Research

1
Research Development Project

• The Literature Review 2

2
Session objectives

•  The aim of this session is to describe
• Evaluating the Literature
• Bibliographies Reading Lists.
• Structuring Your Literature review
• Writing Your Literature Review
• What happens over the next few weeks
• Assessment Issues

3
Evaluating the Literature
4
Objectivity Bias

• Your Literature Review should be based on an
  objective, dispassionate analysis of theories,
  facts and results.
• Inevitably, from some sources you might gather
  interpretations, opinions or even prejudices.
• You will need to be aware of the difference
  between
• Theories and Claims
• Research Results and Anecdotal Evidence
• Inference and Opinion
• Facts and Assumptions

5
Weighing the EvidenceImportant Questions

• Who is the author/producer? Are they reliable?
• What authority expertise do they carry?
• What evidence of bias is there within the text?
• When was the material produced, is it recent?
• How does it compare to other sources?

6
Weighing the EvidenceTheories
Example of Theory

• What exactly does the theory say?
• Is the theory clear and unambiguous?
• Whose theory is it?
• What is their standing?
• Who subscribes to it?
• What is the actual theoretical underpinning?
• How does it relate to other theories?
• Has the theory been validated by research?

7
Weighing the EvidenceResearch
Example of Research Evidence

• What is the standing of the researchers?
• What was the object of their research?
• How and when was the research carried out?
• What was the research methodology?
• What numbers of people did it involve?
• What data was collected?
• How was the analysis done?
• Do the conclusions match the evidence?

8
Weighing the EvidenceInference
Example of Inference

• Who is making the inference?
• What is their Academic Standing?
• Do they have vested interests?
• Why are they making the inference?
• On what basis of evidence is the inference made?
• Is this a valid inference?
• How many other people agree with this inference?
• How does this inference square with theory?
• How does this inference square with research
  evidence?

9
Weighing the EvidenceFacts
Example of Facts

• Who is stating this as a Fact?
• What is their Academic Standing?
• Do they have a vested interest?
• What evidence have they put forward for it?
• Does the evidence actually confirm what they say?
• How many other people accept this as a fact?
• How long has this been accepted/known?
• Does this fact support or undermine any theories?
• Is there research evidence which confirms or
  disconfirms this fact?

10
Case Study The Internet

• The Internet is a source of
• Some highly reliable, up-to-date and
  dispassionately objective and academically
  credible material.
• A great deal more completely unreliable,
  outdated, biased, subjective, disreputable and
  even totally fallacious material.

11
The Internet

• There is no review/referee system
• Factors to consider when evaluating internet
  sources
• The target audience
• Purpose of web page
• Completeness accuracy of links information

12
Internet Guidelines

• Does the article give a reference to its
  publication in a recognised journal?
• Is the web-page part of a respectable website
  (e.g. University, well-known company)
• Is the article by an established author of other
  books papers?
• Does the article provide proper references
  bibliography of sources?
• Does the article have a good overall academic
  style, following referencing conventions?
• Is the article well-written grammatically
  correct?

13
Internet Guidelines

• If you can answer Yes to all of the questions,
  then it is fine to use this as evidence in its
  own right.
• If you can answer Yes to four or more of the
  questions, then as a rule of thumb, it is
  probably OK to use it, but you would need
  corroborating evidence from elsewhere.
• If you can only answer Yes to one or two of the
  questions, then you can only use this in support
  of other material.
• If you cannot answer Yes to any of the
  questions, leave it on the Internet.

14
Other Guidelines

• For other sources, you need similar caution. Just
  because something is in print, does not mean that
  it is true!
• Investigative journalists normally require three
  independent sources to confirm a controversial
  story. This is a good guideline to follow.

15
Bibliographies Reading Lists
16
Creating a Bibliography

• Your Reading List will contain all the sources
  that you have consulted some of these may be of
  dubious quality others from which you may have
  only read small extracts.
• The Bibliography is a distillation of this list,
  consisting of the sources on which you will
  actually draw in order to create the Literature
  Review

17
The Bibliography

• The Bibliography will be a list of books, journal
  articles etc., expressed as follows
• Papert, S. , (1985), MindStorms, Addison-Wesley,
  London
• This conforms to the Harvard Convention
• Author, (date), Title, Publisher, Place of
  Publication

18
What information is needed for the Bibliography

• For all references start with the author
  information. (author surname, first)
• Then add the publish date of the reference.
  (1990)
• Next add the title of the reference. (The
  Definitive Guide to Referencing)
• Next add the publishing details of the
  reference. Web address OR Publisher
  name and place
• Last add specific details of the reference.
  Date web page was accessed OR page numbers of
  journal articles.

