Grunge Template

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Literature Review
Research Module
Hwa Chong Institution (High School) Centre for
Scholastic Excellence
January 2009
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Literature Review.WHAT?
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Literature Review. What?
Idea!
This is literature review
Read up more on your idea
and
you put it in here
An article from
University of California says A
literature review surveys
scholarly articles, books and other
sources relevant to a particular
issue, area of research, or theory, providing a
description, summary, and critical evaluation of
each work.
Do your research
Write your report
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Literature Review. What?

• A literature review should function
• to justify your choice of research question,
  theoretical or conceptual framework, and method
• to establish the importance of the topic
• to provide background info to understand the
  study
• to show readers you are familiar with significant
  and/or up-to-date research relevant to the topic
• to establish your study as one link in a chain of
  
• research that is developing knowledge in your
  field

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Literature Review. What?

• A literature review should answer these
• What do we already know in the immediate area
  concerned?
• What are the characteristics or key concepts or
  main factors or variables? Which are the most
  important that we should pay attention to?
• What are the relationships between these key
  concepts, characteristics, factors or variables?
• What are the existing theories? How are they
  similar? How are they different?

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Literature Review. What?

• A literature review should answer these
• Where are the inconsistencies or other
  shortcomings in our knowledge or understanding?
• What views need to be (further) tested?
• Why study (further) the research problem?
• What contribution can the present study be
  expected to make?
• What research designs or methods seem
  unsatisfactory?

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Literature Review. What?

• In all, a literature review
• is about evaluating readings and research
• shows the relationships between different works
  and more importantly, yours
• highlights key ideas concerning your project
• focuses on the purpose of the research
• explains why a research needs to be carried out

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Literature Review. What?

• An example

Several researchers addressed the problem of
optimal handing unit. Steudell (1990), Tanchoco
(1998) and Agee (2000) studied various aspects of
the subject. The last two references incorporate
the size of the pallet in evaluation of the
optimal lot sizes. In a report on a specific
case, Normandin (1998) demonstrated that using
the container can result in considerable savings.

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Before I start on my Lit ReviewI NEED INFO!
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I Need Information!

• What sources are there?
• Journal articles
• Books
• Conference proceedings
• Government/Corporate reports
• Newspapers and magazines
• Theses and dissertation
• Internet

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I Need Information!

• Journal Articles
• Good especially for up-to-date information
• Are frequently used in literature reviews
• Offer a relatively concise format for research
• Usually articles from reputable journals are
  served as references

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I Need Information!

• Books
• Tend to be less up-to-date
• Text books
• Are unlikely to be useful
• Intended for teaching more than for research
• Provide foundation for background or basic skills
• Offer a good starting point to find more detailed
  sources

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I Need Information!

• Conference Proceedings
• Provide the latest research, or research that has
  not been published
• Provide information on people who are currently
  involved in specific research areas
• Help track other work by the same researchers

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I Need Information!

• Government/Corporate Reports
• Governments and corporations commission or carry
  out research
• Published findings can provide a useful source of
  information, depending on the field of study

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I Need Information!

• Newspapers and Magazines
• Intended for general (not specialized) audiences
• Information provided are of very limited use
• Often newspapers are more helpful as providers
  of information about recent trends, but you
  should then search for more detailed information
  in other sources.

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I Need Information!

• Theses and Disseration
• Useful sources of information
• Disadvantages
• they can be difficult to obtain
• the student who carried out the research may not
  be an experienced researcher and more caution is
  needed when browsing for information.

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I Need Information!

• Internet
• Great source of information especially with
  electronic journals
• When using a search engine, type .pdf to find
  scholastic journals. But read carefully because
  the researcher may be inexperienced
• Easy to use
• Search engines generate a lot of results
• All other sources of information, including those
  mentioned earlier, can be found on the internet

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Internet Re-Explained
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Internet, Re-Explained

• Before you start the search
• Think about the information you are searching for
  
• Is it likely to be available for free?
• Would a print or other electronic sources be more
  appropriate? (eg. encyclopaedia or journal
  articles)
• Would it be better to use a search engine or a
  subject directory?
• What words best describe your subject?
  Try to be as precise as possible.

