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What we want to learn?

• Definition & meaning
• Purpose of L.R.
• Sources
• Need
• Uses
• Pre-preparation
• steps

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 Introduction
• Essential step
• Provides base
• Justifies need
• Throws light on flexibility of study
• Reveals constraints of data collection
• Relates findings

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 The Literature Review
 Information seeking
 Critical appraisal

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 What is LR?
 Discusses published information in a
particular subject area,

 Just a simple summary of the sources,

but it usually has an organizational
pattern and combines both summary
and synthesis.

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 What is LR?
 A effective evaluation of selected
documents
 A review may form an essential part
of the research process or may
constitute a research project in
itself.
 A critical synthesis of previous
research.

The evaluation of the literature leads

logically to the research question.
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 The Literature Review
The review of the literature is defined as a
broad, comprehensive, in-depth,
systematic, and critical review of scholarly
publications, unpublished scholarly print
materials, audiovisual materials, and
personal communications.

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 The Literature Review
• Scholarly literature refer to published
and unpublished data based literature
and conceptual literature materials found
in print and non print forms
• Data based literature reports of
completed research
• Conceptual research reports of
theories, concepts

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 Relationship Of Review Of Literature To
Theory, Research, Education And Practice
Research

Review of
Literature

Education Practice

Theory

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 Why write LR?

 Handy guide to a particular topic.

 Literature reviews also provide a solid

background for a research paper's
investigation.

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 Why write LR?

 For professionals, they are useful

reports that keep them up to date with
what is current in the field.

 For scholars, the depth and breadth of

the literature review emphasizes the
credibility of the writer in his or her
field

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 Why write LR?
 A critical look at the literature (facts
and views) that already exists in the
area you are researching.

 It demonstrates the relevance of the

research.

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 Why write LR?
In a broader context Hart (1998) lists the
following purposes of a review:
 Distinguishing what has been done from what
needs to be done;
 Discovering important variables relevant to
the topic;
 Synthesizing and gaining a new perspective;
 Identifying relationships between ideas and
practice;
 Establishing the context of the topic or
problem; 13
 Why write LR?
 Rationalizing the significance of the
problem;
 Understanding the structure of the
subject;
 Relating ideas and theory to applications;
 Identifying methodologies and techniques
that have been used.

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 Non research Purposes of Literature Review

Non Research purposes of literature review:

 Determines what is known
 Determines gaps, consistencies & inconsistencies
 Discovers unanswered questions
 Describes strengths & weaknesses of designs,
methods of inquiry and instruments used in
earlier works
 Promotes development of protocols & policies
related to nursing practice

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 Differences of Research & Non
Research Purposes
Whether a nurse is developing a research
study, a curriculum, or a patient protocol,
s/he should base that project on a
critical review of the literature.

The difference lies in the type of outcome

produced

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Purposes of Literature Review

The overall purpose

of literature review
is to discover
knowledge

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 PLZZZZZZZZZZZZ……NOTE

• A literature review is not a shopping list

of everything that exists, but a critical
analysis that shows an evaluation of the
existing literature and a relationship
between the different works.

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 Where do I find LR?
 Books,
 Journal articles,
 Internet (electronic journals),
 Newspapers,
 Magazines,
 Theses and dissertations,
 Conference proceedings,
 Reports, and documentaries.
 Lab reports,
 Sometimes a literature review is written as a
paper in itself.
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 Primary and Secondary Sources
Primary source:
Is written by a person(s) who developed the
theory or conducted the research

Secondary source:
Is written by a person(s) other than the
individual who developed the theory
or conducted the research
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 The Role of Secondary Sources
Two general reasons for using secondary
sources:

1. A primary sources is literally unavailable

2. A secondary source can provide different ways
of looking at an issue or problem

Secondary sources should not be overused

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 Pitfalls of Secondary Sources

• All of the theory’s concepts or aspects of the

study and/or definitions may not be fully
presented

• If all concepts or aspects are included, the

definitions may be collapsed or paraphrased to
such a degree that it no longer represents the
theorist’s actual work

