SWP2RES RESEARCH FOR SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE A

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SWP2RES RESEARCH FOR SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE A

• MARTIN RYAN
• LECTURE SIX - Writing a Critical Literature
  Review

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References

• Prescribed Reading for this topic
• Rogers, G. Bouey, E. (1993) Reviewing the
  Literature (Appendix A) in Grinnell, R. (ed.)
  Social Work Research And Evaluation (4th ed.)
  Itasca, Ill F.E. Peacock Publishers, pp.
  388-401. (Digitised by La Trobe University for
  access by La Trobe University students and staff
  only.) (Electronic version available via
  Borchardt Library catalogue)
• Other References (Both on Open Reserve)
• Hart, C. (1998) Doing a Literature Review
  Releasing The Social Science Research
  Imagination, London, Sage Publications.
• Fink, A. (2005) (2nd. Ed.) Conducting Research
  Literature Reviews From Paper To The Internet,
  Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage Publications.
• Also useful is
• Hart, C. (2001) Doing a Literature Search A
  Comprehensive Guide all the Social Sciences,
  London, Sage Publications.

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A piece of research should

• Focus on a specific problem, issue or debate
• Relate to that problem, issue or debate in terms
  that show a balance between the theoretical,
  methodological and practical aspects of the
  topic
• Include a clearly stated research methodology
  based on the existing literature
• Provide an analytical and critical evaluative
  stance to the existing literature on the topic
  (Hart, 1998, p.16)

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The process of completing a literature review

• This process involves
• Being clear on what your topic is
• Finding material pertinent to your topic
• Locating this material (gathering the data)
• Reading and recording material
• Organizing the material
• Critiquing the material
• Synthesizing it and then writing your actual
  literature review
• (Adapted from Rogers Bouey, 1993)

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What is a literature review?

• Some definitions
• (Hart, 1998) The selection of available
  documents (both published and unpublished) on the
  topic, each containing information, ideas, data
  and evidence written from a particular standpoint
  to fulfil certain aims or express certain views
  on the nature of the topic and how it is to be
  investigated, and the effective evaluation of
  these documents in relation to the research being
  proposed (p.13)
• (Fink, 2005) A research literature review is a
  systematic, explicit, and reproducible method for
  identifying, evaluating, and synthesizing the
  existing body of completed and recorded work
  produced by researchers, scholars, and
  practitioners (p.3)

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What should the literature review do?

• Demonstrate skills in library researching
• Show command of the subject area and an
  understanding of the problem
• Justify the research topic, design and
  methodology
• (and in doing so you will be assessing and
  critiquing the existing material)

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Purposes of doing a literature review for a
research study

• 1) To gain familiarity with previous
  theoretical and empirical work done on the
  research problem
• 2) To critically evaluate this work
• 3) To learn about methods and instruments for
  possible use in your research study

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• 4) To utilise in reformulation and refinement
  of your research problem and questions
• 5) To propose possible answers to the research
  question i.e. generate hypotheses (if the
  literature says that this is justifiable)

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What is the Literature?

• It should more properly be called relevant
  knowledge or information, rather than literature
  and therefore can consist of a whole range of
  information sources.

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• Where is this information?

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STRATEGIES FOR LOCATING LITERATURE (THOMAS, 2000)

• COMPUTER-BASED SEARCHES
• (ON-LINE DATABASES WHICH IS NOT
• THE SAME AS THE INTERNET)
• 2) SEARCHES USING COLLECTED
• PRINTED ABSTRACTS
• 3) MANUAL LITERATURE SEARCHING
• 4) CONSULTATION WITH EXPERTS

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Searching online databases

• Likely to be your starting point
• Databases contain largely abstracts of articles
  and/or studies
• You will need a precise topic or research
  question which contain the words that you will
  need to search online for applicable studies
• These words all search terms are often called
  keywords, descriptors, or identifiers
• Online searches may need to be supplemented by
  other sources such as reference lists in
  high-quality studies which may often be in
  journal articles, and talking to colleagues and
  other experts

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Beware of the Web!

