The active writing of the literature review: Analysis of gaps in

research knowledge

Professor Michael Singh

& Jinghe Han

University of Western Sydney

How do you undertake a literature review?

• librRY

• BOOKSHOP

• INTERNET

• References in journal article- key readings & key authors

How many references are appropriate to include in a paper?

• 30 references?

• Depend on … material, paper, length

• 5000 words, have 10 articles

• You have to pay to have articles published

How & why to record citations (cited in) and references?

• Believable – cite sources of evidence – ideas – study leaders in the field

• Thank you – accumulation – building on the work of other

• Lakoff. G. (2004), Don’t Think about the Eelephant. Melbourne: Scribe.

• In-text citation -• Whejhwejkdwbjhvgqui (Lakoff, 2004: 24)• “Wewjhegbrrhr” (Rizvi cited in Lakoff, 2004: 24)

An example

• review the national and international Research literature, (with later refinement), to define motivation and engagement of boys within early and middle schooling, focus on the potential for role models, literacy acquisition and models of learning particularly relating to use of ICT. The review will identify a range of factors and causal relationships regarding boys’ academic and other performance.

• narrative review, best-evidence synthesis and analysis

• Review national & international research generated over the past 5 years

• rigour (comprehensive) and objectivity (neural in tone)

• Reviewing: identifying, coding, collecting, interpreting definitions of key concepts and drawing evidence-based conclusions

Goals of a literature review

• Find previous research findings that are relevant: what is know - knowledge

• What has been done (how has it been done?), what has not been done (identify gaps in the research knowledge) & what you might do (narrow focus, doable, feasible) -originality

Goals of literature review

1. to understand what knowledge researchers have been able to establish (e.g. about the education of boys in the early and middle years of school in relation to their motivation, engagement and achievement of academic and social outcomes)

2. to explore interrelationships between these four dimensions and educational factors (e.g. curriculum, pedagogies, assessment, the nature of the school experience, issues of culture and socio-economic status, relationship capital, home-school congruence, transitions, and the gendered construction of identities)

3. to ask what was said and what was not said (i.e. investigate what was and what was not included in the literature?)

4. to identify ways of refining the research question/s, the key concepts, the research methodology and checking one’s own research findings against the research literature

• There are no lock-step procedures for conducting the research literature, but you need a plan for conducting your particular literature review

How do you initiate a search for the literature?

Step 1- establishing key search concepts

• Identify, select & define record a range of key terms used for conducting e-searches (why?)

• identify various synonyms for keywords by concept mapping or selecting keywords from e-searches (e.g. ‘motivation,’ ‘engagement,’ ‘social outcomes,’ ‘academic outcomes,’)

• Record in an appendix the key search words, highlighting those that produced useful results, i.e. assisted in identify existing research studies

• Generate a concept map of key e-search concepts to lay the groundwork for an in-depth and focused examination of the research literature & to generate of questions to be addressed to the literature.

What criteria do you use to select literature for review?

Step 2- Identify criteria for selecting literature to be reviewed

• issues relevant to research topic (e.g. engagement, motivation, achievement of academic outcomes, achievement of social outcomes)

• a focus on particular research subjects (e.g. education of Indigenous students, students from low SES backgrounds, students from rural & regional areas)

• Other particular emphases (e.g. early & middle schooling)• Reviews of related research• presentation as a research study – quantitative & qualitative • publication in scholarly books, refereed journals & funded research

report• publication within the last five years (find very recent research, -

accumulation of knowledge)• frequently cited seminal works – i.e leaders in the field

Criteria for the inclusion of research in the literature research

• focus (e.g. boys’ education, including Indigenous boys & boys from low SES, regional & rural areas)

• research dealing with specific issues (e.g. engagement, motivation, social outcomes & academic outcomes for boys)

• scholarly books, refereed journals and funded research reports • include both quantitative & qualitative studies (e.g. statistical data,

case studies, program descriptions, narrative reports. • Statistical analysis useful for identifying effects across studies• qualitative analysis necessary to explain the effect & decide if it

matters for policy or pedagogy. • Initially cast the net as widely as possible to increase the chance of

turning up relevant research

What are the major elements to look for in the literature?

Step 3 – Prepare & use coding matrix

• Research problem (question)• Explanation & justification of the problem• Theoretical framework• Research design• Data collection techniques• Data analysis procedures• Discussion - conclusions• Soundness & completeness of study (gaps)

Where & how do you collect the literature?

Research literature: academic books, refereed journal articles, official reports

Internet – Google – search engines, and other links – check name & author

Library – have to pay to borrow and copy the books

Step 4: Collection of research literature

Relevant research literature may be sourced from:• Libraries• E-date based• Follow-up relevant authors & references in

material you find• “Google Scholar” useful (free) starting point• Find refereed journal articles

There’s no research literature on my topic!

• No research literature – dangerous sign

• Need to contextualise the study

• Need to look for other synonyms

Specific research

topic

Broader context

for research topic

Very broad context for research topic

How do you write a literature review?

Step 5 - Reviewing as active writing – systematic & critical analysis

1. identify the proposition/s that researchers have articulated - focus on specific rather than broad propositions (arguments).

