Conducting a Literature Review

Literature Review

• A review of the literature allows researchers to understand the subject, its relevance, and structure.
• It helps researchers develop appropriate research questions.
• It's crucial to approach a topic with an open mind.

Planning a Literature Review

• Be familiar with existing literature on the topic.
• A literature review should cover all aspects of a topic, not just one side.
• The starting point for a literature search can be primary, secondary, or tertiary data.
• Researchers must be cautious about material found online due to potential issues of quality and trustworthiness, and the lack of author information.
• Important criteria to judge publications include citation rates, advertising, and the target audience.
• A thorough literature review is critical for research because it can reveal previous work and identify potential gaps in knowledge. It can also help to identify like-minded researchers and similar methodologies.

Conducting a Literature Search

• Use databases to search for relevant journal articles, including full-text articles.
• Limit your search by date to narrow your results.
• Utilize abstract views to quickly scan the literature.

Evaluating Literature

• Critically evaluate the articles for their strengths and weaknesses.
• Literature reviews should include an evaluation of previous research, potential biases of the authors, and the flaws in methodology.
• Determine whether the prior research is suitable for current study.

Theoretical Frameworks

• A review of existing, competing, or alternative frameworks for the topic should be considered. The quality of evidence for each should be assessed.

Conducting Literature Reviews

• It is possible to maximize marks by critically evaluating the work.
• Critically evaluation helps identify weaknesses in other studies and refine research questions.
• Literature reviews should identify promising procedures and instruments.

This quiz explores the essential steps and best practices for conducting a literature review. It covers the importance of understanding existing literature, formulating research questions, and evaluating the quality of sources. Perfect for researchers and students alike looking to deepen their knowledge in research methodology.