...publication to the Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation. Permission is granted to distribute this article for nonprofit, educational purposes if it is copied in its entirety and the journal is credited. Volume 14, Number 13, June 2009 ISSN 1531-7714 A Guide to Writing the Dissertation Literature Review Justus J. Randolph Walden University Writing a faulty literature review is one of many ways to derail a dissertation. This article summarizes some pivotal information on how to write a high-quality dissertation literature review. It begins with a discussion of the purposes of a review, presents taxonomy of literature reviews, and then discusses the steps in conducting a quantitative or qualitative literature review. The article concludes with a discussion of common mistakes and a framework for the self-evaluation of a literature review. Writing a faulty literature review is one of many ways to derail a dissertation. If the literature review is flawed, the remainder of the dissertation may also be viewed as flawed, because “a researcher cannot perform significant research without first understanding the literature in the field” (Boote & Beile, 2005, p. 3). Experienced thesis examiners know this. In a study of the practices of Australian dissertation examiners, Mullins and Kiley (2002) found that, Examiners typically started reviewing a dissertation with the expectation that it would pass; but a poorly conceptualized or written literature review often indicated for them that the...
Words: 8324 - Pages: 34
...Nursing http://jsn.sagepub.com/ Literature Reviews as a Research Strategy Julia Muennich Cowell The Journal of School Nursing 2012 28: 326 DOI: 10.1177/1059840512458666 The online version of this article can be found at: http://jsn.sagepub.com/content/28/5/326 Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com On behalf of: National Association of School Nurses Additional services and information for The Journal of School Nursing can be found at: Email Alerts: http://jsn.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://jsn.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav >> Version of Record - Sep 25, 2012 What is This? Downloaded from jsn.sagepub.com by guest on August 26, 2013 Editorial The Journal of School Nursing 28(5) 326-327 ª The Author(s) 2012 Reprints and permission: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1059840512458666 http://jsn.sagepub.com Literature Reviews as a Research Strategy Literature reviews have long been important strategies to assess the state of the science. As early as 1993, Broome (1993) recommended literature reviews as a strategy to assist in the development of concepts. Many graduate students in nursing and other sciences learn about synthesizing literature throughout their academic programs using a variety of guides including Cooper’s (1998) Synthesizing Research: A Guide for Literature Reviews as a common reference or Fink’s...
Words: 1365 - Pages: 6
...London FIND OUT MORE Close Literature review From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For a focused scientific review, see Systematic review. [hide]This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. (November 2010) This article needs attention from an expert on the subject. (May 2014) A literature review is a text of a scholarly paper, which includes the current knowledge including substantive findings, as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topic. Literature reviews use secondary sources, and do not report new or original experimental work.[1] Contents [hide] 1 Types of Literature Reviews 2 Distinguishing between Process and Product 3 See also 4 References 5 Further reading Types of Literature Reviews[edit] Most often associated with academic-oriented literature, such as a thesis or peer-reviewed article, a literature review usually precedes a research proposal and results section. Its main goals are to situate the current study within the body of literature and to provide context for the particular reader. Literature reviews are a staple for research in nearly every academic field.[2] A systematic review is a literature review focused on a research question, trying to identify, appraise, select and synthesize all high quality research evidence and arguments relevant...
Words: 1430 - Pages: 6
...What is a literature review? Put simply, it is an analysis of prior academic research so as to identify the who, what, where, and whys’ of the chosen topic area. You may or may not have conducted what some academics call a preliminary study – a brief search into the existing academic work in your chosen topic. After all, for some students carrying out primary research it’s vital that their work has never been carried out before and these initial studies are crucial when identifying a unique topic for research. In some subject areas, it may be difficult, if not impossible to identify areas for primary research and therefore a preliminary study may not be necessary (secondary research is usually carried out as a result). Whatever the starting point, the literature review forms one of the first major pieces of work in a dissertation. There are several main reasons why you would undertake a literature review. The first is to enable you, the author, to become absolutely clear on what it is you have chosen to research and study. By understanding other academic literature you can gain an understanding of what has been and is currently being researched. This will help with your own work by identifying windows of opportunity and helping to cement your research questions. For some subjects you may find there has not been much prior research in your field of study, in which case your literature review will have to be less specific and the academic net in which you search will have to be...
