How to write significance of study

How to write significance of study

• The section of the research shows the importance of your study and
the impacts it has.
• Write how your study impacts your community
• How your study influences the policymakers and teacher educators
• How your study benefits the teachers
• How your study helps the students
Significance of study sample
This study’s findings will redound to society’s benefit, considering that
English plays a vital role in critical thinking, writing, and technology today.
The greater demand for graduates with a English background justifies the
need for more effective, life-changing teaching approaches. Thus, schools
that apply the recommended approach derived from the results of this
study will train students better. Administrators will be guided on what
should be emphasized by teachers in the school curriculum to improve
students’ performance in English. For the researcher (or researchers, if it is
a group study), the investigation will uncover critical areas in the
educational process that many researchers could not explore. Thus, a new
theory on learning English language may be arrived at.
Reviewing the Literature

Creswell, 2012
By the end of this chapter, you should
be able to:
• Define what a literature review is and why it is important
• Identify the five steps in conducting a literature review
What Is a Literature Review?

• A written summary of the literature

• Describes past and current information and research
• Organized into topics
• Reports the literature based on themes or individual studies
• Documents a need for your proposed study
Literature Review in a Quantitative Study

• Documents the importance of the research

problem at the beginning of the study
• Supports the theory or explanation used in the
study
• Foreshadows the research questions
• Provides an explanation for the results in other
studies and in the theoretical prediction at the end
of the study
Literature Review in a Qualitative Study
• Documents the importance of the research problem at the
beginning of the study
• Does not foreshadow the research questions (which are broad
in scope to encourage participants to provide their own views)
• Is used to compare and contrast with other studies at the end
of the study
The Process of Conducting a Literature
Review
• Identify key terms
• Locate literature
• Critically evaluate and select the literature
• Organize the literature
• Write a review
Identifying Key Terms
• Write a preliminary “working title” for the project and select two
or three key words that capture the essence of the project
• Pose a short general research question that you would like to
answer in the study
• Look in catalogues of terms to find words that match your topic
• Scan the contents in your library stacks and the table of
contents of educational journals
Priority/Value of Sources in the Literature
• Summaries
• Journals, books, indexes, databases
• Early stage literature (e.g., papers posted on Web sites,
conference papers)
Databases Used in Educational Research
• ERIC
• PsycINFO
• Sociofile
• Social Science Citation Index
• EBSCO
• Dissertation Abstracts
Critically Evaluate and Select
the Literature

• Is it a good, accurate source?

• National journal?
• Reviewed source?
• Research study?
Critically Evaluate and Select
the Literature (cont’d)
• Is the source worthy of inclusion?
• Topic relevance: Is the literature on the same topic as your proposed
study?
• Individual and site relevance: Does the literature examine the same
individuals and sites you want to study?
• Problem relevance: Does the literature examine the same research
problem as you propose in your study?
• Accessibility relevance: Is the literature available in your library or can
it be downloaded from a Web site?
Organize the Literature: Abstracting Studies

• Contents of abstracts vary for research studies and essays.

• The structure is essentially the same for quantitative and qualitative
research studies:
• Research problem
• Research questions/hypotheses
• Data collection procedures
• Results/findings
 Sample Hierarchical Literature Map
The Need for Teaching Programs
Study Abroad to Be Culturally Responsive U.S.
Programs Bennett, 1995; Eastman,
Programs
Smith, 1991; Grant 1994; Noel, 1995

Personal Insights Possible Personal Insights

of Preservice Teachers Improvements of Preservice
Attitudes Toward
Study Abroad Teachers
Friesen, Kang Martin, Rohrlich ,
McDougall, 1995; 1991; Stachowski, Cockrell, Placier,
King, Young,1994
Mahan, Stachowski, 1991 1991 Cockrell, Middleton,
1999; Goodwin, 1997;
Need for Further Study: Kea, Bacon, 1999
Predominately English Conventional
Non-English Speaking Cultures Programs
Speaking Cultures Cross-Cultural
Programs
Question: Do short-term study Colville-Hall,
Mahan, Stachowski, abroad programs in non-
1990; Macdonald, Cooper, Beare,
English Smollen, 1995;
Quinn, Barr, McKay, Thorman, 1990;
speaking cultures help create Rodriguez,
Jarchow, Powell, 1995; Larke, Wiseman,
cultural responsiveness in Sjostrom, 1995;
Vall, Tennison, 1992 Bradley, 1990
preservice teachers? Vavrus, 1994
Organize the Literature: Constructing a
Literature Map
• Identify key terms for the topic and put them at
the top of the map
• Sort studies into topical areas or “families of
studies”
• Provide a label for each box which will become a
heading for the review
Organize the Literature: Constructing a
Literature Map (cont’d)

• Develop the map on as many levels as possible

• Draw a box toward the bottom of the figure that says “my
proposed study”
• Draw lines connecting the proposed study with other branches
of the literature
 Circular Literature Map
Need for Further Study: Non-English Speaking Cultures

Question: “Do short term study abroad programs in non-English

speaking cultures help create cultural responsiveness in preservice teachers?

U.S. Programs
Study Abroad Personal Insights
Programs of Preservice
Teachers (Cockrell,
Attitudes Toward Personal Insights of Placier, Cockrell,
Conventional
Study Abroad Preservice Teachers Milleton, 1999
Programs
(King, Young 1994) (Friesen, Kang,
Colville-Hall,
McDougall, 1995)
Macdonald, Smolen,
1995)
Predominately English
Speaking Cultures
Cross-Cultural
(Mahan, Stachowski,
Programs
1990)
(Cooper, Beare,
Thorman, 1990)
Writing a Literature Review
• Use a consistent style manual approach
• End-of-text references
• Within-text references
• Headings
• Tables/figures
Writing a Literature Review: Types of
Reviews
• Thematic review
• Literature documents the theme identified by
researcher
• No study is discussed in detail
• Study-by-study review
• Detailed review of each study
• Studies grouped by themes
• Summaries linked by transitional sentences and
organized under subheadings
Concluding Statement in a Literature
Review
• Summarize the major themes found in the literature review
• End with a rationale for the need for your study based on this
literature review
Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing example 1
Teachers and taught have a different
relationship; there is no tightly
structured day which students are
compelled to follow, more or less; it is
the concern of the individual what
amount of work they achieve; food,
budgeting and accommodation are
amongst the responsibilities that new
students will find that they have
never experienced before (van
Emden, 2001, p.1).
Target
“The relationship between teacher
and taught is different; students no
longer have a tightly structured day
which they are more or less
compelled to follow; the amount of
work achieved is largely the concern
of the individual; new students
suddenly find they have
responsibilities that they have never
had to consider before, such as
accommodation, food and budgeting”
(van Emden, 2001, p.1).
Paraphrasing 2
Students work differently
with their teachers; the day is
not planned out strictly with
mandatory classes at all
times; students must keep a
track on their own
workloads; there will be a
range of new concerns like
living conditions and finance
(van Emden, 2001, p.1).
Target
“The relationship between teacher and
taught is different; students no longer
have a tightly structured day which they
are more or less compelled to follow;
the amount of work achieved is largely
the concern of the individual; new
students suddenly find they have
responsibilities that they have never
had to consider before, such as
accommodation, food and budgeting”
(van Emden, 2001, p.1).