• The critique (whether positive or negative) is

based on the presentation of incomplete or
interpreted data and therefore less useful.
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 Location: approaches
by Cooper 1998
• Bibliographic database (searching for researcher)
• Ancestry approach
• Descendancy approach (from previous studies….to
search forward)
• Grey literature : studies with more limited
distribution such as conference papers, unpublished
reports, dissertation

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 Locations
indexes

bibliograp abstracts
hies

Computer
books searches
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 Key electronic data bases
• CINAHL : cumulative index to nursing and allied health
literature

• MEDLINE : medical literature on-line

• I.S.I.: Institute for scientific information

• AIDSEARCH : includes more than 20 aids research

data base

• CANCER LIT: cancer literature

• EMBASE: the expert medical database 25

• HAPI: health and psychosocial instruments
database

• ERIC – Education resources information center

database

• PSYCINFO- Psychology information

• Dissertation abstracts online

• Cochrane database of systematic reviews

 The Use of Literature Review in Quantitative
Research

• Theoretical framework
• Problem statement and hypotheses
• Design and method
• Outcome of the analysis
(findings, implications, and recommendations)

The literature review allows for refinement

of research problems and questions
and/or hypotheses

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 What should I do before writing the literature
review?
 Find models
 Look for other literature reviews in your area
of interest
 You can simply put the word "review" in your
search engine along with your topic.
 The bibliography or reference section of
sources

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 What should I do before writing the
literature review?
 Clarify

 Seek clarification from your guide

 Roughly how many sources should you include?

 What types of sources ?

 Should you summarize, synthesize, or critique your sources

by discussing a common theme or issue?

 Should you evaluate your sources?

 Should you provide subheadings and other background

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 What should I do before writing the literature
review?
Narrow your topic

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 What should I do before writing the literature
review?

Consider whether your sources are current

 Information MUST BE as current as

possible.
 Information even two years old could
be obsolete.

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 What should I do before writing the
literature review?
Find a focus
 A literature review, like a term paper, is
usually organized around ideas.

 one at a time.

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 What should I do before writing the literature
review?
Themes or issues.
 Do they present one or different solutions?

 Is there an aspect of the field that is missing?

 How well do they present the material and do they portray

it according to an appropriate theory?

 Do they reveal a trend in the field?

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 What should I do before writing the
literature review?
 Construct a working thesis statement

 Yes! Literature reviews have thesis statements as

well!

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 What should I do before writing the
literature review?
Consider organization

 You've got a focus, and you've narrowed it

down to a thesis statement.
 Now what is the most effective way of
presenting the information?
 What are the most important topics,
subtopics, etc., that your review needs to
include?
 And in what order should you present
them? 35
 How do I write the literature review?
Develop an organization for your review at both a global and
local level:

First, cover the basic categories

 Three basic elements:
 An introduction or background information
section;
 The body of the review containing the
discussion of sources; and, finally,
 A conclusion .
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 How do I Write the literature review?
 Introduction: Gives a quick idea of the topic of
the literature review, such as the central theme
or organizational pattern.

 Body: Contains your discussion of sources and is

organized either chronologically, thematically, or
methodologically

 Conclusions/Recommendations: Discuss what you

have drawn from reviewing literature so far.
Where might the discussion proceed?
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 What should I do before writing the
literature review?
Organizing the body
 Create an organizational method to focus this section
even further.
 The six typical ways of organizing the sources into a
review:
 Chronological
 By publication
 By trend
 Thematic
 Methodological
 Questions for Further Research

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 Develop a search strategy

• Clearly identify your review question

• PICO framework:
– Population (P),
– Intervention (I) or Exposure (E),
– Comparison (C),
– Outcomes (O),
– Time (T)
• SPICE framework:
– Setting – where?
– Perspective – for whom?
– Intervention – what?
– Comparison – compared with what?
– Evaluation – with what result?
 What should you write?
 Language focus:
 Avoid too much direct quoting. The verb tense
chosen depends on your emphasis:
 When you are citing a specific author's findings,
use the past tense: (found, demonstrated);
 When you are writing about an accepted fact,
use the present tense: (demonstrates, finds);
and
 When you are citing several authors or making a
general statement, use the present perfect
tense: (have shown, have found, little research
has been done). 40
 Steps of Searching the Literature
Determine concept/issue/topic/problem