2. identify key concepts used & their definitions3. critically analyse the evidence presented to support proposition/s4. examine the assumptions that undergird research reports & consider

other possible accounts that may be concealed or ruled out 5. seek out & examine studies that both support & reject the issue/s

being investigated 6. analyse conflicting results & exceptional outcomes or ‘outliers’ to

enable examination of differing contextual factors (e.g. differences among individuals, programs & settings; differences in research design & data analysis)

Step 6- Interpretation of the research literature in terms of your research question

• Decide whether to read more than abstract for every article – some need to be read in depth – using coding matrix to record key aspects of the research report

• interpret the researchers’ claims & categorise them within the framework of a common set of terms and propositions

• establish main ideas or concepts • evaluate how successful the researchers were in addressing

the questions that framed their study• In terms of your research question• Key e-copies of every draft of literature review

Step 7 – assess whether the evidence supports conclusions

• critical review of the research methods & findings• an analysis of the extent to which each

researchers’ evidence & reasoning provide clear explanations for the identified research problem

• a judgement of the soundness & completeness of each research report

• critical analysis of each report in terms of its ability to address the complexity of the issues

• identification of issues & ideas that have been neglected or rejected.

What conclusions do you create from the literature review?

Step 8- Drawing conclusions

• conclusions to be made about how the research has contributed to knowledge of the research problem: what do we now know?

• Specifications of gaps in knowledge at a broad level

• identification of the particular gap to which this project will make a contribution

When is the literature review finished?

Step 9 – reviewing literature based on actual research findings

• Once evidence has been collected & analysed it is important to search and review research literature related to issues that arise in the data that may not have already been covered

• When finalising the thesis check for the latest research in the field

Need for rich literature review

• To get the main ideas on the research topic, need to have more than a few references

• A bibliography will list all the materials considered, the reference lists only those cited in the text

• Endnote for generating bibliographies and reference lists

Literature review – an active writing process

• Step 1- establishing key search concepts

• Step 2- Identify criteria for selecting literature to be review

• Step 3 – Prepare & use coding matrix

• Step 4: Collection of research literature

• Step 5 - Reviewing as active writing – systematic & critical analysis

• Step 6- Interpretation• Step 7 – assess whether

the evidence supports conclusions

• Step 8- Drawing conclusions

• Step 9 – reviewing literature based on actual research findings

What is Literary Analysis?

• It’s literary

• It’s an analysis

• It’s--

• An Argument!

• It may also involve research on and analysis of secondary sources

How is it “literary”?

• Usually, a literary analysis will involve a discussion of a text as writing, thus the term literary, which means “having to do with letters”

• This will involve the use of certain concepts that are very specifically associated with literature

Important literary concepts

• The Basics– Plot– Setting– Narration/point of view– Characterization– Symbol – Metaphor– Genre– Irony/ambiguity

• Other key concepts– Historical context

– Social, political, economic contexts

– Ideology

– Multiple voices

– Various critical orientations

– Literary theory

How Can I Learn More?

• There are various handbooks of literary terms available in most libraries.

• There are numerous introductions to literary criticism and theory that are widely available.

• Example: A Handbook to Literature. Harmon/Holman

What is an Analysis?

• An analysis of a literary work may discuss– How the various components of an individual

work relate to each other– How two separate literary works deal with

similar concepts or forms– How concepts and forms in literary works

relate to larger aesthetic, political, social, economic, or religious contexts

How is a literary analysis an argument?

• When writing a literary analysis, you will focus on specific attribute(s) of the text(s).

• When discussing these attributes, you will want to make sure that you are making a specific, arguable point (thesis) about these attributes.

• You will defend this point with reasons and evidence drawn from the text. (Much like a lawyer!)

Which is the best thesis statement?

• Moby-Dick is about the problem of evil.

• Moby-Dick is boring and pointless.

• Moby-Dick is about a big, white whale.

• The use of “whiteness” in Moby-Dick illustrates the uncertainty about the meaning of life that Ishmael expresses throughout the novel.

How do I support a thesis statement?

• Examples from the text:– Direct quotations– Summaries– Paraphrase

• Other critics’ opinions• Historical and social context• Always remember to read carefully• highlight useful passages and quotes!

What is a secondary source?

• A book or article that discusses the text you are discussing

• A book or article that discusses a theory related to the argument you are making

• A book or article that discusses the social and historical context of the text you are discussing

How do I find secondary sources?

• International Bibliography

• Dictionary of Literary Biography

• Discipline-specific sources– Example: America: History and Life for American

literature

• Other search engines

• A bibliography that is part of your text

• Ask someone who knows

Integrating secondary sources

• When you use secondary sources, be sure to show how they relate to your thesis

• Don’t overuse any one secondary source, or for that matter, secondary sources in general

• Remember that this is your paper, your argument—the secondary sources are just helping you out

• Never, never, never plagiarize!

Overview of Literary Analysis

• When writing a literary analysis:– Be familiar with literary terms– Analyze specific items– Make an a argument– Make appropriate use of secondary sources– Consult instructors and tutors for help when

needed