Review of the Literature
Video:
http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/tutorials/lit-review/
The Literature Review is a synthesis of the existing knowledge on a particular topic that summarizes existing data and analyzes information supporting or refuting the objective of your Action Research project.
The purpose of the review is to analyze critically a segment of a published body of knowledge through summary, classification, and comparison of prior research studies, reviews of literature, and theoretical articles.
The review of Literature consists of peer-reviewed journal articles and research studies that support your intervention, tools, etc.
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This section includes at minimum of 6 current references that clearly supports best practices that relates to your study.
A literature review section is a discursive prose, not a list describing or summarizing one piece of literature after another. It is usually not appropriate to see every paragraph beginning with the name of the research. Instead, organize the literature review into sections that present themes or identify trends, including relevant theory. You are not trying to list all the material published, but to synthesize and evaluate it according to the guiding concept of your research question.
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The main topics that are identified should be APA Level 2 subheadings in this section. You may need Level 3 subheadings.
The Review of the literature consists of an introduction, body (with subheadings) and a summary (conclusion).
Writing the Introduction
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Define or identify the general topic, issue, or area of concern providing a context for the review.
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Point out overall trends; conflicts in theory, methodology, evidence, and conclusions; or gaps in research; or a single problem or new perspective.
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Establish the writer’s reason (point of view) for reviewing the literature; explain the criteria to be used in analyzing and comparing literature and the organization of the review (sequence); and, when necessary, state why certain literature is or is not included (scope).
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Writing the Body
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Group research studies and other types of literature (reviews, theoretical articles, case studies, etc.) according to common denominators such as qualitative versus quantitative approaches, conclusions of authors, specific purpose or objective, chronology, etc. using subheadings.
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Summarize individual studies or articles with as much or as little detail as each merits according to its comparative importance in the literature, remembering that space (length) denotes significance.
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Provide the reader with strong œumbrella sentences at beginnings of paragraphs, œsignposts throughout, and brief œso what summary sentences at intermediate points in the review to aid in understanding comparisons and analyses.
Writing the conclusion
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Summarize major contributions of significant studies and articles to the body of knowledge under review, maintaining the focus established in the introduction.
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Evaluate the current œstate of the art for the body of knowledge reviewed, pointing out major methodological flaws or gaps in research, inconsistencies in theory and findings, and areas or issues pertinent to future study.
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Conclude by providing some insight into the relationship between the central topic of the literature review and a larger area of study such as a discipline, a scientific endeavor, or a profession.
Getting Started
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Develop a list of keywords or search terms from your chosen area of focus
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Use EBSCO Host, ProQuest,
JSTOR or Education Leadership Review
to locate resources
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Search for peer-reviewed articles written in the last 10 years
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Gather more resources than you think you will need (20-25 articles)
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Create an APA formatted reference document to organize the resources
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Read, organize and synthesize the information into 3 relevant sub-topics
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Paraphrase each article in 2-3 sentences
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Note key points from each article that support the direction of your Action Plan and those that do not
Resources
http://www2.smumn.edu/deptpages/tclibrary/tutorials/finding/research_questions_document.pdf
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/literature-reviews/
http://ccar.wikispaces.com/Review+Literature
http://faculty.mwsu.edu/psychology/Laura.Spiller/Experimental/sample_apa_style_litreview.pdf
(This example needs subheadings)
http://library.fgcu.edu/RSD/Instruction/peerrev/peerev.html
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