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Internet, Re-Explained

• Some search strategies
• Find the focus of your question
• Identify the key concepts
• Understand these concepts
• Use alternative terms to describe these concepts
  
• Know where you should start looking
• Build on what you've found
• Begin with reviews of an area of study
  (especially for humanities and social sciences)

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Internet, Re-Explained

• List of Search Engines
• Librarians internet index
• http//lii.org/
• Internet public library
• http//www.ipl.org/
• National library board (free access to journals)
• http//www.nlb.gov.sg
• Google, Yahoo, Livesearch, ASK
• http//www.dogpile.com/

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Internet, Re-Explained

• List of Scientific Journals
• PubMed, US National Library of Medicine
• http//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
• Highwire Library of Sciences and Medicine
• http//highwire.stanford.edu
• Elsevier browse journals by subject
• http//www.elsevier.com
• Scirus browse journals and science websites
• http//www.scirus.com

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Internet, Re-Explained

• List of Online Journals
• New Scientist
• http//www.newscientist.com
• Scientific American
• http//www.sciam.com
• ScienceDirect
• http//www.sciencedirect.com/science/journals

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Internet, Re-Explained

• To broaden a search
• Reduce the number of concepts you are using
• Look for alternative terms
• Use more general search terms
• Use subject headings as search terms
• Use an OR search
• Use Boolean operators correctly
• Use truncation to get variations on your term
• Use alternate spellings

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Internet, Re-Explained

• To narrow a search
• Look for more specific alternative terms
• Use an AND or NOT search
• Use Boolean operators correctly
• Use more precise terms
• Remove any truncation

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Internet, Re-Explained

• Boolean Commands
• OR
• Allows any of the specified search terms to be
  present
• AND
• Requires that all search terms be present
• NOT
• Requires that a particular search term not be
  present
• Exact phrase must be present

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TOO many sources!Evaluating and choosing your
sources
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Evaluating Sources

• Is the source suitable?
• Scope
• What is the breadth of the article, book, website
  or material?
• Is it a general work that provides an overview of
  the topic or is it specifically focused on only
  one aspect of your topic.
• Does the breadth of the work match your own
  expectations?
• Does the resource cover the right time period
  that you are interested in?

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Evaluating Sources

• Is the source suitable?
• Audience
• Who is the intended audience for this source?
• Is the material too technical or too clinical?
• Is it too elementary or basic?

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Evaluating Sources

• Is the source suitable?
• Timeliness
• When was the source published?
• If it is a website, when was it last updated?
• Avoid using undated websites
• Library catalogs and periodical indexes always
  indicate the publication date in the
  bibliographic citation

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Evaluating Sources

• Is the source accurate?
• Is there a methodology to the research? How are
  the results interpreted? Can the methodology be
  duplicated for verification purposes? Are there
  limitations to the methodology?
• Is there a bibliography and does it include links
  to the documents themselves?
• Are names of individuals and or sources that
  provided non published data used in the
  preparation of the study?

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Evaluating Sources

• Is the website accurate?
• Is the information current? When was it updated?
  (You can check at the bottom for a "last revised"
  date and/or notice if there are numerous dead
  links on the site.)
• Can you verify the background information for
  accuracy?

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Evaluating Sources

• Is the website accurate?
• Does the site have any credentials such as being
  rated by a reputable rating group?
• If you see a high rating, is that because of the
  soundness of the content or the quality of the
  design? (An attractive page is not a reason for
  accepting its information as reliable)
• Is there any indication of bias on the site?

