The following pages have been selected

from a useful website consisting of online

resources for students carrying out and
writing about research. It was produced
by the Flexible Learning Centre of the
University of South Australia.

At various points in the text, you are

invited to download files – ignore this as
the files have already been downloaded
and form part of the text.

Pages 1 – 8 consist of the information

pages, the rest of the document link up to
these 13 pages as they represent the
practice side and consequently require
working out.

1
Planning the ‘shape’ of your review of literature

• Think of the major components in your research study (these

should reflect your ‘Triad of major elements’ and will also
appear in your title). (The 'Triad of major elements’ is a
planning sheet as a downloadable Word file under 'Choosing
your topic: What topic'.)
• Group together the readings that belong to each component.
Using 'Booknotes' (a planning sheet in the downloadable Word
file 'Reading' above) or an equivalent system for notemaking
can be very helpful at this stage. Simply put the relevant
'Booknotes' sheets in appropriate piles.
• Draw a diagram of the theoretical frameworks represented by
each group. This will probably look like a mind-map or flow
chart for each component.
• Draw another diagram to show how you will synthesise the
ideas emerging from each group. How will you make the
connections and draw all the components together with your
own voice?
• Work out your own logical sequence for the readings that you
have so far. How will you use this sequence to argue why your
research fills a certain gap in the field? A literature review
usually homes in on the 'gap' by moving all the time from the
broad to the specific. This is unless you have good reason to
simply 'list' a variety of models or approaches, or to give a
chronological outline. Remember that different sections of your
review may by shaped differently for different reasons.
• Write a mock 'Table of contents' for your review in which the
outline of your argument can plainly be seen to underlie your
presentation of components.

The following are planning sheets, available as a downloadable Word 6

file planshap:

• Main thread of argument

• Purpose leads to structure leads to sequence

Steps to sequencing your review of literature

Sequencing choices can be applied equally well to the whole review of

literature, or to any of its parts - that is, at whole text level, section
level or even paragraph level.

1. From a mind-map or similar ‘overview’ technique, identify the

main unifying theoretical or thematic factors which categorise
each set of ten or less readings. Name these ‘ideas’ for use as
headings or subheadings. (See the planning sheet as a
downloadable Word file under 'Choosing your topic: What
topic?: 'Topic mind-map' or above under 'Conceptualising:
Relative placement of items read: 'Literature mind-map'),
2. Decide on the best sequence for the items within each set in

2
established a reading list, or a selection of items to find, each associated with an identifiable
concept. Use the planning sheet 'The literature search' to get started on this.

Once you have a document in your hand (or on the screen), the skills of reading for meaning
become very important, so that you derive the most value from each reading opportunity,
without spending too much
time on the task.

You will have a great deal to read. The planning sheet 'Booknotes' is designed to help you to
retain reference details, key words, a summary, your critical comments, exact quotations, and
comparisons with other authors for every item that you read. Later, it can be used to find a
sequence for the items you will review in this chapter.

Similarly, 'Keeping notes and records' gives you some suggestions on how to read with focus
and clarity while you have the book or article with you, and to keep the kind of records that
will be most useful to you when reviewing the whole body of literature.

Finally, you will find a few practical suggestions about 'Organising your resources'.

How to use the 'Booknotes' planning sheet

You may well be familiar with bibliographic data base programs such as 'Endnote' or
RefCard. Several such programs are commercially available, and many academics find them
invaluable in terms of being orderly, easy to use and enormously time-saving in creating
reference lists and footnotes. Most will allow you to customise sets of references using
certain selected formats and conventions, so that it is quite possible to enter each record only
once, then to use it in countless situations in combination with others. It is likely that you
already have access to such a program through your Faculty or the library pools. If you use a
word processor, you are certainly urged to investigate. Meanwhile, 'Booknotes' is a planning
sheet version of a similar system; it can be very useful indeed either for those times when you
are reading and note-taking away from the computer (in a library, on the bus), or as a
complete filing system in itself.

Use the three 'Category' boxes at the top of the 'Booknotes' planning sheet to devise a system
that works for you. You may like to consider:
Category 1
A number to identify each item read, ascribed in simple consecutive sequence. Keep
an associated 'master' list on which to jot down the brief details of each item as it is
read. By dating the master list every so often, you should be able to re-find articles
that you read some time ago, simply by thinking about the approximate time when
you first read and recorded them, or by looking up related articles that you know you
were reading at the time.
Category 2
Devise your own 'Dewey System' by making conscious divisions in your own general
course area, and ascribing a number from 1-9 to each. You can then make a decision
while reading the article that it is best associated with this or that category of
knowledge. This keeps much of your organising energy in use at the time of reading,
which is far more efficient than making such decisions on another occasion. Once an
article 'belongs' in a certain category, it is a simple matter to attach a 'Booknotes' sheet
to a photocopy which can then be physically filed, in alphabetical order by author, in a
folder bearing the category number.

3
 Category 3
As an academic, you are bound to develop greater expertise in your area as you
advance in your studies and in your profession. There will be several occasions when
you will want to refer to readings in your field, and it is quite possible that you will
base academic papers, presentations or assignments of your own on articles you have
on record. This category allows you to make a note of the use you have put this item
to - for example, the name and date of a conference, journal or assignment.