19
A Typical Bibliography

• Your reference section of reports and papers
  should list all of your
• references alphabetically.
• Adam-Smith P (1978) The ANZACS, Thomas Nelson,
  Melbourne
• Butler J Walbert D (1986) Medicine and the Law,
  Facts on File Publications, New York.
• Dewhirst C (1986) 'Hot air over the Himalayas',
  World Geographic, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 44-45.
• 'Anorexia nervosa' (1969) British Medical
  Journal, 1, 529-530.
• Beckleheimer J (1994) How do you cite URL's in a
  bibliography? Online www.nrlssc.navy.mil/meta/
  bibliography.html 13-Dec-95
• Educating America for the 21st century (1994)
  Online www.ilt.columbia.edu/CONF/ EdPlan.html
  2001, May 16.

20
The Full Bibliography

• The Full Bibliography will eventually consist of
  some 30-50 books, articles and other
  publications.
• You could break this down into various
  categories, e.g.
• Research Journals
• Books
• Internet Sources
• You can get some idea on how to write the
  bibliographic entries for each of these from the
  Harvard Referencing document on the Website.

21
Structuring Your Literature Review
22
Example of StructureWeb-Design Construction

• Introduction
• What is Web Design, and why is it an issue?
• Navigation and Interactivity Principles
• Screen Layout Principles
• Text Layout Principles
• Graphical Design Issues
• Combining the Elements
• Summary Conclusions

23
A Proposed Structure

• Introductory Section ( 200 words)
• Map of the Territory ( 300 words)
• Issue 1 ( 500 words)
• Issue 2 (500 words)
• Etc.
• Relationship Between Issues ( 300 words)
• Conclusions ( 200 words)

24
The First Section of the Literature Review

• Literature Reviews normally begin with an
  Introduction, giving a brief rationale of why
  this topic is important or interesting, and a
  summary of the material covered in the review as
  a whole.
• This will prepare the reader for what to expect
  in the review.
• One way of doing this is to state the Research
  Questions which the Review hopes to answer, and
  to indicate the purpose of the review in relation
  to the project as a whole.

25
Initial Research Questions

• Initial Research Questions are a very useful in
  signalling to the reader exactly what will be
  found in the Literature Review. They are also
  extremely useful in focussing the Review so that
  it is purposeful, and provides real results.
• For example, on a project which is looking at the
  potential use of Games Software in and
  educational setting, some appropriate Research
  Questions might be
• To what extent has the potential of Computer
  Gaming been previously utilised in a Higher
  Education Setting?
• What research has been carried out into the
  effectiveness of Computer Gaming as a learning
  tool, and what were the results?
• What current Computer Gaming learning
  applications exist, and how effective are these?

26
For each Issue or Topic

• For each of the internal sections, the overall
  plan should be
• Introduction definitions, background
• Development recent work, current debates,
  theories
• Conclusion summary, unanswered questions.

27
Relationship Between Issues

• There should be a section where you bring
  together different results from different
  sections of the Literature Review.
• You might, for example have looked in depth at
  different technologies or different methodologies
  for performing a particular task, how they
  function and what the advantages and
  disadvantages of each are.
• You will need to bring this together to compare
  and contrast, and to look at which particular
  technology or methodology is most useful for your
  particular project.

28
The Final Section of the Literature Review

• The final section of the review should take the
  summary of what has been discovered in the
  review, and examine how this will now affect the
  practical project work which will follow.
• This might be to establish a detailed set of
  principles on which a piece of software is to be
  constructed, to state particular methodologies
  which will be followed, or to provide a further
  set of specific Research Questions which will
  hopefully be answered by the practical work.
• Advice on these Research Questions will be given
  in the Research Methodology Lecture.

29
Writing Your Literature Review
30
Academic Style (1)

• The Academic Style of a Literature Review is a
  dispassionate, forensic examination of what has
  been written.
• This means that you need to be as objective as
  possible, and not let your own ideas and opinions
  get in the way of the story.