Words: 2651 - Pages: 11
...Guidelines for Literature/Review Proposal DUE APRIL 9, 2008 Introduction The introduction to the literature review/proposal orients the reader to the problem under study and has three parts. First, you need to provide a statement of the problem. This statement sets out the general reasons that the research area is important. You might indicate the prevalence of the problem, its relevance or cost, its importance to theory, the relative absence of knowledge, some contradictory research, etc. Prevalence statistics, knowledge gaps, contradictory research, the need for theory testing, presence of puzzling anomalies, etc. help to make your case here. Secondary sources (books, chapters, review articles) or tertiary sources (newspapers, magazine articles) can be helpful in making a general case for research in his area. However, do not rely on tertiary sources to make your case. I expect you will use a majority of primary sources with a limited (small) number of secondary/tertiary sources. The second section of the Introduction sets out the purpose of the proposed study. This can be brief and simply clarifies how your proposed study will address the problem you have identified. The third part of the Introduction is a statement of the research question (or hypotheses). Write your research question according to the guidelines for good research questions discussed in class. Parts one and two set the stage for the research question. Recommended length: 1 - 2 pages Review of Literature The written...
Words: 1405 - Pages: 6
...For a literature review, is usually in the of single research reports, statistics, texts about specific topics, specialist websites news media and other front line accounts of events .These reports may be by academics and other field researchers such as journalists .Literature can also include audio, film and videotexts scripts, commentaries and credits. Category selection is the Structural dimensions and related analytic categories are selected, which are to be applied to the collected material. Structural dimensions form the major topics of analysis, which are constituted by single analytic categories. And the material evaluation is analysed according to the structural dimensions. This should allow identification of relevant issues and interpretation of results. For the material analysis mentioned above provides a detailed description of the process in the analytic of literature review, while it includes a feedback circle for the collected material resources only such as a circle that might be needed for the overall process. For the material analysis provides a detailed description of the process and the structural dimensions and related analytic categories which allow classification of the reviewed literature can be derived deductively or inductively. In a deductive...
Words: 978 - Pages: 4
...Chapter 4 Reviewing the existing literature and engaging with what others have written: You need to review the existing literature because: – you want to know what is already known about your area of interest so you don't just reinvent the wheel. – Your literature review is where you demonstrate that you are able to engage in scholarly review based on your reading and understanding of the work of others. – Using the existing literature on a topic is a means of developing an argument about the significance of your research and where it leads. – A means of affirming your credibility as someone who is knowledgeable in your chosen area. Being able to interpret what they have written. The purpose of exploring the existing literature should be to identify the following issues: – What is already known about this area? – What concepts and theories are relevant to this area? – What research methods and research strategies have been employed in studying this area? – Are there any significant controversies? – Are there any inconsistencies in findings relating to this area? – Are there any unanswered research questions in this area? Purpose: – Assessing plan design – Identify potential concepts and variables – What types of methods have been used? – Interpreting your findings Getting the most from your reading: When you are reading do the following: • Take good notes, including details of the material...
Words: 1241 - Pages: 5
...Writing a Literature Review What is a Literature Review? A literature review is a survey and discussion of the literature in a given area of study. It is a concise overview of what has been studied, argued, and established about a topic, and it is usually organized chronologically or thematically. A literature review is written in essay format. It is not an annotated bibliography, because it groups related works together and discusses trends and developments rather than focusing on one item at a time. It is not a summary; rather, it evaluates previous and current research. Purpose A literature review is written to highlight specific arguments and ideas in a field of study. By highlighting these arguments, the writer attempts to show what has been studied in the field, and also where the weaknesses, gaps, or areas needing further study are. The review should therefore also demonstrate to the reader why the writer’s research is useful, necessary, important, and valid. Audience Literature reviews can have different types of audiences, so consider why and for whom you are writing your review. For example, a lot of literature reviews are written as a chapter for a thesis or dissertation, so the audience will want to know in what way your research is important and original. Highlighting the gap in knowledge which your research aims to fill is particularly important in this instance because you need to convince the reader that there is an opening in the area of study. A literature review...