For further ideas about completing a 'Booknotes' planning sheet, see the planning sheet
'Keeping notes and records, and below: 'Organising your resources' (which is also
incorporated into the Word file for
this subsection as a planning sheet).

Organising your resources

What have you done in the past to keep good systematic records?
- Did it always work?
- Is it sufficient for this new stage of learning?

How are other systems organised that you know of?

- List appropriate record systems that you know of

What sort of information will you be dealing with?

Program notes - per course Planning - per course?

course guide ideas as they arise
study guide instructions as they arise
lectures schedules, priorities and time
allocation
tutorials logs for results and other data
collection
seminar presentations journal for reflections on your own
learning
'Next' look for lists of things to be done
Reading matter and other input
books Internet
journals Radio
reports TV
media articles personal communication

What is essential to record?

• book: author, date of publication, title, publisher, place of publication

• journal: author of article, date of publication, title of article, name of journal, volume
and number, page numbers of article
• chapter: author of chapter, date of publication, title of chapter, name of source book,
editor(s), publisher, place of publication
• Always keep details, especially page numbers of direct quote from any source.

How are records best kept?

4
 • paper/computer files and folders
• database style
• 'Booknotes'
• classification/category system
• index - retrieval mechanism

Start designing three systems for yourself:

1 Program notes
2 Reading matter
3 Planning

Planning sheets for 'Reading'

In summary, the following are the relevant planning sheets available as a downloadable Word
6 file reading:

• The literature search

• Reading for meaning
• Booknotes
• Keeping notes and records
• Organising your resources

Conceptualising
You may well have been told by your supervisor or lecturer that a review of literature should
not be a simple list describing one research study after another with no sense of cohesion and
no clear links drawn between them. This is quite true, and there is a world of qualitative
difference between such a review, and another in which the reviewer's underlying intention is
made explicit - not only through the selection of items, but in the criteria for grouping items,
their sequence for presentation, and in the depth of analytical and critical commentary
accompanying each group. You may find it an overwhelming prospect to deal in such a way
with all of the items of literature you have read so far.

What you need is a sound organising principle which will allow you to control the grouping
and sequencing of items and commentary. This gives your reader the opportunity to 'read' the
literature as if through your mind as the current researcher, and thereby to share your
understanding of existing theory and practice in the field, as the setting for your research.

So this section offers you a series of planning sheets which help you to:

1. establish the most effective grouping, for your purpose, of items in the literature
2. make conceptual decisions for individual items which thereby establish the polarities
and dichotomies existing between items, and so identify the notional parameters for
each related group of items
3. find a framework for various levels of understanding, and a method for plotting
academic authority amongst writers in your field

5
Relative placement of items read

Your first task in drawing together the many items of literature you wish to write about is to
think of each one as associated with a certain idea, model, theoretical perspective, historical
thread or other specified feature. The planning sheet 'The literature mind-map' invites you to
enter each item, identified by its simple author/date designation - for example, (Smith 1988) -
within the framework of a series of related boxes or circles.

Next, you are asked to work through the 'Combination of ideas map' in order to identify the
focus of several research studies relative to your own research design.

From these two maps you should begin to mesh together conceptually the grouping you have
set up; you will be working on the whole 'big picture' while contemplating the shared and
unique features of its parts.

The following planning sheets are a downloadable Word 6 file relplace:

• The literature mind-map

• Combination of ideas map

Fine lines: identifying schools of thought in your field

Once you have identified your field and its literature, you are asked in 'Polarity poles' to
consider the extremities of thought in the area, and the authors who espouse opposing
viewpoints. This can be done for any number of concepts, and then you can find the points of
junction of several poles by drawing up a 'Polarity web'. Taking the idea even further, the
'Polarity features map' helps you to spatially organise groups of items relative to each other as
the next step towards building up your final sequence ready for the writing up stage.

The following planning sheets are a downloadable Word 6 file fineline:

• Polarity poles
• Polarity web
• Polarity features map

Critical analysis

You may frequently be asked to ‘respond critically’ to the academic writing of others, and
even though you may form a critical opinion without difficulty, it is not always easy to write
precisely about your thoughts. The following planning sheets may give you some new
frameworks on which to base your thinking and your written responses at a critical level. The
'Critical analysis quadrant' helps you to analyse the comparative credibility of authors in your
field, and the planning sheet 'Ways of seeing: literal, lateral, critical, speculative' makes very
clear distinctions as to the depth of our interrogation of knowledge at any one time.

The following planning sheets are a downloadable Word 6 file critical:

• Critical analysis quadrant

• Ways of seeing: literal, lateral, critical, speculative

6
 Shaping
Having identified the conceptual frameworks represented in the literature you have read, the
next step is to 'shape' these into a review chapter which will fit meaningfully into your whole
report or thesis.

As a starting point, you are shown three alternative structures which are commonly used,
each displaying a certain logic for different purposes. You are invited to consider using these
frameworks either alone or in combination. Depending on what you wish to achieve in your
review of literature or any one section of it, you may like to consider some common
structures for the presentation of your body of literature.