31
Academic Style (2)

• The first rule is that you should be writing in
  the third person. Use of the words I, me,
  my, and mine are banned.
• If you wish the reader to make judgements, you
  should present the evidence, and least in with
  phrases like
• .. from this it can be deduced..,
• .. It would therefore appear that,
• .. A reasonable interpretation might be..

32
Academic Style (3)

• The Literature Review consists of a well-argued,
  up-to-date critical evaluation of the evidence.
• This is not just reporting what is known, what is
  theorised or what is claimed.
• You should, at the very least, be comparing and
  contrasting the sources on each issue, and
  looking at it from a range of viewpoints, and
  examining the evidence which supports each point
  of view,.

33
Academic Underpinning 1

• Ensure that
• All claims you make are justified, either by
  research evidence, or through rational argument.
• Every piece of evidence is underpinned by a
  quotation or citation from its source.
• All arguments for a particular position have
  examined evidence (or lack of it) from all sides.
  
• All conclusions are reached cautiously, and no
  broad claims (such as all managers are
  incompetent) made without an examination of all
  issues.

34
Referring to Sources

• Clearly, a major part of the writing will need to
  draw on what others have said, as part of the
  evidence base.
• You can do this in two ways
• Quoting, in which you use the same words that the
  authors have used.
• Citing, in which you summarise the evidence in
  your own words.

35
How to Quote

• For short quotations
• According to Websters Dictionary (2002), a
  reference is a short note acknowledging a source
  of information or quoting a passage.
• (2002). Webster's Revised Unabridged
  Dictionary, online www.dictionary.com
  accessed 17-Sept-02

36
How to Quote

• Longer quotations
• According to Bolander (1994), a quotation is
• always an effective foundation for building
  on your theme. Even a not-so famous quotation
  can be effective if it contains the thought and
  the punch you want to develop. (p4)
• Bolander, D.O. , (1994), The Quotation
  Dictionary, The Career Institute, New Jersey

37
Example of Quotation

• Although Coates' (1988) distinction is clearly a
  useful one, it also seems evident that these two
  approaches are by no means mutually exclusive.
  While it is important on the one hand, therefore,
  not to operate with a simplistic version of power
  and to consider language and gender only in
  mixed-group dynamics, it is also important not to
  treat women's linguistic behaviour as if it
  existed outside social relations of power. As
  Cameron, McAlinden and O'Leary (1988) ask,
• "Can it be coincidence that men are aggressive
  and hierarchically-organized conversationalists,
  whereas women are expected to provide
  conversational support?" (p.80).
• Cameron, D., F. McAlinden and K. O'Leary (1988).
  "Lakoff in context the social and
  linguisticfunction of tag questions."  In J.
  Coates and D. Cameron (op. cit.). pp. 74-93.
• Coates, J. and D. Cameron (Eds.) (1988) Women in
  their speech communities. Harlow Longman.

38
How to Cite.
According to Whitfield (2002), data is
information without meaning. She goes on to say
argue that data has two aspects information and
instructions. Whitfield A (2002). IMC
Booklet. Liverpool Hope.
39
Citation an example

• Haubens (1997) writing suggested that as the
  impact or influence of first impressions is
  removed, users are free to communicate without
  fears, limits or apprehension through the chat.
  This statement actually points out the main
  reason for the increasingly use of the chat. Only
  one advantage, however, seems inadequate to
  attract such a huge number of users to use the
  chat, so it seems that there may be other
  benefit. Accordingly, Licklider (1997) claimed
  that people can communicate online with others
  who have similar goals and interests, thus their
  life will be enriched and communication will be
  more productive and more enjoyable then. Although
  Licklider is actually the prophet of the Net, it
  seems that the chat really has this benefit.
• Randall. N (1997). Epilogue The Soul of the
  Internet, The soul of internet net gods,
  netizens and the wiring of the world(pp.345-358).
  London Computer Press.
• Hauben .M (1997). Chapter 1The Net and Netizens
  The Effect the Net Has on Peoples Lives,
  Netizens(3-34). Los Alamitos Computer Society
  Press.

40
Common Errors (1)

• Unjustified Assumptions
• Every manager goes through an interview process
• Unproven Claims
• There are many more television advertisements
  now than there were in the 1980.
• Unchecked Factual Inaccuracies
• Companies are not allowed to pass on your
  details to other companies without your
  permission.