• Standards for judging the credibility of web
  sites
• Who supports or funds the site? Does the funder
  have any financial interest in the information on
  the site?
• When was the site last updated? Are the findings
  still relevant?
• What authority do the authors have? Do you have
  sufficient information so that you can evaluate
  their qualifications? Are the authors likely to
  profit from the site and from the information on
  it? Do the authors have peer-reviewed
  publications in reputable journals?
• Do the authors describe what they did, how they
  did it, and the weaknesses or biases that might
  be present in their findings? (Based on Fink,
  2005, pp.41-42)

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Rogers and Boueys schema for the literature
review process (in Grinnell, 1993)

• 1. Specifying the research question in
  searchable terms
• 2. Locating and accessing information
• 3. Evaluating the information
• 4. Organizing the information
• 5. Recording the information
• 6. Analyzing and synthesizing the information.

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FORMAT AND CONTENT OF THE LITERATURE REVIEW

• 1. CITE THE MAJOR THEMES FOUND IN THE
  LITERATURE
• 2. ORGANISE THE MAIN CONCEPTUAL RELATIONSHIPS
  AND DOCUMENT THEM WITH PREVIOUSLY REPORTED
  STUDIES.

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• 3. OFFER SOME CRITIQUE OF PREVIOUS WORK.
• 4. REPORT ON THE RANGE AND TYPE OF PROCEDURES
  USED IN CONDUCTING RESEARCH IN THE AREA.

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5. IDENTIFY IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY 6. NOTE THE GAPS FOUND IN
EXISTING LITERATURE. 7. INDICATE DIRECTIONS
FOR ADDITIONAL RESEARCH
STUDIES. (From G. Rogers E. Bouey, Appendix
A, Reviewing the Literature, in R. Grinnell
(ed.) 1993, p.399)
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The Writing of the Literature Review

• Points to bear in mind when doing this
• 1. The literature review should be like a
  funnel - it should start off broadly in
  terms of the problem area and gradually
  become more specific.
• 2. The literature review should have a clear
  and logical direction. Conclusions should be
  logical and justified.

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• 3. The topics of relevance to the research
  topic should be near the beginning of the
  review and there should be clear sub-headings
  for each topic
• 4. Quotations should only be used to support
  the researcher's own thinking and views, not
  be the entire literature review

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• 5. Do not give too much detail of others'
  studies.
• Only list major findings,
  conclusions, relevant methodological
  issues and methods.

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• 6. The researcher should be a guide only
  through the literature. Two extremes should
  be avoided
• 1) too much of the researcher's viewpoint can
  result in a selective and biased account of the
  literature, and
• 2) too little of the researcher in the review, so
  that it will appear to be a long quotation from
  others without adequate processing and thought
  (Yegidis and Weinbach, 2001, p.55).

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• Make sure that the early major classical studies
  in the field are included. But do not focus on
  the earliest studies at the exclusion of more
  current studies.
• Try to provide a balanced presentation.
  Acknowledge theories or explanations even if you
  do not agree with them.
• Construct the review so that the reader can
  easily follow what you are doing and will come
  away knowing the breadth of prior research and
  the gaps in the literature review.

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• There is an art in writing literature reviews
  that only comes with practice
• One of the most helpful ways to start is to read
  a range of literature reviews done by others and
  see how they do it. Learn from them.

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For the assessment essay

• Be critical and evaluative (do not just do a
  summary)
• Provide a synthesis and integration of the
  literature (do not just list them one by one)
• Have a clear structure
• Provide an introduction and a conclusion
• Do not cite any more than 10 works

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For the assessment essay

• Have a full bibliography (with citations using
  the style guide in the School Handbook)
• Have a list of keywords/descriptors you used in
  your search and
• A list of databases you searched

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• Remember to bring your two pieces of literature
  that you have found related to your chosen
  scenario topic to your tutorial today