Alternative structures

Depending on what you wish to achieve in your review of literature or any one section of it,
you may like to consider some common structures for the presentation of your body of
literature. You are invited to complete planning sheets which may help you to determine
which of your readings would be best presented in terms of 'Historical development' and
which as 'Consecutive approaches of equivalent weight'. A most useful structure is the
'Conceptual spiral: broad to narrow', in which you lead your reader from a broad brush
appreciation of the topic, equivalent to background information, and move gradually in
towards the heart of the problem which you wish to address in your research. It is most likely
that you will wish to 'Create your own combination' of all these approaches, and the final
planning sheet in this section, 'Sequencing chart', helps you to design a structure that is most
likely to achieve your purpose in this chapter.

The following planning sheets are a downloadable Word 6 file altstr:

• Historical development
• Consecutive approaches of equivalent weight
• Conceptual spiral: broad to narrow
• Create your own combination

Planning the ‘shape’ of your review of literature

• Think of the major components in your research study (these should reflect your
‘Triad of major elements’ and will also appear in your title). (The 'Triad of major
elements’ is a planning sheet as a downloadable Word file under 'Choosing your topic:
What topic'.)
• Group together the readings that belong to each component. Using 'Booknotes' (a
planning sheet in the downloadable Word file 'Reading' above) or an equivalent
system for notemaking can be very helpful at this stage. Simply put the relevant
'Booknotes' sheets in appropriate piles.
• Draw a diagram of the theoretical frameworks represented by each group. This will
probably look like a mind-map or flow chart for each component.
• Draw another diagram to show how you will synthesise the ideas emerging from each
group. How will you make the connections and draw all the components together with
your own voice?

7
 • Work out your own logical sequence for the readings that you have so far. How will
you use this sequence to argue why your research fills a certain gap in the field? A
literature review usually homes in on the 'gap' by moving all the time from the broad
to the specific. This is unless you have good reason to simply 'list' a variety of models
or approaches, or to give a chronological outline. Remember that different sections of
your review may by shaped differently for different reasons.
• Write a mock 'Table of contents' for your review in which the outline of your
argument can plainly be seen to underlie your presentation of components.

The following are planning sheets, available as a downloadable Word 6 file planshap:

• Main thread of argument

• Purpose leads to structure leads to sequence

Steps to sequencing your review of literature

Sequencing choices can be applied equally well to the whole review of literature, or to any of
its parts - that is, at whole text level, section level or even paragraph level.

1. From a mind-map or similar ‘overview’ technique, identify the main unifying

theoretical or thematic factors which categorise each set of ten or less readings. Name
these ‘ideas’ for use as headings or subheadings. (See the planning sheet as a
downloadable Word file under 'Choosing your topic: What topic?: 'Topic mind-map'
or above under 'Conceptualising: Relative placement of items read: 'Literature mind-
map'),
2. Decide on the best sequence for the items within each set in order to best illustrate its
theme. You may want to :

• relate a historical narrative or chronological sequence of ideas or events

• present a series of equivalent but different perspectives, models, approaches or
methods
• move from the broad identification of a theme to an investigation of specific
examples of it

3. Decide on essential points of comparison, points of departure, comments on validity,

reliability, or any other features that you wish to point out, either in a single item, or in
relation to several at once.
4. Write an introductory paragraph which allows the reader to form an overview of the
main area you are investigating and the main points you are making. Remember, the
reader may be coming across your ideas for the first time, so make them very clear
and explicit. Mention each of the allied readings by author/date, or by number,
grouped (in brackets) in the order in which you will write about them.
5. Proceed to devote one paragraph or section to each main theme identified in your
introductory paragraph. Identify its essential feature(s) in the opening sentence, and
reiterate the groups of writers associated with this idea. Begin to show which writers
take which positions along certain binary dimensions (see above as a downloadable
Word file under 'Conceptualising: Fine lines: 'Polarity poles').

• Who are the chief proponents of the extreme positions?

• Who has formed a schism group?

8
 • Who has set the pendulum in reactive motion?
• Which relevant current theories and paradigms have influenced each writer’s
perspective?
• Which research can be held in great authority, and which can be disputed?
Why?

It is usual to build up each section towards those authors and previous research closest in
some fashion to your own. For instance, you could conclude with an author whose work is in
the same area, but falls short of your study’s intentions. Thus, you can show that you are
following an existing line of inquiry. Or you could end with an author whose claims you wish
to refute with your study.

6. Sequence this chapter with the whole text in mind, and gradually work to a point
towards the end of the review where you can show the reader where the research gap
exists that you now wish to meet with this study. Your concluding section of the
review should again take up the topic presented in the introductory chapter, but now
you have given the reader very much greater understanding of the issues, and so they
should be in support of your decision to focus on your specific research topic.

