Senior Thesis: Review of Literature

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Senior Thesis Review of Literature

• Samples, Citation help, Search techniques

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Format of the Senior Thesis

• The format of the thesis should be logical and
  consistent. Any major divisions within the text
  should be chapters or sections. These divisions
  should be decided on between the student and the
  mentor and should conform to guidelines indicated
  in the style manual that the student is using.
• A thesis generally includes an introduction in
  which the problem or focus is laid out and in
  which background information provides a context
  for the topic or problem. In some disciplines,
  the introduction will contain a preview of the
  rest of the paper.
• Most theses include a review of literature in
  which the student summarizes and evaluates the
  previously published and important research
  relating to his or her own data
  collection/analysis.
• The student should make the relationship between
  this previous research and his/her own
  research/analysis clear.

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Format of the Senior Thesis (cont).

• Theses in the sciences will usually contain a
  methodology section describing the procedures
  used to collect and analyze data.
• In the sciences, the main part of the body will
  usually contain the data collected by the student
  and his/her analysis of that data and the
  relationship of this data analysis to the
  original research questions and previously
  published studies.
• In the case of the humanities and some social
  sciences, this section may be the argument and
  evidence supporting the claims of the student
  regarding the topic of study (primary and
  secondary texts, works of art, case studies,
  etc.).
• All theses should provide a section at the end in
  which the student draws conclusions from and
  discusses the implications of his or her
  findings. This section may also contain a
  discussion of the limitations of the research
  presented or ambiguities left after the research.
  In the sciences this will usually be labeled
  Discussion. In the humanities, it is usually a
  Conclusion.
• See complete Thesis Handbook here.

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What is a Review of Literature?

• A literature review is an account of what has
  been published on a topic by accredited scholars
  and researchersIn writing the literature review,
  your purpose is to convey to your reader what
  knowledge and ideas have been established on a
  topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses
  are. As a piece of writing, the literature review
  must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., your
  research objective, the problem or issue you are
  discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is
  not just a descriptive list of the material
  available, or a set of summaries (Taylor).

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What should the Review of Literature include?

• A literature review must do these things
• be organized around and related directly to the
  thesis or research question you are developing
• synthesize results into a summary of what is and
  is not known
• identify areas of controversy in the literature
• formulate questions that need further research

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Resources and Samples

• For tips on how to organize your Review of
  Literature, visit
• The University of Wisconsin Writing Center
• The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  Writing Center
• Also, take a look at these samples
• Diana Hackers Research site (MLA example is
  under Humanities and APA example is under Social
  Sciences).
• Purdue OWL (APA example with comments/corrections)
  .

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Length/References

• Length depends on your topic and the number of
  sources currently available. If there are too
  many sources, choose those that are most
  important.
• You need to submit a References (APA) or Works
  Cited (MLA) page with your Review of Literature.
  
• When you find resources on Gale/TEL, use the
  Citation Tools to generate the citation in either
  format.
• When you find resources online use
• Easy Bib (for MLA)
• Bib Me (for APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian)
• Remember that these citation generators are not
  foolproof. Fill in missing info and double check
  the accuracy of your citations before adding them
  to your References/Works Cited page.

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Where do I find resources?

• My 1 recommendation MTSU Library Visit the
  library to search their databases. They offer
  much more information than Gale/TEL and it is
  worth your while to spend an afternoon or evening
  there because you will find lots of relevant
  information. Visit the Reference room (to the
  right when you enter) and the librarians there
  will be happy to help you find the most
  appropriate resources for your topic. Be sure to
  stop by Parking Services to get a guest parking
  pass before going to the library.

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Where do I find resources? (cont).

• CMS Library webpage Research Links
• GVRL
• Click on the search box to browse or type in any
  search term.
• All results are full text and contain MLA/APA
  citations.
• Limit results by looking on the left at document
  type, publication type, and subjects.
• Refine your results by searching within the
  results.
• Save articles to revisit later (or email to
  self).

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Where do I go to find resources? (cont).

• Go to Gale and search the databases that are
  relevant to your thesis topic
• Science, medical topics Science in Context,
  Health Reference Center, Health and Wellness
  Center
• History topics Global Issues in Context
• Education topics Educators Reference Complete
• Literature topics Literature Criticism Online,
  Literature Resource Center, Scibner Writers
  Online, Twayne Authors Online

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Where do I find resources? (cont).

• Gale Power Search
• Click on the blue Power Search box.
• Password elvis
• Avoid keyword search.
• Instead, do an Advanced Search or Subject Guide
  Search.
• Limit results to full text.
• Limit to exclude results you dont want
  (abstracts, book reviews, etc).

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Where do I find resources? (cont).

• TEL
• Avoid keyword search.
• Instead, go to
• Student Resources in Context
• Opposing Viewpoints in Context
• Do keyword search and also Browse Topics
  (categories of alphabetized lists on tons of
  topics).