The Literature Review

SROP 2006

Mitzi Ramos

Maya Evans

An Example…

“Given heightened awareness of environmental and cultural concerns relating to tourism—and more recently to casino gaming—

academic attention has focused on the concept of sustainable development, of which tourism plays an increasingly critical role

world-wide. According to Farrell (see Martin 1998: 42), sustainable development is a holistic system in which three interdependent

subsystems interact and influence one another: those of environment, culture

and economies. […] According to Brenda Martin, the ‘general theme’ of research findings related to Native American tourism is that ‘local

communities do not typically benefit from tourism development unless it is done in a cooperative and inclusive manner’… […] Van Otten and Vasquez

(1992) concur, based on their study of local planning on the Hopi reservation

in northeastern Arizona.”

Piner, Judie M. and Thomas W. Paradis. 2004. “Beyond the Casino: Sustainable Tourism and Cultural Development on Native American Lands.” Tourism Geographies 6(1): p. 80-98.

Pay attention to these techniques…

“Given heightened awareness of environmental and cultural concerns relating to tourism—and more recently to casino gaming—academic attention has focused on the concept of sustainable development, of which tourism plays an increasingly critical role world-wide. According to Farrell (see Martin 1998: 42), sustainable development is a holistic system in which three interdependent subsystems interact and influence one another: those of environment, culture and economies. […] According to Brenda Martin, the ‘general theme’ of research findings related to Native American tourism is that ‘local communities do not typically benefit from tourism development

unless it is done in a cooperative and inclusive manner’ […] Van Otten and Vasquez (1992) concur, based on their study of local planning on the Hopi reservation in northeastern Arizona.”

Piner, Judie M. and Thomas W. Paradis. 2004. “Beyond the Casino: Sustainable Tourism and Cultural Development on Native American Lands.” Tourism Geographies 6(1): p. 80-98.

Purpose of the Literature Review

Locate holes in past research that you can fill with your own original research

Demonstrate that you are knowledgeable enough about the topic to address it

Support the theories and hypotheses that you present

Ensure that you are contributing to knowledge and not simply replicating what has already been established

Before starting, you should be able to:

Identify the topic of your research

Identify preliminary research questions

Identify several preliminary research areas of interest

Areas of Research Interest

There are sub-topics within your own research topic, called areas of research interest. Identifying and addressing these areas within your literature review demonstrates that you can think critically about your research.

An effective literature review requires organization at all times. Identifying these areas will help keep you organized.

Step One: Identify preliminary areas of interest for your research

A Real-Life Example…

1. Topic: campaign strategies used by black candidates running against each other

2. Research questions: On what grounds do Black voters shape their perceptions of candidates, and thus their voting behavior, when both candidates are Black? Accordingly, what strategies must Black candidates adopt to win these statewide elections? Is race still the most salient factor in determining election outcomes when it does not preliminarily serve to differentiate the candidates?

Step One: Identify preliminary areas of interest for your research

A Real-Life Example…

3. Areas of interest

i. Black representation/racial redistricting/descriptive representation

ii. Elections of black candidates: strategies

iii. Candidate perception and evaluation

iv. Racial appeals to black voters

v. White voter evaluation/prejudice of white voters

vi. Intragroup competition

vii. Studies of other minority groups

viii. Campaign advertising newspaper coverage

Step One: Identify preliminary areas of interest for your research

A Real-Life Example…

3. Areas of interest

i. Black representation/racial redistricting/descriptive representation

ii. Elections of black candidates: strategies

iii. Candidate perception and evaluation

iv. Racial appeals to black voters

v. White voter evaluation/prejudice of white voters

vi. Intragroup competition

vii. Studies of other minority groups

viii. Campaign advertising newspaper coverage

Step Two: Locate existing research on each of these areas

Conduct article searches based on these areas of interest

Organize articles by the area of interest

Use proper citations for your field:

http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/Documentation.html

Microsoft Word Document

Step Three: Read and evaluate each article independently

“How to Read a Research Article” (Schutt 2004)

1. What is the basic research question or problem? Try to state in just one sentence.

“The clearest statement of the research question—actually three questions—is that ‘we seek to determine how men and women in these [six] different situations [defined by marital status and living arrangement] compare in the amounts of time they spend doing housework, whether these differences can be attributed to differences in other social and economic characteristics, and which household tasks account for these differences” (p. 328). Prior to this point, the authors focus in on this research question, distinguishing it from the more general issue of how housework is distributed within marriages and explaining why it is an important research question” (Schutt 2004: C-1).

2. Is the purpose of the study explanatory, evaluative, exploratory, or descriptive? Did the study have more the than one purpose?

3. What prior literature was reviewed? Was it relevant to the research problem? To the theoretical framework? Does the literature review appear to be adequate? Are you aware of (or can you locate) any important studies that have been omitted?

Step Three: Read and evaluate each article independently

4. Was a theoretical framework presented? What was it? Did it seem appropriate for the research question addressed? Can you think of a different theoretical perspective that might have been used?

5. How well did the study live up to the guidelines for science? Do you need additional information in any areas to evaluate the study? To replicate it?

6. Were any hypotheses stated? Were these hypotheses justified adequately in terms of the theories presented? In terms of prior research?