The following is a planning sheet, available as a downloadable Word 6 file sequc:

• Sequencing chart

Reading
Contents

9
The literature search 2
Reading for meaning 3
Booknotes 5
Keeping notes and records 8
Organising your resources 10

10
The literature search
No Broad concept Authors to include Located? Obtained? Read? Notes
?

11
 Reading for meaning
1. Read in order to answer questions you have already formed in your mind.

2. Select and reject material so that you do not end up reading everything in sight and
becoming overwhelmed.

3. Use titles, headings, subheadings and topic sentences to glance through the text to
find out what it covers in broad terms first.

4 Guess the meanings of words rather than slow yourself down by using a dictionary
during the first reading.

5. Go back and read more slowly and thoroughly for clarification of detail. Only do this
if you need to know the details or wish to reassure yourself that you have covered the
topic sufficiently.

Reading effectively

Before you open the text:

• What do you expect to read inside? Write down three things

*........................................................................................................

……………………………………………….................................................................

*........................................................................................................

…………………………………………………….............................................................

*........................................................................................................

……………………………………………………
…..........................................................

• What questions may be answered? Write down three things

*........................................................................................................

……………………………………………….................................................................

*........................................................................................................

…………………………………………………….............................................................

*........................................................................................................

……………………………………………………
…..........................................................

12
Check that you have all the reference details straight away.

Look on the back of the internal title page.

• How recent is the text?
• What are the implications of this?

*.................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................

• From which country is the text?

• What are the implications?

*.................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................

*.................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................

• What features do you notice about the presentation and layout of the text?
• What are the implications for readability?

*.................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................

*.................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................

• Check on the scope of the text

The 'Table of contents' will tell you of the structure and general arrangement of the material.

Comment.....................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................

The 'Index' will tell you what sort of details are included.

Comment.....................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................

13
 'Booknotes'

You may well be familiar with bibliographic data base programs such as 'Endnote' or
RefCard. Several such programs are commercially available, and many academics find them
invaluable in terms of being orderly, easy to use and enormously timesaving in creating
reference lists and footnotes. Most will allow you to customise sets of references using
certain selected formats and conventions, so that it is quite possible to enter each record only
once, then to use it in countless situations in combination with others. It is likely that you
already have access to such a program through your Faculty or the library pools. If you use a
word processor, you are certainly urged to investigate. Meanwhile, 'Booknotes' is a planning
sheet version of a similar system; it can be very useful indeed either for those times when you
are reading and notetaking away from the computer (in the library, on the bus), or as a
complete filing system in itself.

Use the three 'Category' boxes at the top of the 'Booknotes' planning sheet to devise a
system that works for you. You may like to consider:

Category 1 A number to identify each item read, ascribed in simple consecutive

sequence.
Keep an associated 'Master' list on which to jot down the brief details
of each item as it is read. By dating the Master list every so often, you
should be able to re-find articles that you read some time ago, simply
by thinking about the approximate time when you first read and
recorded them, or by looking up related articles that you know you
were reading at the time.

Category 2 Devise your own 'Dewey System' by making conscious divisions in

your own general subject area, and ascribing a number from 1-9 to
each. You can then make a decision while reading the article that it is
best associated with this or that category of knowledge. This keeps
much of your organising energy in use at the time of reading, which is
far more efficient than making such decisions on another occasion.
Once an article 'belongs' in a certain category, it is a simple matter to
attach a 'Booknotes' sheet to a photocopy which can then be physically
filed, in alphabetical order by author, in a folder bearing the category
number.

Category 3 As an academic, you are bound to develop greater expertise in your

area as you advance in your studies and in your profession. There will
be several occasions when you will want to refer to readings in your
field, and it is quite possible that you will base academic papers,
presentations or assignments of your own on articles you have on
record. This category allows you to make a note of the use you have
put this item to, for example, the name and date of a Conference,
Journal or assignment.

For further ideas about completing a 'Booknotes' planning sheet, please also see the
following planning sheets 'Keeping notes and records' and 'Organising your resources'.

14
15
 'Booknotes'
To record bibliographic details and notes on reference material

Category 1…………...………… Category 2 ……………… Category 3 ………………....

… …..…

Author(s)

Date Dewey
Number
Book Title Publisher Place

Chapter Title Number Page Range

Source book Title Publisher Place

Article Title

Journal Volume Number Page range

Electronic document Title Internet Other ID

address

Key words

Main points/arguments/ideas

Your comments

16
Exact quotations Page
(identical wording and punctuation within inverted commas) number

Related authors and ideas

Name Date Point of agreement or dispute

17
 Keeping notes and records
1. Select a passage from a book or journal or paper of your choice.

2. Use a 'Booknotes' sheet to record the reference details of the text.

(author, title, date, publisher, place of publication, etc.)

3. Spend a few minutes writing down some 'preview' thoughts below:

What is the text likely to be about?

................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................

Are there any unusual features that come to notice immediately?

................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................

What do you already know about the topic?

................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................

What questions do you have about the topic?

................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................

18
4. Skimming:
Look through the passage once, very quickly.

Notice the organisation of the text; headings, subheadings, topic sentences

(usually the first sentence of each paragraph).

Read the introduction and conclusion, and identify some of the main points
being made.

Write down a brief name or sentence which represents the main points discovered
so far:

*.................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................

*.................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................

*.................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................

*.................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................