41
Common Errors (2)

• Vague Statements
• Parts of the industry have been subjected to
  change over the course of the past few years.
• Sweeping Generalisations
• Everyone knows that IT never works first time.
• Meaningless Tautologies
• The IT industry concerns itself with the
  technological aspects of information.

42
Common Errors 3Plagiarism
WARNING Plagiarism scores ZERO MARKS

• There is a clear distinction between
• An excellent Literature Review which draws on
  what has previously been written, comparing,
  contrasting, sifting, analysing and evaluating to
  provide a well-argued summary
• and
• A piece of work which slavishly copies material
  without modifying, quoting or citing, and which
  appears to pass the text off as the work of the
  student, even if this was not the intention.

43
Common Errors 4The Google Patchwork Method

• If your previous style of writing essays etc.,
  has been to carry out searches on Google, or
  other search engines, collect lots of material
  and then cut paste the bits together to make an
  essay of about the right length, then STOP NOW!
• At worst, if you submit a piece of work which
  copies material without modifying or commenting
  on it, and which appears to pass the text off as
  the work of the student, then it will still be
  classed as plagiarism, even if you have given the
  citation. You would get ZERO.
• At best, this method is classed as very poor
  style, and you would not be likely to obtain a
  grade higher than a bare E pass for such a Review.

44
To Avoid Plagiarism

• Ensure that
• Every time you use words that are not your own,
  you quote, naming the source.
• Your bibliography is complete, and that all
  sources that you have drawn on are included.
• Where you paraphrase arguments, you acknowledge
  the author or cite the work.
• You comment upon, evaluate, criticise or compare
  materials from your cited sources.

45
The Next Few Weeks

• The Planning Tutorials
• Research Seminar 2Project Review 2
• Quality Assurance Walkthrough 1

46
Suggested Tutorials

• It is suggested that you undertake three
  preliminary tutorials
• To Explore Your ideas for the Literature Review
• To Discuss the Content of the Literature Review
• To Discuss your Outline Plan for the Literature
  Review
• You should produce work prior to each tutorial,
  and the Literature Review should be progressing
  and developing as the time goes on.
• From this point on, tutorials are held by
  agreement between the supervisor and the student.
  You will be required to attend Project Reviews.

47
Planning Tutorial 2Suggested Agenda

• Tutorial 2 is concerned with the content of and
  focus of your Literature Review
• For this Tutorial, you should bring with you
• A seminal article which you intend to use as
  part of your Literature Review.
• A draft Bibliography of at least 10 items
• A list of Research Questions which you hope to
  answer during the Literature Review
• During the tutorial you would discuss whether
  your bibliography has sufficient breadth depth,
  and whether your review is sufficiently focuused.
  

48
Follow-Up to Tutorial 2

• After Tutorial 2, you should
• Revise your draft Bibliography, possibly
  exploring further sources.
• Revise your list of Research Questions, and begin
  to create your outline plan for the LR
• Search for more seminal works that you can use
  as a basis for the review.
• All of this will help you prepare for Research
  Seminar 2

49
Research Seminar 2

• For Research Seminar 2, you are asked to produce
  a short presentation on your proposed Literature
  Review, consisting of
• A Meaningful Title
• The context of the LR How does the LR fit in
  to your project what is the relationship?
• The set of Research Questions which your LR will
  hopefully answer
• An outline for the review what sections will it
  contain?
• A brief description of some of the material you
  have found so far.
• A select bibliography (5 or 6 items)

50
Research Seminar 2

• The items on the previous slide should be
  produced in electronic form, and as a handout
  consisting of one page of A4 (six copies)
• You should come to the Research seminar prepared
  to deliver this paper, both to a small group and
  to the whole class.
• Ultimately this materials should find its way
  into your Research File, demonstrating how this
  process has shaped your Literature Review.

51
Planning Tutorial 3Suggested Agenda

• Tutorial 3 is concerned with the structure of
  your Literature Review.
• For this tutorial you should bring with you
• A draft plan of your Literature Review
• An extended Bibliography
• During the tutorial you would discuss whether or
  not your draft plan is workable appropriate,
  and whether your bibliography is recent, relevant
  and has sufficient range.

52
Follow-Up to Tutorial 3

• After Tutorial 3, you should
• Revise the Draft Plan, and extend it so that it
  becomes a blueprint for your Review
• Write the a draft of one of the internal sections
  (400-500 words)
• Keep working on your Bibliography.