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Evaluating Sources

• Is the website accurate?
• Note the URL of the document
• Does this document reside on the Web server of an
  organization that has a clear stake in the issue
  at hand?
• If you are looking at a corporate web site,
  assume that the information on the corporation
  will present it in the most positive light
• If you are looking at products produced and sold
  by that corporation, remember you are looking at
  an advertisement
• If you are reading about a political figure at
  the web site of another political party, you are
  reading the opposition

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Evaluating Sources

• Is the website accurate?
• Does this document reside on the Web server of an
  organization that has a political or
  philosophical agenda?
• If you are looking for scientific information on
  human genetics, would you trust a political
  organization?
• Never assume that extremist points of view are
  always easy to detect. Some sites promoting these
  views may look educational.

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Evaluating Sources

• Is the website accurate?
• What is the purpose of the site?
• To provide information?
• Advertise?
• Persuade?
• Are the goals of the site clearly indicated?
• Is the design masking the lack of information?
• Is there a lot of flash and color and gimmicks to
  attract attention?
• Is it trying to get you to buy something?

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Reading a scientific paper made easy
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Reading a Scientific Paper

• First, read the Abstract
• Research topic of paper
• Summary of method used
• Results and brief explanation
• Application

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Reading a Scientific Paper

• Followed by Introduction/Lit Review
• Previous work done on research area with
  cross-references
• Aim of present study

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Reading a Scientific Paper

• Then read the Results and Discussion
• Raw data obtained
• Analysis of data
• Representation of data (graphs, photographs)
• Explanation of data obtained

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Reading a Scientific Paper

• Check if equipment and other resources are
  available in your lab (ask your mentor/lab
  manager)
• Check if project is workable within a time frame
  of 6 months
• Modify method used

If you are interested in adapting part of the
study for your project, read the Materials and
Methods
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YOU COPIED!Cite your sources or be prepared
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Citing Sources

• Dont get famed for plagiarizing
• Include in your bibliography ONLY those
  references that have been cited in your text
• Make sure that you have read and understood all
  the references cited

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Citing Sources

• Bibliography Paper in journal
• Smith, A.B. and Jones, C.D. (2007).
  Ground-breaking research from our laboratory.
  Journal of Research, 1, 1-10.
• Author(s) (surname first)
• Year of publication
• Title of paper
• Title of journal (italics)
• Volume of journal (bold)
• Pages

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Citing Sources

• Bibliography Paper in journal (internet)
• Smith, A.B. and Jones, C.D. (2007).
  Ground-breaking research from our laboratory.
  Journal of Research, 1, 1-10.
• Available online at http//www.website.com
• Last accessed (date)

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Citing Sources

• Bibliography Chapter in an edited book
• Smith, A.B. and Jones, C.D. (2007).
  Ground-breaking research from our laboratory. The
  Research Handbook. (Ed. A. Professor). pp. 12-34.
  New York Success Publications.
• Author(s) (surname first)
• Year of publication
• Title of chapter
• Title of book (italics)
• Editor(s)
• Pages of chapter
• Location Publisher

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Citing Sources

• In-Text Citations

A type of bacterium so large that it can be seen
without the aid of a microscope has been
discovered (Smith and Jones, 2007). or Smith
and Jones (2007) have discovered a type of
bacterium so large that it can be seen without
the aid of a microscope. Note List all authors
if there are only 2 or fewer
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Citing Sources

• In-Text Citations

A type of bacterium so large that it can be seen
without the aid of a microscope has been
discovered (Smith et al., 2007). or Smith et
al. (2007) have discovered a type of bacterium so
large that it can be seen without the aid of a
microscope. Note et al. is used to indicate
authorship if there are more than 2 authors
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Dummys Guide to writing a good review
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Writing a Good Review

• Your review presentation must be
• Clear and concise
• Free of language errors
• Easy to understand

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Writing a Good Review

• Your review should address
• What do we already know in the immediate area of
  concerns?
• What are the characteristics of key concepts/main
  factors/variables?
• What are the relationships between these key
  concepts/characteristics/factors/variables?
• What are the existing theories?
  How are they different?
• What are the inconsistencies or shortcomings?

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Writing a Good Review

• Your review should address
• What views need to be tested?
• Why study the problem?
• What contribution can the present study be
  expected to make?
• What methods seem unsatisfactory?