*.................................................................................................................

5. Skipping
Read through once to gain a general sense of the passage. Do not read
slowly and laboriously, but 'skip' from point to point. This is easier to do after
the skimming process.

6. Write down any difficult vocabulary and look it up in at least one dictionary:

*.................................................................................................................

*.................................................................................................................

*.................................................................................................................

*.................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................

19
7. Scanning
Let your eyes move systematically over the passage until they find each of
the words that you wrote down in your vocabulary list. Try this again and find
the words more quickly. This is an excellent reading exercise because it
compels you to read in 'search mode' which leads to greater comprehension
overall.

8. On the 'Booknotes' sheet, write down, or draw a diagram and describe the
contents of the passage in the smallest possible space. This means you
have to specify and compress the main points in logical relationship with
each other. Make sure all main points are covered, and do not include
subsidiary details. A diagram or flow chart is often very useful at this stage.

9. Put the text aside and, using only the 'Booknotes' sheet for reference,
write:

* another version of the same passage in your own words,

answering the question 'what is covered in this passage?'
Use separate paper and attach to the 'Booknotes' sheet.

* your personal comment on the content of the passage,

answering the question 'so what?'

10. Check back with the original passage that your version corresponds with
the main points outlined in the original. Only read the passage again more
thoroughly if you feel that you have missed some basic idea or meaning from
the text.

20
 Organising your resources
1. What have you done in the past to keep good systematic
records?
Did it always work?
Is it sufficient for this new stage of learning?

2. How are other systems organised that you know of?

- list appropriate record systems that you know of

3. What sort of information will you be dealing with?

Course notes - per subject Planning (per subject?)

subject guide Ideas as they arise
study guide Instructions as they arise
lectures Schedules, priorities and time
allocation
tutorials Logs for results and other data collection
seminar presentations Journal for reflections on your own learning
'Next' book for lists of things to be done

Reading matter and other input

books journals
media articles reports
Internet other electronic media
TV programs personal communication
What is essential to record?
book author journal author of article chapter author of chapter
date of publication date of publication date of publication
title title of article title of chapter
publisher name of journal name of source
book
place of publication volume and number editor(s)
page numbers of article publisher
place of publication

always keep details especially page numbers of direct quotes from any source

4. How are records best kept?

paper/computer files and folders
database style
'Booknotes'
classification/category system
index - retrieval mechanism

5. Start designing three systems for yourself

1. Course notes
2. Reading matter
3. Planning

21
Relative placement of items read

Contents

The literature mind-map 2

Combination of ideas map 3

22
 The literature mind-map
For this and subsequent mind-mapping exercises, you may like to use the
Drawing Toolbar in Word to add further 'Text Boxes' to receive new groups of
entries. The icon ‘Text Box’ is the sixth button in the Drawing Toolbar. These
boxes can be moved and re-sized to suit the growth of your map which will give
you greater flexibility in clustering items. (If you do not have the Drawing
Toolbar open in Word, go to View/Toolbars in the menu and tick 'Drawing'.

Of course, for all these planning sheets, you can always substitute a pencil and a
clean sheet of paper!

What is your topic? Date……………

Write a word or brief phrase here

................................................................................................................
This is your Topic Label.

1. Locate the Text Box in the middle of the space below (or draw a circle in the
middle of a clean piece of paper).

2. Write down your Topic Label in the middle of the central box or circle.

3. Within the box or circle, under or around the Topic Label, add the author/date
references for key central figures on this topic.

4. Subdivide your topic and use up to six subsidiary boxes or circles around the
original, each with an appropriate heading. If you have too many subtopics,
find a higher order label and merge topics to reduce the number.
5. Keep subdividing, and add new Topic Labels and appropriate key author/date
entries to each subdivision. Repeat names in different areas if you wish. Aim
for accurate placement, so that your mind-map will reflect the complexity of
your original topic.

23
 Combination of ideas map
Go back to the Major elements triad to remind yourself of the three
main elements in your research. There is likely to be a subject or
sample, a context or process, and one or more variables. You may
find that the research studies you wish to include bear a particular
relevance to one of these areas, and this could have influenced your
choice of research design.

In the diagram below, add appropriate author/date references to each

circle and subdivision, noting common factors or linking ideas with brief
Topic Labels as necessary.

Subject
or
sample

Variables:
perceived or Context
measurable or
effects process

24
Fine lines: identifying schools of thought in your
field

Contents
Polarity poles 2
Polarity web 4
Polarity features map 6

25
 Polarity poles
This planning sheet considers extremes of thought and opposing perspectives.

Extreme view A
What is the most extreme viewpoint you have come across in this Topic

…………………………………………………………………………………………………
………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………
………

Who are the key proponents? (Write down the author/date references)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………
………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………
………

Assign a short Topic Label to this view (no more than 5 words)

…………………………………………………………………………………..This is view A

Extreme view B
What is the exact opposite view?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

Who are the key proponents? (Write down the author/date references)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

Assign a short Topic Label to this view (no more than 5 words)

…………………………………………………………………………………This is View B

26
Polarity pole…………………………………………………….Date……………

(assign a unique number or other reference to each polarity pole as you draw it up).