Words: 1153 - Pages: 5
...Week 1 Chapter 1: The selection of a research design Three types of design: Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods. Although it is difficult to separate the first two, often a research study tends to be more quantitative than qualitative or vice versa. Mixed methods is somewhere in the middle, a combination of both qualitative and quantitative methods. In detail: Qualitative research is about exploring and understanding the meaning individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem. Quantitative research is a means for testing objective theories, deriving hypotheses from these theories, and examining the relationship among variables. Mixed methods research associates both research design. Often, in qualitative research, the researcher needs to interpret the data (evidence) collected during the research process. The final report may have a flexible structure. With quantitative research, the final report is more or less structured; introduction, literature survey and theory, data description, methods, results and discussion (for future research). These models pretty much cover the available areas to researchers in selecting the type of research design. In each research design, it helps to identify, list and associate the three components of the research design. The first component is the way the research views the problem of interest. This is called under different names, research paradigm, epistemologies (the origin) and ontologies (how you know what you know), etc...
Words: 6507 - Pages: 27
...Write a Research Proposal. Most students and beginning researchers do not fully understand what a research proposal means, nor do they understand its importance. To put it bluntly, one’s research is only as a good as one’s proposal. An ill-conceived proposal dooms the project even if it somehow gets through the Thesis Supervisory Committee. A high quality proposal, on the other hand, not only promises success for the project, but also impresses your Thesis Committee about your potential as a researcher. A research proposal is intended to convince others that you have a worthwhile research project and that you have the competence and the work-plan to complete it. Generally, a research proposal should contain all the key elements involved in the research process and include sufficient information for the readers to evaluate the proposed study. Regardless of your research area and the methodology you choose, all research proposals must address the following questions: What you plan to accomplish, why you want to do it and how you are going to do it. The proposal should have sufficient information to convince your readers that you have an important research idea, that you have a good grasp of the relevant literature and the major issues, and that your methodology is sound. The quality of your research proposal depends not only on the quality of your proposed project, but also on the quality of your proposal writing. A good research project...
Words: 1437 - Pages: 6
...Doing a literature review This Advice Sheet introduces you to the basics of compiling a Literature review. What is a literature review? 1 What it is not …. 1 Approaches needed …. 1 Approaching your review …. 2 Writing the review …. 3 What is a literature review? • • • Further reading …. 4 • It is a critical and evaluative account of what has been published on a chosen research topic. Its purpose is to summarise, synthesise and analyse the arguments of others. (It is not an academic research paper, the main purpose of which is to support your own argument.) You should describe and analyse the knowledge that exists and what gaps occur in research related to your field of interest. (This should clarify the relationship between your own research and the work that has previously been done.) It should reveal similarities and differences, consistencies and inconsistencies and controversies in previous research. What it is not It is not primarily an argument for the importance of what it is you are researching. While it is necessary to explain what is the primary purpose of your research, the reader of a literature review will assume that the need for undertaking the research has already been established. It is not a descriptive list of papers or summaries. You must not just list your sources and describe them in detail one at a time. A literature review is organised around ideas, not the sources themselves as an annotated bibliography would be organised. You should...
