Literature Reviews

Presentation Worksheets

Presented by: Diana Hackenburg

Hosted by the Graduate Writing Center

And adapted from a presentation by Leigh Ann Holterman, M.A.

February 22, 2018 Focusing Questionnaire (Courtesy of UVM Graduate Writing Center; Boston College Libraries - http://libguides.bc.edu/litreview/phase1; and the University of Leicester- http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/resources/writing/writing-resources/literature-review)

 Write a 1-2 sentence description of your research for an interested, academic – but not specialist – audience.

 Where are you in the research and writing process?

 What is the research question or gap your literature review helps to define?

 Briefly tell the story of what has happened in this field to lead you to this research.

 Using a model as a guide, what could be the scope of your literature review? What publications will you use? What length do you anticipate?

2  What key terms, time period, or other parameters will you use to focus in on your research question?

 How does your project fit within your larger field? What conversations or trends will you consider?

 What is the significance of your project for audiences in your field or beyond your field?

3 Concept Mapping (Courtesy of http://library.appstate.edu/sites/all/files/video/handouts/conceptmap_0.pdf)

Example:

4 5 Theme Creation (Courtesy of Cisco, J. (2014). Teaching the literature review: A practical approach for college instructors)

6 Theme Creation – Create Your Own!

7 Key Questions for Analysis: Summarizing, Synthesizing, Critiquing, and Comparing (Courtesy of Penn State Graduate Writing Center)

Ask yourself these key questions about what you’ve found in your research:

1. What is known about the research area?

2. What are the key arguments, characteristics, and/or concepts in the literature?

3. What are the existing debates/theories?

4. What are common methodologies?

5. How do the different studies relate?

6. What is new, different, or controversial?

7. What needs further testing?

8. What evidence is lacking, inconclusive, contradicting, or too limited?

9. What research designs or methods appear unsatisfactory?

10. Decide whether your sources: -Demonstrate chronological development -Show different approaches -Show an ongoing debate -Center on a seminal study -Demonstrate a paradigm shift

Questions to Answer after Assessing the Literature (Courtesy of Penn State Graduate Writing Center)

1) What do researchers already know about this topic?

2) What do they not know?

3) Why should we study this topic?

4) What will my research contribute?

8 Common Organizational Styles: Descriptions, Typical Language & Examples (Courtesy of the Penn State Graduate Writing Center)

Topical Approach  Most common approach  Breaks field into subfields, subject areas, or methodologies  Discusses and potentially critiques each subsection individually  Most useful for: o Organizing a large body of literature o Especially one without one or two “most important” studies o Or without a clear chronological development  Typical Language o Three important areas of this field have received attention: “A”, “B”, “C”. o A has been approached from two perspectives “F” and “G” o The most important developments in terms of “B” have been… o “C” has also been an important area of study in this field.  Example: Three important aspects of this field have received extended critical attention: 1) length of time students spend on writing literature reviews, 2) the amount of revision typically required by thesis advisors, and 3) the extent to which highlighters help or hinder the review process. (This paragraph places it firmly in the topical organizational; it sets out the areas in the field which have received attention and in that process breaks up the study of the topic into specific areas).

Debate Approach  A topical approach with a chronological component  Focuses on different models in the research where there is open criticism between the supporters  Most useful for: o Literature where there are clear opposing positions  Typical Language o There have been two (three, four, etc.) distinct approaches to this problem o The first model posits… o The second model argues that the first model is wrong for three reasons. Instead, the second model claims…  Example: There have been two (or three, etc.) distinct approaches to this field. The first model (commonly referred to as the Smith proposition) posits that students are reasonably good at predicting the length of time it will take them to write a literature review. This point of view was first taken by Smith (1910), who found that students underestimated the time required for the task by on 3%. Confirmation of Smith (1910) was found in Jones (1935), Horowitz (1997), Timothy and Hyperion (1980), with only little variation. Notably, Horowitz correlated the accuracy of students’ perceptions with their advisors predictions and found that when advisors overestimate by more than 10% students also overestimate by more than 10%. Left on their own, however, Horowitz (1997) found that students could estimate the time required with great accuracy, usually

9 within 2.5 % in either direction.The second model, called the poor predictions model (PPM), has criticized the Smith proposition on the basis that all students involved in Smith’s early study, and in the studies that replicate them, where students in the humanities or liberal arts. Proponents of PPM have showed that when the mix is between students in engineering and the humanities, the accuracy of students’ predictions falls drastically, with students underestimating the time required by an average of 27% in Yakov (1975) and as much as 63% in Hughes (1994). (This recap functions primarily in terms of a debate organization. It emphasizes the two or three distinct approaches to the topic. But what makes it specifically debate organizational is that it articulates the PPM model as directly critical of the other school).

Chronological Approach  Lists themes by how they developed chronologically  Most useful for: o When there is clear development over time in the field (either a linear progression, or a paradigm shift)  Typical Language o This subject was first studied by X, who argued… o In (date), Y modified/extended/contradicted X’s work by… o Today, research by Z represents the current state of the field  Example: This subject was first studied by Smith (1910), which found that graduate students writing literature reviews took much longer to complete than their initial estimates. Fifty percent less hours than actual time spent on the task.In 1955, this finding was contradicted [or expanded, or confirmed, or extended] by Jones (1955), who found that graduate students were able to write literature reviews in just about exactly the amount of time they predicted. After the influx of large numbers of students in 1960s, Harbour and Timon (1967) took a different approach to the problem, triangulating the students’ estimates of how long the task should take with their advisors’ estimates. They argued that the congruence of the advisor’s estimate with the student’s estimate had a direct correlation to the accuracy of the student’s estimate. Today, Young (1990) and Horowitz (1997) represent the current state of thinking on this question. Young has confirmed Harbour and Timon (1970), while adding that earlier studies likely yielded different results because of the differences among graduate students early in the century and post-World War II. Horowitz’s synthetic study offers further confirmation of Young (1990). (The listing of studies in terms of time puts this example in the chronological organizational category. It sets up the development of the topic in terms of it was first studied in 1910, then 1955, 1960s, etc.)

10 Seminal Study Approach  Starts by describing a study that is extremely important to the field  Then might use another approach to organize the later work in this field  Most useful for: o Literature where one study is either the most important or foundational in paving the way for future research  Typical Language o The most important research on this topic was the study by X in (date) o Following X’s study, research fell into two camps (extended X’s work, etc.)  Example: The most important research on this topic was Smith (1910). It established the basic facts on the topic and serves as the source of much of the future research and hypotheses. Smith (1910) studied 374 graduate students in English at 14 universities in the Northeast. He used the Smith Writing Time Estimate Inventory (SWTE) to obtain prior estimates of the time required to write a literature review for a dissertation. He then observed students writing literature reviews under controlled laboratory conditions. Students wore electronic monitors that determined when they were daydreaming, so that those time periods could be eliminated from the actual performance time (APT). When comparing the estimated time (EPT) to the APT, Smith (1910) found that students overestimate the time required by 3%. Following Smith (1910), studies on the subject either merely replicated Smith (1910) (Jones 1917, Yakov 1940, Dubrov 1967) or extended Smith (1910) inquiry by comparing students’ EPT to advisors’ EPT (Hardwik 1978), by adding engineering students to the study (Hughes 1994), or by eliminating the daydream of control monitors (Crawford 1972). All these studies offered findings that reinforced those of Smith (1910). (This sample presents a seminal study organizational pattern. It sets up Smith (1910) as the seminal study, which has been the basis for Jones (1917), etc. It uses language such as “the most important research”...)