Restate the extremes for which you want to construct a Polarity pole.

View A……………………………………………………………………………………………

................................................................................................................

View B……………………………………………………………………………………………

................................................................................................................

1. Ascribe these two viewpoints to the A and B positions at each end of the pole
below: Ascribe a position of moderate compromise or synthesis to the C
position. The line A-B represents a dimension of polarity, expressing a
continuum of thinking along one specific focus area in your discipline.

2. Type in the associated key proponents (author/date references) at either

extreme.

3. Add more names/dates along the continuum until you have a picture of
those authors who have contributed to this debate, and you can identify who
holds the approximate middle ground on this dimension.

Repeat the above exercise for any polarity that you can think of. Try to repeat names,
and take note when this does happen because it may provide a useful crossing point.

27
 Polarity web

Here you are asked to link together a number of related 'Polarity poles' in order to appreciate
the conceptual complexity of your body of literature, and to discover the relationships
between items that are of most interest in structuring your review.

When you have completed a number of 'Polarity poles', make a record of them in the table
below.

Polarity pole Conceptual dichotomy represented Authors/dates included

name
poles date
eg A-B

Keep this record for use in structuring your review of literature. It may give you some ideas
for clustering items you wish to present.

28
Using the Drawing Toolbar (or a pencil and a clean piece of paper), draw each of your related
poles crossing each other in different directions, attached by the crossing points (that is,
where an author/date reference is to be found on more than one pole), to form a web of poles.
You decide on the directions of each pole, depending on its topic's relative association with
others. Your pole web may look something like this:

D K B

A Waring
Green et
96
al 96 Y
G
Chan 94
Long & Li
95 Jones
J 97
Smith
88

E H

Note here any poles which do not seem to attach in the pole web at all. You may need to deal
with these in a section of their own
………………………….………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

29
 Polarity features map
Here is another planning sheet which may help you to organise the items you have read into
useful clusters for your review of literature.

Complete the mind-map below using your Polarity poles and Polarity web from previous
planning sheets. This can be used as often as you want to establish and affirm your key theme
and to help you decide how best to present this theme in your review.

Place the key feature in the centre and add pole designations (eg A-B) and authors/dates
along each pole, taking the crossing points as the position taken by the same author on
different polarities.
What are the subsidiary features (main concepts/theories/approaches/developments) that you
wish to cover in this section? Attach each on (up to four) to the central theme, taking care of
their placement relative to each other. A

D
C E

30
For each subsidiary feature, enter a Topic Label, and notice where the central line and
subsidiary pole lines cross. This is a crossing point where one author has a position in more
that one polarity debate. Write in as many authors/dates as you can across the entire diagram,
using the crossing position on each circle as a centre from which to cluster or radiate
appropriate names. Think carefully about each item before deciding on its position.
Remember, there is no correct way - another diagram may present the same names in quite a
different way - depending on the central theme.

Now think about the review of literature chapter.

Which themes do you wish to focus on?

Which themes should be given most weight (list in order of importance).

Where should the most rigorous and detailed analysis be applied?

What is your preferred sequence?

Why?

Your comments and conclusions as to the content of your review of literature:

31
Critical analysis

Contents

Critical analysis quadrant 2

Ways of seeing: literal, lateral, critical, speculative 4

32
 Critical analysis quadrant
Can you believe everything you read? Are experts always right? What makes us take more
notice of one academic writer and less of another? What makes a scholarly, rigorous, piece of
research, and what makes research findings weak or strong; valid or lacking in evidence? You
will probably have an idea about those authors who are highly respected in your field, and
those who are as yet uncontested. You will also be familiar with the debates and disputes
played out over time in journals in which one or more authors do contest the claims or
question the position or perspective of another. This is all aimed at maintaining the integrity
of academics, so that we have a mechanism by which to question and affirm the basic validity
of the research process.

This planning sheet allows you to plot the authors you will be reviewing on a 'credibility'
quadrant from which you may form your own critical opinion and make a comparative
evaluation of the players in your body of literature. The exercise will help you write effective
critiques through having to form an opinion of the academic integrity of the authors in your
field.

Work from a copy of your Literature mind-map and Polarity webs. You may wish to draw
up one quadrant for each topic. Choose to work directly on screen, or print off the blank
quadrant for multiple copies which you could complete in your own handwriting.

Which of the authors in your field are beyond scholarly reproach?

Who would you call acknowledged authorities in their field?
Which authors lack rigour, or oppose the conventional or dominant positions on this topic?