53
Project Review 2

• The initial culmination of this work comes with
  Project Review 2, in which you will present
• An Revised Plan of the Literature Review
• A Near-Complete Bibliography
• A well-written 400-500 word draft of one of the
  internal sections of your Literature Review
• For this Project Review you will receive an
  advisory grade, and will give you feedback on how
  you are progressing.

54
Follow-Up to Project Review 2

• After Project Review 2, you will need to
• Write a full draft of your Literature Review
• Complete the Bibliography

55
Quality Assurance Walkthrough 1

• Prior to submitting the Literature Review, you
  are required to undertake a reciprocal QA
  Walkthrough with another student.
• For this Walkthrough, you should have a full
  draft of your LR, which has already gone through
  several self-imposed proof readings.
• This Walkthrough is a reality check, to ensure
  that you have ironed out all surface literacy
  errors, and that the work that you have produced
  is sensible, and achieves its aims.

56
Submitting the LR

• Submission Deadline for the Draft Literature
  Review
• Wednesday 17th January 2007 3.00pm

57
Assessment

• How Your Literature Review Will be assessed

58
Assessment Criteria

• Your Literature Review will be marked on
• The Quality of Presentation
• The Range Relevance of Material Used
• The Rigour, Quality of Arguments and Use of
  Material
• The Quality of the Bibliography
• Criteria 2 3 are more important and outweigh
  the
• others considerably.

59
Criteria for a Passing Grade (E)

• Adequate account, meeting acceptable standards of
  written English and presentation.
• Some appropriate academic material has been
  researched, which has resulted in a review which
  has a degree of relevance to the project.
• The review does refer to academic source
  material, but is mainly descriptive, providing
  few real arguments of quality.
• Referencing largely in line with conventions, but
  the bibliography is narrow and limited.

60
Criteria for a Good Honours Grade (B)

• Very high quality account, meeting excellent
  standards of written English, presentation and
  structure.
• A wide range of recent and relevant academic
  material has been researched, which has resulted
  in a pertinent and up-to-date critical review.
• The review is written to high levels of rigour,
  providing arguments of some depth and quality,
  with a critical use of academic source material.
• Referencing is of very good quality using a range
  of conventions, and providing a quite detailed,
  varied and wide-ranging bibliography.

61
Grading the Literature Review

• A competent Literature Review which merely
  reports on the current state of knowledge on a
  topic will be graded as E or possibly D.
• A well-written and well-argued Literature Review
  which compares and contrasts recent material on a
  range of issues, coming to valid conclusions on
  the basis of evidence will be awarded a C, or
  possibly a low B.
• An exceptionally well-constructed, well-focussed
  and well-written up-to-the-minute Literature
  Review which looks at each topic from multiple
  viewpoints, evaluating the evidence carefully
  (for example pointing out strengths and
  weaknesses in arguments, the positives and
  negatives of research design and analysis, or
  examines academic standing of experts) can expect
  to be awarded a High B or an A.

62
Resubmitting Your Review

• The grade that you get for this first submission
  will be worth a notional 5 of the whole 30.
• You will receive feedback on this draft, and you
  will resubmit a final version at the end of the
  module as a section in your Final Report, and
  also as part of your research File, at which
  point it will be regraded.
• Your tutor will NOT look in detail at any further
  drafts of this before you submit it, but they are
  approachable for general advice and guidance on
  this topic.

63
Further Guidance
64
Guidance on the Website

• There is an extensive document on the website
  called Advice on the Literature Review which
  gives general and more specific advice. Sections
  are
• What is the Literature Review?
• Elements of the Literature Review
• Searching the Literature
• Planning Your Literature Review
• Writing the First Draft
• Writing up the Final Review
• Assessment Details
• LR Clarification Links

65
The Set Text Dawson

• You should read the Dawson Chapter on Literature
  Searching Literature reviews.
• This provides a very useful summary of what is
  required by way of a Literature Review.
• Dawson gives specific advice on how to
• search,
• manage the information,
• critically evaluate material
• Write up the Literature Review

66
Latest information, expectations and support

• The Hope LRD web pages provide the latest
  information on opening times, personnel, services
• Material delivery
• Books
• Journal articles/book chapters
• Online Help slots
• Access to other information providers

67

• Any questions?