7. What were the independent and dependent variables in the hypothesis (ses)? Did these variables reflect the theoretical concepts as intended? What direction of association was hypothesized? Were any other variables identified as potentially important?

8. What were the major concepts in the research? How, and how clearly, were they defined? Were some concepts treated as unidimensional that you think might best be thought of as multidimensional?

Step Three: Read and evaluate each article independently

9. Did the instruments used, the measures of the variables, seem valid and reliable? How did the authors attempt to establish this? Could any more have been done in the study to establish measurement validity?

10. Was a sample or the entire population used in the study? What type of sample was selected? Did the authors think the sample was generally representative of the population from which it was drawn? Do you?

11. Was the response rate or participation rate reported? Does it appear likely that those who did not respond or participate were markedly different from those who did participate? Why or why not? Did the author(s) adequately discuss this issue?

12. What were the units of analysis? Were they appropriate for the research question?

13. Was an experimental, survey, participant observation, or some other research design used? How well was this design suited to the research question posed and the specific hypotheses tested, if any? Why do you suppose the author(s) chose this particular design?

Step Three: Read and evaluate each article independently

14. Summarize the findings. How clearly were statistical and/or qualitative data presented and discussed? Were the results substantively important?

15. Did the author(s) adequately represent the findings in the discussion and/or conclusion sections? Were conclusions well grounded in the findings? Are any other interpretations possible?

16. Compare the study to others addressing the same research question. Did the study yield additional insights? In what ways was the study design more or less adequate than the design of previous research?

17. What additional research questions and hypotheses are suggested by the study’s results? What light did the study shed on the theoretical framework used? On social policy questions?

Answer questions on paper, not mentally.

Reference within your answers: write quotes, put page numbers, star (*) important information

Write personal notes: Is something confusing? Does it support your hypotheses? Does it remind you of an article you just read? Does it contradict what you are saying? If so, then write, “This contradicts me because…”

Step Three: Read and evaluate each article independently

1. Make sure you have more than enough literature to work with (I originally read 50 articles and books)

2. Stay organized.

3. Take notes—remember to write down everything that you are thinking.

4. Read the articles!

5. Don’t feel the need to include an article just because you printed it out or read it (I only include 32 of the 50 original works in my final paper).

6. Each article is not supposed to address every aspect of your research

7. Reading will bring more areas of research interest to light, so be prepared to search for articles several times.

8. Literature reviews describe relationships between articles. They do not explain articles paragraph by paragraph. Look for these relationships as you are reading.

Final Tips…

Racial Appeals to Black Voters Reeves, Keith. 1997. Voting Hopes or Fears? White Voters, Black Candidates, and Racial Politics in America. New York: Oxford University Press. Conover, Pamela Johnston. 1984. “The Influence of Group Identifications on Political Perception and Evaluation.” The Journal of Politics 46(3): 760-785. Thompson, Vetta L. Sanders. 2001. “The Complexity of African American Racial Identification.” Journal of Black Studies 32(2): 155-165. Allen, Richard L., Michael C. Dawson, and Ronald E. Brown. 1989. “A Schema-Based Approach to Modeling and African-American Racial Belief System.” The American Political Science Review 83(2): 421-441. Bledsoe, Timothy, Susan Welch, Lee Sigelman, and Michael Combs. 1995. “Residential Context and Racial Solidarity among African Americans.” American Journal of Political Science 39(2): 434-458. Gandy Jr., Oscar H. “Racial Identity, Media Use, and the Social Construction of Risk among African Americans.” Journal of Black Studies 31(5): 600-618. Shelby, Tommie. “Foundations of Black Solidarity: Collective Identity or Common Oppression.” Ethics (112): 231-266. McIlwain, Charlton D. and Stephen Maynard Caliendo. “Who’s Really Black? A Theory of African American Authentic Appeals.” Paper Presented at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association in Chicago, IL. McIlwain, Charlton D. and Stephen Maynard Caliendo. “Frames of Authenticity: News Coverage of Black Candidates and Their Campaigns.” Paper presented at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association in Chicago, IL.

Vetta L. Sanders Thompson (2001)

suggests that racial group identity is not an

all-or-none endeavor and defining

“authentic blackness” is both complex

and subjective. “[O]rganizing around

commonalities [of racial identification] is

difficult… and leads to divided loyalty and

contributes to a fragmented sense of

peoplehood. […] African

Americans/ Blacks will find no easy issues

to unify around, and the consequences of

the competing models of what it is or

means to be African American or Black

will increase the political and economic

crisis within the African American

community” (p. 163-64). Additional

obstacles to racial group identity include

status in society and religious beliefs

(Allen, Dawson, and Brown 1989); racial

residential patterns (Bledsoe et al. 1995);

class and gender differences and

disagreements over “authentic” black

identity (Shelby 2002). Nevertheless, the

implications of group solidarity affect

levels of political participation and voting

behavior, even in contests between two

black candidates (Bledsoe et al. 1995).

Side by side

Writing an effective Literature Review

By the end of your Literature Review, the reader should be able to answer

the following questions:1. What specific previously compiled or published studies,

articles, or other documents provide the best available information on the selected topic?

2. What do these studies conclude about the topic?3. What are the apparent methodological strengths and

weaknesses of these studies?4. What remains to be discovered about the topic?5. What appear to be, according to these studies, the most

effective methods for developing new information on the topic?