

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• The literature should always be consulted
  throughout research project but majority of the
  review should be done before the final plan has
  been completed.
• Literature is a big help - providing the
  beginning researcher with a initial understanding
  of the fact in problem area.

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• As you keep reading, the literature search
  becomes increasingly more pointed and specific.
• What is known and what is not known concerning
  the problem? Are there any gaps in literature?
• Such asPopulation? Sample? Variable? Time?
  Similarity? Different?

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Purposes of the Review

• Purposes of the review help the researcher to
• Gain an understanding of previous research work
• Develop a theoretical understanding of the topic

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• Distill the question into a specific problem
• Develop a research plan (methods)
• Research approach and design
• Procedures and instrumentation
• Identify a question

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The working bibliography

• Start to create a working bibliography a listing
  of all sources that are pertinent to the problem.
  
• People differ in their methods, but whatever the
  source it is important to accurately known to all
  the bibliographic information for each source.

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Index

• Authors last name and initials
• Title of the article, book, a report
• Volume or issue number, edition
• Year and month
• Publisher and date of publication
• Page numbers of articles
• Internet address

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Research reading

• Sources have to be located
• Professional journals
• Books
• Monographs
• Dissertations
• Reports
• Internet

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Evaluating sources

• Once a source is located, the researcher studies
  it to evaluate the potential value to proposed
  research.
• Quickly reading description of the source or
  abstract.
• Some references will be discarded others will be
  very useful

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Suggestions for Reviewing the Literature

• Read textbooks and other secondary sources
• Look at the most current literature first
• Identify the key words
• Check appropriate indexes
• Read primary sources

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Taking notes

• When you know which sources will be valuable to
  the proposed study, each one must be read in
  depth.
• Thinking about, reflecting upon, and analyzing
  was being said. This is known as critical
  reading.
• Essential that the researcher takes good notes!

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• Particular attention should be given to the
  problem, hypothesis, procedures, findings, and
  discussion or indication.
• After the notes have been taken all relevant and
  pertinent sources, they should be sorted and
  classified.
• Notes from speeches, lectures, television
  programs can also present related literature
  sources.

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• Notes temptation is to simply print out relevant
  information. Try to avoid doing that Idea is
  taking notes, not photocopying articles.
• After all the whole idea is to write a
  literature review!

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What Does a Good Review Look Like?

• Wrong way list a series of research reports
  with a summary of the findings of each.
• Why not? Well, it fails to communicate a sense
  of purpose. It reads as a set of notes strung
  together.

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• Right way organize common findings or arguments
  together. Address the most important ideas
  first, logically link findings, and note
  discrepancies or weaknesses.

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• Remember, the review is to develop an
  understanding of the background for the study, to
  describe clearly the problem, and to provide a
  practical basis for the hypothesis.
• It should also critically review previous,
  similar studies, and say what kind of problems
  you might encounter, based on these data.

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Sources of Literature
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• First whether they exist or not!
• Researchers become familiar with the large range
  of references provided by libraries.
• Ask for help!

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Indexes

• Provide a valuable resource for locating related
  literature.
• Examples
• Readers Guide to Periodical literature lead to
  content in the mainstream popular magazines and
  journals.
• Engineering Index guide to engineering
  literature of the world.
• (see pages 51-52)

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Reviews

• Comprehensive essay that provides a synthesis of
  the research on a particular topic.
• Examples
• Exercise and Sport Reviews
• Annual Review of Nutrition
• Review of Educational Research

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Periodicals

• A published work that appears in a new edition on
  a regular schedule, published daily, weekly,
  monthly or quarterly.
• Examples
• American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
• Adolescence
• Journal of Nutrition

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Computer retrieval systems

• The systematic process of collecting and
  cataloging data so that they can be located and
  displayed on request.
• Examples
• Medline
• Proquest
• Globe and Mail Archives

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Conducting a Database Search
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• State the research problem precisely not too
  long or general.
• Determine what database(s) should be used
  Medline? ProQuest? Web of Knowledge? Choose
  the ones with the most articles pertaining to
  your area of interest.

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• Determine what descriptors will be used use key
  words from the research problem.
• Do the search!
• Study the list of references find the articles
  which are most relevant read the abstract and
  then read the entire paper closely.

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Searching the Internet
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• The Internet is a vast collection of
  interconnected computers throughout the world
  that provides access to a wealth of information.
• Problem easily accessible trash and
  questionable information... How do you locate
  quality information at credible Internet sources?

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Evaluating Web Information

• What is the source of the information?
• Who is the author?
• Is the information current?
• Are references provided?
• Are links to other websites provided?