Scribd
Upload
52 views13 pages

Locating and Reviewing The Literature

The document provides guidance on locating and reviewing literature for research. It outlines 5 key steps: 1) critically evaluating literature; 2) locating literature through academic libraries and databases using key search terms; 3) writing a literature review summarizing selected sources; 4) identifying key search terms; and 5) organizing literature notes and diagrams. Additional details are provided on identifying search terms, popular databases for education research, filtering search results, and using both primary and secondary sources.

Uploaded by

Adrian Flores
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
52 views13 pages

Locating and Reviewing The Literature

The document provides guidance on locating and reviewing literature for research. It outlines 5 key steps: 1) critically evaluating literature; 2) locating literature through academic libraries and databases using key search terms; 3) writing a literature review summarizing selected sources; 4) identifying key search terms; and 5) organizing literature notes and diagrams. Additional details are provided on identifying search terms, popular databases for education research, filtering search results, and using both primary and secondary sources.

Uploaded by

Adrian Flores
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 13

Locating and reviewing the

literature
5 STEPS
Critically evaluate and select the literature
for your review.

Locate literature about a topic by consulting


several types of materials and databases,
including those available at an academic
library and on the Internet.

Write a literature review that reports


summaries of the literature for inclusion in
your research report.

Identify key terms to use in your search for


literature.
Organize the literature you have selected by
abstracting or taking notes on the literature
and developing a visual diagram of it.
Reviewing the Literature

It starts well before the identification of the problem and goes on till
the researcher completes his or her research.

The researcher finds out various sources from where the relevant literature
related to the problem will be identified

It would validate the background/ need /justification for the research

Review of literature also finds out the gaps in the existing literature
Identify Key Terms
Narrow your topic to a few key terms using one or two words or short phrases.
Choose these carefully because they are important for initially locating
literature in a library or through an Internet search.

Strategies (Opinions?)

1. Write a preliminary “working title” for a project and select


two to three key words in the title that capture the central idea
of your study.

E.g.: Drama-Based Approach to develop the oral production of the


English language.
2. Pose a short, general research question that you would like
answered in the study.

E.g.: What characteristics of the Drama-Based Approach do


support the development of the oral production of the English
language?

3. Use words that authors report in the literature.


ESL EFL INSTRUCTION OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

TEFL TESL TESOL ELL


4. Look in a catalog of terms to find words that match your topic.
Visit online databases that are typically available in college or
university libraries.
TASK 1:

Total physical response for the development of the listening skill of


the English language.
Key terms?
General search question?

If you have to pay for scientific articles, what would you do?

5. Go to the bookshelves in a college or university library, scan the table of


contents of education journals from the last 7 to 10 years, and look for key
terms in titles to the articles.

https://sci-hub.se/
Locate Literature
• Access the Internet and exploring the electronic literature available on a topic

• Consider that not all literature posted on the Internet is reliable. Why?

• Some articles have not passed through standards of external reviews

The most popular databases among L2 meta-analysts have been:


The Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) http://www.eric.ed.gov)
American Psychological Association
http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psycinfo/index.aspx

ProQuest Dissertations and Theses https://www.proquest.com/


Locate Literature
Web of Science https://www.webofscience.com/wos/

https://www.base-search.net/

https://www.dimensions.ai/

https://www.uce.edu.ec/web/sib

https://scholar.google.com/

Academic peer-reviewed journal articles, books, chapter, conference


proceedings, research and technical reports, and dissertations and theses
Google Scholar Search Tips
Search Technique Examples
Quotation marks for phrases "student engagement”

OR in capitals for synonyms post-secondary OR "higher education" OR


university

intitle: limits next word or intitle:"active learning" assessment physics


phrase to title (no space after
colon)
Cited by and related articles Paste the title into GS as a phrase, and click
"Cited by" to see who else has cited the paper.

Create alert Use “Create alert” to run weekly GS searches


automatically once you have identified a
useful search string. Results are sent to your
email.
In reviewing journal articles, consider the following questions:
• What teaching and learning issue does the study address?
• Does it describe educational theories as a framework to understand the
research?
• Does it summarize previous relevant research in the field?
• Are the research methods appropriate? What other approaches might
have been used?
• Are the authors’ interpretations and conclusions believable?

Consider:
Validity: To what extent is the study a close representation of the truth?
Reliability: Are the results credible and repeatable?
Filtering the Literature: Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

Year of Publication

Origin of the Publication

Language

The number of times an article has been cited in the published


literature

ESL or EFL?
Use Both Primary and Secondary Sources

Primary source literature


It consists of literature reported by the individual(s) who actually
conducted the research or who originated the ideas. Research articles
published by educational journals are an example of this type of source.

Secondary source literature


It is literature that summarizes primary sources. It does not represent
material published by the original researcher or the creator of the idea.
Examples of secondary sources are handbooks, encyclopedias, and
select journals that summarize research, such as the Review of
Educational Research
Using this framework, you
might begin your search at
the bottom of the triangle
by consulting summaries of
research that synthesize
numerous studies on a topic
(secondary sources of
information). From these
broad summaries, you can
work your way up to journal
articles (primary sources)
and to “early stage”
literature found at the top

You might also like