Taking each author in turn, consider what you know of their writing and their research,
and place their names/dates according to your views within the quadrant below. On a
separate sheet, note down why you have put each author in this position.
AUTHORITATIVE

RIGOROUS UNSCHOLARLY

UNTESTED

33
Note down why you have put each author in their position on the 'Credibility quadrant'

AUTHOR(S) Date of Reasons for decision

publication

34
 Ways of seeing: literal, lateral, critical, speculative
There are several levels of understanding that can be applied to any piece of knowledge. The
table below helps you to work through four of these levels, Literal, lateral, critical and
speculative. At the first or Literal level, we understand and report exactly what is presented
at face value. If we go any deeper, into the Lateral level, we are likely to put the presented
item into context by surrounding it with associated facts and ideas. So far, we accept what we
see, and our understanding maintains neutrality, but as soon as we enter the Critical level, we
and evaluate and question what we know. There is often a value system behind our
judgements, which is best made explicit. Finally, at the Speculative level, we reach the limits
of curiosity and inquiry, where rationale and justification for further research must draw on
all previous understandings. In fact, each level draws on the previous level(s). We cannot go
any further until the item has been presented as is, and we cannot make critical judgements
until we see the item in context. The table below should help you to be aware of these levels,
and the exercise following may give you the opportunity to apply what you have discovered.

Depth of analysis
Literal
Reading the lines
Answering the question ... Making the statement ...
A description
A definition
What? Where? This actually happened
Who? When? This is the case
Who with? This is what we have here
What with? No-one can dispute the facts
surrounding this item,
characteristic, idea or event

Lateral How? What for? An interpretation

Meaning what? The context
Reading between the What response? A construction
lines What then? With reference to ...
Who says? - for this reason
Why so? - in this way
What else was going on? - with this result
Who saw it differently? It's message was ...
How else? Response to it was ...
It can be compared with ...

Critical Was it good? Why? Why not? An evaluation

How good? How bad? These aspects are good or bad ...
Reading beyond the Was it original? These are the criteria for
lines How useful? judgment ...
Did it work? Why? Why not? This is its ideology ...
Where does it come from? This is my ideology ...
On what authority? These stakeholders are affected
Is it true? Valid? Reliable? by it
Of what real value is it? It did/did not it reach its own
What impact does it have? objectives because ...
In whose best interests It is/is not worthwhile because
Who is it for? ...

35
 How well?
How worthy?
Why bother?
So what?
A creative leap
Speculative Could it happen differently This ... could be changed
What's needed? These other approaches could
Reading beyond the How otherwise? be tried
page What next? This ... must be investigated
What leads on from here? This ... can be predicted
Will it advance or regress? This ... will improve matters
What if? This direction is interesting
How I wonder ... This inquiry will be fruitful
We will be able to ...

Below is a set of concentric circles in the middle of which can be placed any item or idea for
analysis at the four levels of understanding. Try placing one of the following words at the
centre, and think carefully about that item or idea at each of the levels. Record your responses
within the appropriate circle, and, when you have added all you can think of, try to decide
whether you now have a clearer understanding not only of the item or idea, but also of the
processes of understanding.
cup weather monarchy interference dog furniture validity shop heat
emotion

Any item
or idea

Literal

Lateral

Critical
36
Speculative
Alternative structures

Contents

Historical development 2
Consecutive approaches of equivalent weight 3
Conceptual spiral: broad to narrow 4
Create your own combination 5

37
 Historical development
Under each of the following broad headings, write down the authors/dates which you would
like to associate with each category:

Early developments

Short-lived developments

Developments of long-term significance

Recent

Current

Projected

38
 Consecutive approaches of equivalent weight
Use the guidelines below to organise the author/date units in a way that suits your
presentation of a series of concepts, areas or approaches or other subtopics in a
straightforward consecutive sequence. You may like to use the quadrant offered by each
diagram to cluster the items according to some of the poles (eg A-B) you explored and/or
constructed in Fine lines: identifying schools of thought in your field. For this exercise,
you may either enter names directly on the screen in a 'Text Box' (use the Drawing Toolbar
(go to the menu bar/View/Toolbars and tick Drawing), or you could print out the sheet and
add items by hand.

Concept or subtopic 1……………………………………….………………………………

….…..

Concept or subtopic 2……………………………………….………………………………

….…..

Concept or subtopic 3……………………………………….………………………………

….…..

39
 Conceptual spiral: broad to narrow
Starting at the top left corner of the spiral, and moving in a clockwise direction, enter first the
Broad topic area covered in this spiral … (you can use this planning sheet for as many
topics as you like) At Number 1, enter your broadest Topic Label, and add an appropriate
name/date to represent a key proponent in this area. Repeat the process by entering a new
Topic Label and associated proponent in each of the remaining 11 positions. Move from
broad, general readings at Number 1, inwards toward more specific items which come closer
by degrees to the heart of your own research question.

Broad topic area covered in this spiral ... 1 topic

star
1 proponent

4 5
4 5

8 9
8 9

11
11

Research Focus

12
12

10
10

7 6
7 6

3 2
3 2

40
 Create your own combination
In the space below, draw up an appropriate diagrammatic or written summary of the 'shape' of
your proposed Review of Literature. You may like this to take the form of a Flow Chart
which moves from section to section of the chapter and indicates the proposed structure for
each section (eg, historical development, consecutive concepts or wide to narrow spiral).

41
Planning the 'shape' of your review of literature

Contents

Main thread of argument 2

Purpose leads to structure leads to sequence 4

42
 Main thread of argument
First remind yourself of the key concepts or themes you wish to present in your review of
literature, by completing the Key concept list below and entering the appropriate 'Polarity
poles' and associated authors/dates. Then complete the remainder of this planning sheet,
consciously attempting to convey in the clearest and most concise text the bare threads of
your argument step by step, taking each key concept in turn and drawing together your own
connections and understandings in your own academic 'voice'.

