1800246446

LibraryandComputingServices
WritingaLiteratureReview
ReadingandOrganisingtheLiterature
HowshouldIapproachthereadingandorganisationofwhatIhavefound?
Youcanveryquicklyacquireahugepileofpapers,eachofwhichseemstobetryingtopointyouina
differentdirection.Youmightfeelconfusedandirritatedbyallofthisandwonderhowtomakeanysense
ofit.Atthispoint,gettingorganisedisvital.YoushouldobtainbibliographicsoftwaresuchasEndNote(JCU
hasasitelicence)andenterintoitallthepapersyoufind.Thiscanbesimplifiedbydownloadingrecordsin
EndNoteformatfromonlinedatabases.However,manualentryisuseful,becauseitforcesyoutotakea
firstlookateachpaper.Youshouldalsodecideonastoragesystemforphysicalordigitalcopiesofpapers
thatallowsyoutofindthemagain.Somepeoplefilepapersaccordingtotopic,butitisprobablybetterto
filepapersalphabeticallybyauthor.
Nowyouarereadyforthehardwork,inwhichyourbibliographicdatabasewillbeaconstantcompanion,
guideandally.Expectalsotobeconstantlymodifyingkeywordsandphrasesinyourdatabase.Thethree
partapproachbelowismodifiedfromtheUniversityofQueenslandwebsite

Makingsenseoftheliteraturefirstpass
Atthisstagetheremayseemtobemassesofliteraturerelevanttoyourresearch.Oryoumayworrythat
thereseemstobehardlyanything.Asyouread,thinkaboutanddiscussarticlesandisolatetheissues
you'remoreinterestedin.Inthisway,youfocusyourtopicmoreandmore.Themoreyoucancloseinon
whatyourresearchquestionactuallyis,themoreyouwillbeabletohaveabasisforselectingtherelevant
areasoftheliterature.Thisistheonlywaytobringitdowntoamanageablesize.
Verylittlethere?
Ifinitiallyyoucan'tseemtofindmuchatallonyourresearchareaandyouaresurethatyou'veexploited
allavenuesforsearchingthatthelibrarycanpresentyouwiththenthereareafewpossibilities:
Youcouldberightatthecuttingedgeofsomethingnewandit'snotsurprisingthere'slittlearound.
Youcouldbelimitingyourselftotoonarrowanareaandnotappreciatingthatrelevantmaterial
couldbejustaroundthecornerinacloselyrelatedfield.

Unfortunatelythere'sanotherpossibilityandthisisthatthere'snothingintheliteraturebecauseit
isnotaworthwhileareaofresearch.Inthiscase,youneedtolookclosely,withyoursupervisor,at
whatyouplantodo.
FirstImpressions
Whenfirstexploringafieldofresearchnewtoyou,itisusefultoskimtheliteratureinanintelligentway.At
thisstage,readonlytheabstract,introductionanddiscussionfromeachpaper(don'tworryyetaboutthe
"how"ofthework).Thisallowsyoutoidentifytheideas,theories,questionsandcontroversiesthat
underlieeachpieceofwork.Designkeywordsorphrasesthatidentifyeachquestion,andenterthesein
yourbibliographicdatabaseforeachpaper.Thiswillallowyoulatertoretrieveallpapersthattacklea
particularquestion.Detailsofexactlyhowthevariousquestionsweretackled,asoutlinedinmethodsand
resultssections,canwaitforalaterreadingofthepaper.
QualityoftheLiterature
Thisbeginsyourfirststepinmakingsenseoftheliterature.Youarenotnecessarilycloselyevaluatingit
now;youaremostlylearningthroughit.But,sometimesatthisstagestudentswanttoknowhowtheycan
judgethequalityoftheliteraturethey'rereading,asthey'renotyetexperts.
Youlearntojudge,evaluate,andlookcriticallyattheliteraturebyjudging,evaluatingandlookingcritically
atit.Soundlikeacircularargument?Well,youlearntodosobypractising.Thereisnoquickrecipefor
doingthisbuttherearesomequestionsyoucouldfindusefuland,withpractice,youwilldevelopmany
others:
Isthetheoreticalbasistransparent?
Wastheresearchinfluentialinthatotherspickedupthethreadsandpursuedthem?(i.e.hasthe
paperbeencitedfrequently?)
Istheproblemclearlyspelledout?
Aretheresultspresentednew?
Howlargeasamplewasused?
Howconvincingistheargumentmade?
Howweretheresultsanalysed?
Whatperspectivearetheycomingfrom?
Arethegeneralisationsjustifiedbytheevidenceonwhichtheyaremade?
Whatisthesignificanceofthisresearch?
Whataretheassumptionsbehindtheresearch?
Isthemethodologywelljustifiedasthemostappropriatetostudytheproblem?