Words: 1290 - Pages: 6
...NRS-433V Week 1 Literature Search: Prevention of Surgical Site Infection To purchase this tutorial visit here: http://mindsblow.us/question_des/NRS-433VWeek1LiteratureSearchPreventionofSurgicalSiteInfection/2852 contact us at: help@mindblows.us NRS-433V Week 1 Literature Search: Prevention of Surgical Site Infection Details: Conduct a literature search to locate research articles focused on a practice problem of interest. This literature search should include both quantitative and qualitative peer research articles to support your practice problem or issue of interest in 350-750 words. Identify six peer research articles which will be utilized through the next 5 weeks as reference sources. Create a reference list in which the six articles are listed. Beneath each reference include the article's abstract. The completed assignment should have a title page and a reference list with abstracts. Suggestions for locating qualitative and quantitative research articles from credible sources: 1. Use a library database such as CINAHL Complete for your search. 2. Using the advanced search page check the box beside "Research Article" in the "Limit Your Results" section. 3. When setting up the search you can type your topic in the top box, then add quantitative or qualitative as a search term in one of the lower boxes. Research articles often are described as qualitative or quantitative. To narrow/broaden your search, remove the words qualitative and quantitative and include words...
Words: 1269 - Pages: 6
...course is designed to support students in developing their research proposal and to assist them in defining their mode of enquiry. The course has been constructed to guide students through a range of issues and considerations which should inform their general approach to research. It will give students a general introduction to scientific research, its methodologies, its challenges and its organization. This course permits an understanding of the various decisions and steps involved in preparing a research proposal which includes the problem and its background, literature review, research methodology as well as a critically informed assessment of published research. Also, students will be introduced to a range of research tools, data analysis and will be equipped to plan and organize their research, as well as develop their data collecting instrument. B. COURSE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: | | | |Course Objectives |On completion of this course, students will be able to: | | |Understand the concepts, approaches and procedures underlying the conduct of research. | | |Develop a research problem, select the appropriate tools and construct data collecting...
Words: 1540 - Pages: 7
...Running head: Critical Analysis of Qualitative Research Paper. Stressors on Anesthetist student Nurse and Coping Skill Name: Angela Francis Course: NRS-433V-0101 Running head: Critical Analysis on Qualitative Research: Problem Statement: Recognized practice nurses furthering their career anesthesiology being challenged by stresses involved in the program course outline as well as post graduation stressors. The problem of this study was the fact that just a minimal awareness about post graduate nurse anesthetist educational program which is mostly entrusted to competency in cultural training, rates of attrition, curriculum of the clinical areas in other words the historic review on transformations in educational programs over a period of decades. This problem not only affect practices in nursing, rather it focuses on fears and worries and thereby discovering ways to enhance the curriculum for nurse anesthesiology by reducing stress on students. Problem of this study marches with it’s naturalism of paradigm and due to the presenting problem replies or responses could be retrieved from the students points of view. The application of grounded qualitative theory method stands as a good choice for this study as it enables the writer to stop the use of inquiry from nurses in other to get data required from participating individuals. By the applied method of obtaining data a reasonable theory came up...
Words: 1058 - Pages: 5
...Writing a Research proposal and Tips for Literature Review By: Shantiram Dahal 1. Background Human being is the unique product of the nature. In comparison with the other animals, they have most developed nervous and mental system which is very helpful to produce sounds and symbols (letters and numbers) that make possible the communication and recording of their questions, observations, experiences and ideas. To satisfy the curiosity and solving problems of daily life they involve in investigation. In modern times the complexities of human beings are increasing. To reduce such complexities, they have to conduct different research activities. Research is the essential part of graduate and post graduate program. Without conducting any academic research the objectives of the course will not be fulfilled. But conducting research is not as easy as we thought. It is a systematic investigation to acquire new knowledge, information's, facts, appropriate solution to a problem, deduce theory and generalization. It helps scholars to expand the area of knowledge and further study. There are various micro steps should be followed by the teachers for effective academic research. Before conducting research, the researcher have to submit the research proposal for approvable. When the research proposal is approved by the department then the research should be conducted consultation with the research guide. 2. Research proposal The preparation of research proposal is...
Words: 1547 - Pages: 7
