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Sources of Information in This Digital Age

This document discusses sources of information for literature reviews in research. It identifies primary sources like interviews and surveys that contain original, unedited information. Secondary sources like books and journal articles may contain analyzed or interpreted information. Literature reviews are important for establishing the current state of knowledge in a field and identifying the next steps for a proposed study. They allow researchers to understand what has already been discovered, evaluate past studies, and validate their own assumptions. Literature reviews provide foundations for research proposals and help screening committees evaluate relevance and objectives. A variety of sources like databases, journals, and peer-reviewed articles can be accessed through libraries and online searches. The credibility of sources depends on factors like whether information is summarized accurately.

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Karris Jane Macarayan
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28 views17 pages

Sources of Information in This Digital Age

This document discusses sources of information for literature reviews in research. It identifies primary sources like interviews and surveys that contain original, unedited information. Secondary sources like books and journal articles may contain analyzed or interpreted information. Literature reviews are important for establishing the current state of knowledge in a field and identifying the next steps for a proposed study. They allow researchers to understand what has already been discovered, evaluate past studies, and validate their own assumptions. Literature reviews provide foundations for research proposals and help screening committees evaluate relevance and objectives. A variety of sources like databases, journals, and peer-reviewed articles can be accessed through libraries and online searches. The credibility of sources depends on factors like whether information is summarized accurately.

Uploaded by

Karris Jane Macarayan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Sources of Information

in This Digital Age


Linus Pauling said"The best way to have a good idea is to
have a lot of ideas."

Basically,literature search satisfies the functions of:


1.establishing what knowledge is available in the
field,and
2.determining the next logical step to create novel
facts.Developing an argument requires information
which is found in many forms of literature,An argument
may be classified as discovery or
advocacy(McEvoy,2009).
Discovery -deals with realizing the concepts already found
by other researchers in the field.It involves searching for
information and synthesizing what is relevant to a proposed
study.

Advocacy-focuses on understanding the limitations of past


studies.It requires objective evaluation and constructive
criticism in relation to whatever information is not merely
the acquisition of literature from any sources.
A researcher takes responsibility for:

*digging deeper into the extent of the knowledge that was


reported,

*checking the accuracy of that knowledge disseminated to


the public,and

*linking it to your proposed study


Functions of an Effective Literature Review
Review of literature is effective in providing firm
foundation to a proposal if it earns the nod of the screening
commitee of a funding institution,which will evaluate your
proposal.
This is especially true when applying for a research grant.
1.Updated reports and well-tracked chronologically events in
the scientific field as shown in your review of related
literature give the impression that the researcher has a
complete grasp of what is happening in that discipline.
2.An effective literature review avoids biases that may
influence the outcome of the proposed study.
Researchers have to rely on validated information and not
on preconceived judgement according to their own
undrestanding of the situation.
3.Comparing your thoughts with other research findings
will fortify your assertions;otherwise you need to look for
more data or information to validate and improve on your
assupmtions.From the point of view of the screening
committee members,a review of related literature will help
them see the relevance and objectives of a proposed
study,and decide whether to award a research grant or not.
Sources of Information

The 21st century has brought information technology to


unprecedented levels it has "shrunk"the world because
there's an overload of information to which
anyone,especially a researcher,can have access to.Literature
search may be undertaken either horizontally or vertically.
Sources of information can be classified as follows:
1.Primary sources- are those containing firsthand
information or those that have not been edited such as
transcripts and translations.Ex:Transcripts of interviews of
experts about a certain research topic,survey results
including questionnaires,observations derived from focus
group discussions,and others.
2.Secondary sources-are those that have been checked for
accuracy and proofread by other parties.These sources may
integrate annotations from another party other than the
interviewees.
Ex:books,websites,lectures and presentations,journal
articles,newspaper articles,indexes,databases,bibliographies,
and abstracts(Hocks,2009)
Interviews -can be done with an expert or any individual that
may have direct knowledge of the subject matter.Interview
questions have to be focused on what you tend to find
out.An interview can be done via e-mail,over the phone ,or
in person .

Survey-on the other hand is a more formal means of


acquiring informationIt enables the researcher to acquire
both qualitative and quatitativeinformation
a far cry from an interview in which quantitative information
is limited.But like an interview, a survey can be administered
online,in person, or over the telephone.
Peer reviewing-is done by the editors of these publication
groups or experts known in their field or discipline.
The peer reviewers evaluatethe scientific merit of the
study,the reliability and appropriatness of the methods
employed,the correctness of the interpretation of data ,and
the overall impact on the contribution of the study to
existing knowledge.
Journal articles-contain an abstract or a section that
summarizes the content of the paper including significant
findings .Example of journal articles is Macromolecules is
one of the many publictions of the ACS.
Databases-are online repositories of various sources of
information.Examples are PubChem,ProQuest,Medline,Web
of Science,PubMed Central,MSDSonline,Google,and
Directory of Open Access Journals.But access to these
sources of information requires subscription
unless free access is explicitly indicated.

How Do You Conduct a Literature Search?


A researcher can simply go to a library or use the internet
through which information can be accessed within the
comforts of one's home or anywhere by simply using
smartphones,tablets,and laptops.Through Wifi connection
one has only to type keywords or index terms to retrieve
information from a catalog,database,or any search engine.
Which Sources Are Credible?
In evaluatin your sources,you must have read the abstract
or the summary of each material.The abstract consists of
condensed information what the study is aboout,the
research problem,the methodologies used and the results of
the study.
The credibility of the sources may be evaluated using the
following criteria::

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