Chapter 4: Literature Review

Question 1

What must the literature review author convey to the reader of his review (2)?

Answer 1

1. What knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic.
2. The strengths and weaknesses of that information.

Question 2

How must a literature review be organized (4)?

Answer 2

1. Must be organized around and related directly to the research question you are developing.
2. Must synthesize results into a summary of what is and is not known.
3. Must identify areas of controversy in the literature
4. Formulate questions that need further research.

Question 3

What should the author of a literature review NOT do with his findings (2)?

Answer 3

1. [List]Do not list all material published.

2. [Des/Sum] Lit review is not a list describing or summarizing one piece of literature after another.

Question 4

List the purposes of a lit review (4).

Answer 4

1. Limit the research problem
2. Seek new lines of inquiry
3. Gain methodological insights
4. Identify recommendations for future research

Question 5

How should you organize the intro of your lit review (3)?

Answer 5

1. Establish the importance of your field.
2. Provide background facts/info
3. Define terminology

Question 6

What should one do to organize the body of a lit review (2)?

Answer 6

1. Find the research gap (what needs to be done in the future)
2. Find previous and/or current research and contributions - This pinpoints strengths and weaknesses among articles (Can help you better evaluate how to design your own study)

Question 7

How should one design the conclusion of a lit review (4)?

Answer 7

1. Summarize major themes within review
2. Identifies controversial areas in literature
3. Concludes with formulating the need for further research w/I topic
4. Provides some insight into the relationship between the topic and the larger field of study or discipline

Question 8

Publications written by authors who were NOT direct observers of, nor participants in, the events being described.

Answer 8

Secondary Sources

Question 9

List examples of secondary sources (3).

Answer 9

1. Textbooks
2. Encyclopedias
3. Review articles

Question 10

Why are secondary sources useful?

Answer 10

They combine knowledge from many primary sources into a single publication.

Question 11

What constitutes a GOOD secondary source?

Answer 11

1. An organization of what is known about the problem or topic into meaningful structure.
2. Shows how various research studies are connected to one another.

Question 12

What should you ALWAYS do when performing a lit review?

Answer 12

1. Always check the recency of a source (should be within past 5 years).
2. Vary in quality

Question 13

A statistical approach for combining studies about the same problem to determine the efficacy of a procedure or treatment.

Answer 13

Meta-analysis

Question 14

.00 - Means there is no difference b/w the experimental and control groups.

Answer 14

Effect Size

Question 15

A direct report of an event by an individual who actually observed or participated in it.

Answer 15

Primary Source

Question 16

What are some disadvantages authors/researchers’ interpretation of primary sources?

Answer 16

1. The authors of secondary sources may slant their interpretation of primary sources to agree with their own view.
2. The authors of the secondary sources MAY OMIT SOME INFO that a reader wants to know.