Conduct computer (and/or hand) search

Weed out irrelevant sources before printing

Organize sources from printout for retrieval

Retrieve relevant sources

Conduct preliminary reading & weed out irrelevant sources

Critically read each source

Synthesize critical summaries

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Method and review in literature review

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Formulate & Devise search Search for
refine primary strategy identify &
& secondary retrieve
questions potential
primary
source
materials

Document search decisions &

actions 43
 Discard irrelevant or
inappropriate reference

Screen Read source Abstract

sources for materials encode
relevance information
appropriatenes from the
s studies

Identify new references, new

leads 44
Critique Analyze Prepare
evaluate studies integrate synthesis
information critical
search for summary
themes

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 Formulating search strategy

• Cooper 1998
- Bibliographic data base
- Electronic data base
Points to remember
• One should be familiar with search
engines
• Software mapping
• Authenticity
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 Screening & gathering references

• Readily available
• Relevant to the topic
• Quality of references
- Procedure to safeguard the participants
- Minimize risks to the participants
- Maximize benefits to the participants

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 Documentation in literature retrieval

• From the beginning

• Record search strategies
• Limits put on the search
• Keywords
• Subject headings
• Website visited
• Actions taken

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 Coding the studies

• Consider the subset of the study

• Categorize finding
• Code to each characteristics
• E.g. Code 1- for age

Code 2 –Gender etc

 A literature review protocols &
matrices
• Format the protocol
• Organization of literature
• Full citation
• Theoretical foundations
• Methodological features findings
• Evaluative information
 Literature review matrices
Matrices are used by many researches as
a mean of organizing information from
research articles because matrices
directly support a thematic analysis of
information.
• Types of matrices

- Methodological matrix- organized

information
-Result matrix- what are the findings
-Evaluation matrix- evidence
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 Analyzing & synthesizing information

• Detection of patterns and regularities

as well as inconsistencies
 Substantive themes
 Theoretical themes
 Methodological themes
 Generability/transferability themes
 Historical themes
 Researcher themes
 Common Errors Made in Lit Reviews
• Review isn’t logically organized
• Review isn’t focused on most important
facets of the study
• Review doesn’t relate literature to the
study
• Too few references or outdated
references cited
• Review isn’t written in author’s own words
• Review reads like a series of disjointed
summaries
• Review doesn’t argue a point
• Recent references are omitted
 Writing the Literature Review
Plagiarism includes (Galvan):
1. Using another writer’s words without proper
citation
2. Using another writer’s ideas without proper
citation
3. Citing a source but reproducing the exact
word without quotation marks
4. Borrowing the structure of another author’s
phrases/sentences without giving the source
5. Borrowing all or part of another student’s
paper
6. Using paper-writing service or having a
friend write the paper
A ‘good’ literature review…..
….. is a synthesis of available research
….. is a critical evaluation
….. has appropriate breadth and depth
….. has clarity and conciseness
….. uses rigorous and consistent
methods
A ‘poor’ literature review is…..
…..an annotated bibliography
….. confined to description
….. narrow and shallow
….. confusing and longwinded
….. constructed in an arbitrary way
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 Lets revise…………
 The whole process of reviewing includes:
a. Searching for literature
b. Sorting and prioritizing the retrieved
literature
c. Analytical reading of papers
d. Evaluative reading of papers
e. Comparison across studies
f. Organizing the content
g. Writing the review
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 TAKE HOME
MESSAGE:

ENJOY YOUR WORK,BE

DEDICATED & BE HONEST WITH
YOUR EFFORTS.
HAPPY RESEARCHING

Thank You !!