Key concepts
The following concepts/theories/approaches/developments are incorporated into (this section
of) my review of literature:

Key concept or theme Polarity pole Key authors/dates

(eg A-B if applicable)

………………………………… ……………… …………………………………………

………………………………… ……………… …………………………………………

………………………………… ……………… …………………………………………

………………………………… ……………… …………………………………………

………………………………… ……………… …………………………………………

………………………………… ……………… …………………………………………

………………………………… ……………… …………………………………………

In this review chapter (or section), I want to show that ………………………………………

………..…………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………….………………………………………………………………

For this, I will open with

……………………………………………………….…………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………….key
concept(s)/theme(s).

Next, I want to show that

43
………………………………………………………………………………………….………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

For this, I will include …………………………………………………………………………

… ……………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………….key
concept(s)/theme(s).

Next, I want to show that

………………………………………………………………………………………….………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

For this, I will include …………………………………………………………………………

… …………………….

………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………….key
concept(s)/theme(s).

Next, I want to show that

……………………………………………………………………….……… ……………….

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

For this, I will include …………………………………………………………………………

… ……………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………….key
concept(s)/theme(s).

As a climactic point of interest, I want to show

that……………………………….…………………… ………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

For this, I will include

44
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………….……………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………….key
concept(s)/theme(s).

Finally, in the light of the above understandings, I want to establish the gap left open for my
own investigation. My statement defining this gap is:…………………………………………
……………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

45
 Purpose leads to structure leads to sequence
The purpose of the review of literature chapter
To guide the reader through the literature in your field, in order to:

• map the field with theoretical frameworks and previous research

• display your knowledge in the field
• show your own formative route in establishing your research area
• identify an unexplored patch or 'gap', roughly the shape of your research topic

Purpose leads to structure:

How any readings have you gathered together? …………………………………

How will you group them in order to best convey the above four points?

Use 'Booknotes' or some other notetaking system to organise your readings into categories.
You will certainly now appreciate your own forethought if you managed to build such a
system into your research habits from a very early stage.

Group those items which you can show to be compatible under a common heading or
thematic statement, by adding the relevant names/dates to the headings below. You should
find that most form easily into clusters according to:

background information………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………

theories………………………………………………………………..………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………

approaches………………………………………………………….…………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………

methods……………………………………………………………..…………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………

other criteria……………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………

combination ……………………………………………………………………………

Make a physical pile of readings for each of your categories. You may like to use a
'Booknotes' sheet to represent each item, either stapled to a photocopy or taking the place of
an unavailable original. Set them out in piles on a wide surface such as the floor. Each pile
should be made up of all readings you wish to treat together in one category. When you are

46
happy with these broad groups, work through each pile to sub-divide it into smaller groups,
and ultimately, to set the sequence for items in each group. As you proceed, you will begin to
see a mind-map forming of the relationships between the various aspects of the information
and argument that you wish to convey from what you have read. You may find the map is
rearranged a few times during this process. So much the better.

This is an important decision-making time, and one over which you do have ultimate control,
because the subtle understandings and emphases you wish the reader to place on your
research will be reflected first in this chapter. It is very much the theoretical foundation form
your work and your own findings will be measured, first by you in your discussion chapter,
then by others when they become your reader, against the literature you nominated as your
starting point.

When you are happy with the reading clusters you have arranged in a physical manner, you
should find it relatively easy to draw up a mind-map on paper. As you do so, you should feel
the structure of your Review of Literature taking shape.

Structure leads to sequence:

You should now have a potential structure for the review of literature, based on a mind map
which may look something like this:

1.1.4 1.3.1
1.1.3.1
1.1.3
1.2
1.1.3.2 1.3 1.3.2
1.1.2 1.1

1.1.1

TOPIC 1.4
1.7.1 1
1.7
1.7.2
1.5
1.7.4
1.7.3 1.6

Take each topic and sub-topic in turn, and use the numbering system to set up sections and
paragraphs. If you find more than about ten items in any one group, you should be able to
subdivide that group under two or more subthemes. Each main group and its theme will
probably form one section of your review.

When you begin to write, you will find that you only have to deal with a few readings at a
time, and these will be linked together by their common thread. Make use of the notion of

47
'one main idea per section or paragraph, and use the relevant theme as your opening, that is
the topic sentence for that section or paragraph.

Your review will gain considerable depth and will maintain a strong sense of cohesion if you
write primarily about the themes in your own 'voice', that is, include each reading in order to
illustrate or elaborate on a theme that is your main topic at the time, rather than just adding
each item to a list of similar items without making the connection explicit.

48
Steps to sequencing your review of literature

Contents

Sequencing chart 2

49
 Sequencing chart
Make a list of items of literature in the order in which you will present them in your chapter.
Identify each item by its author/date designation, and specify the theme, theory, model,
approach or development represented by each group of authors.

Section Theme/theory/model/approach/development Authors/dates

1

50