Incriticallyevaluating,youarelookingforthestrengthsofcertainstudiesandthesignificanceand
contributionsmadebyresearchers.Youarealsolookingforlimitations,flawsandweaknessesofparticular
studies,orofwholelinesofenquiry.
Makesurethatyourevaluationofeachpaperisrecordedinyourbibliographicdatabaseinaconsistent
way.
Inparticular,youmightwanttokeepalistofstandardkeywordspinnedtothewallbesideyourdesk

Makingsenseoftheliteraturesecondpass
Youcontinuetheprocessofmakingsenseoftheliteraturebyfurtherreading,rereadinganddigestingof
whatyouhaveread.Thiswillallowyoutobecomemoreconfidentandmuchmorefocusedonyourspecific
research.
You'restillreadingandrereadingtheliterature.Ifyouarealreadydoingresearchtowardsyourthesis,
you'rethinkingaboutitasyouaredoingyourexperiments,conductingyourstudies,analysingtextsor
otherdata.Youareabletotalkaboutiteasilyanddiscussit.Inotherwords,it'sbecomingpartofyou.
Atadeeperlevelthanbefore,
Youarenownotonlylookingatfindingsbutarelookingathowothershavearrivedattheirfindings.
You'relookingatwhatassumptionsareleadingtothewaysomethingisinvestigated.
You'relookingforgenuinedifferencesintheoriesasopposedtosemanticdifferences.
Youalsoaregaininganunderstandingofwhythefielddevelopedinthewayitdid.
Youhaveasenseofwhereitmightbegoing.
Firstofallyouprobablythoughtsomethinglike,"Ijusthavetogetahandleonthis".Butnowyouseethat
this'handle',whichyoudiscoveredforyourself,turnsouttobethekeytowhatisimportant.Youarevery
likelygettingtothislevelofunderstandingbytakingthingstopiecesandputtingthembacktogether.
Forexample,youmayneedtosetupalongsideoneanotherfourorfivedifferentdefinitionsofthesame
concept,versionsofthesametheory,ordifferenttheoriesproposedtoaccountforthesamephenomenon.
Youmayneedtounpackthemthoroughly,evenattheverybasiclevelofwhatistheimpliedunderstanding
ofkeywords(forexample'concept','model','principles'etc.),beforeyoucanconfidentlycomparethem,
whichyouneedtodobeforesynthesisispossible.
Or,forexample,youmaybetryingtosortthroughspecificdiscoverieswhichhavebeenvariouslyand
concurrentlydescribedbydifferentresearchersindifferentcountries.Youneedtoaskquestionssuchas
whethertheyarethesamediscoveriesbeinggivendifferentnamesor,iftheyarenotthesame,whether
theyarerelated.Inotherwords,youmayneedtoembarkonverydetailedanalysesofpartsofthe
literaturewhilemaintainingthegeneralpicture.

Recordyourviewsoneachpaperinyourbibliographicdatabase.Bynowyoushouldhaveanideaofwhat
headingsyoumightuseinyourfinalreview,andyoucouldusetheseheadingsaskeywords/keyphrasesin
yourdatabase.

Makingsenseoftheliteraturefinalpass
Youmakesenseoftheliteraturefinallywhenyouarelookingbacktoplaceyourownresearchwithinthe
field.Atthefinalpass,youreallyseehowyourresearchhasgrownoutofpreviouswork.Sonowyoumay
beabletoidentifypointsorissuesthatleaddirectlytoyourresearch.Youmayseepointswhose
significancedidn'tstrikeyouatfirstbutwhichnowyoucanhighlight.Oryoumayrealisethatsomeaspect
ofyourresearchhasincidentallyprovidedevidencetolendweighttooneviewofacontroversy.Having
finishedyourownresearch,youarenowmuchbetterequippedtoevaluatepreviousresearchinyourfield.
ReturntoContentspage
Throughoutthisguide,whenwehaveusedmaterialproducedbyothers,wehavetriedtoacknowledgethe
source.Ifyoufeelwehaveusedmaterialwithoutproperacknowledgement,pleaseletusknowsothatthe
appropriatechangescanbemade.
AndrewStaceyof132000allstafflastupdatedthispageon5Jan2015.

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