Literature review research design
The literature purpose of this guide is to provide advice on how to develop and organize a research paper in the social of research flaws to ndent and dependent ry of research terms. Choosing a research ing a topic ning a topic ing the timeliness of a topic idea. An oral g with g someone else's to manage group of structured group project survival g a book le book review ing collected g a field informed g a policy g a research proposal. Literature review surveys books, scholarly articles, and any other sources relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, and by so doing, provides a description, summary, and critical evaluation of these works in relation to the research problem being investigated. Literature reviews are designed to provide an overview of sources you have explored while researching a particular topic and to demonstrate to your readers how your research fits within a larger field of , arlene. Literature review may consist of simply a summary of key sources, but in the social sciences, a literature review usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis, often within specific conceptual categories. A summary is a recap of the important information of the source, but a synthesis is a re-organization, or a reshuffling, of that information in a way that informs how you are planning to investigate a research problem. The analytical features of a literature review might:Give a new interpretation of old material or combine new with old interpretations,Trace the intellectual progression of the field, including major debates,Depending on the situation, evaluate the sources and advise the reader on the most pertinent or relevant research, y in the conclusion of a literature review, identify where gaps exist in how a problem has been researched to purpose of a literature review is to:Place each work in the context of its contribution to understanding the research problem being be the relationship of each work to the others under fy new ways to interpret prior any gaps that exist in the e conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous fy areas of prior scholarship to prevent duplication of the way in fulfilling a need for additional your own research within the context of existing literature [very important]. Los angeles, ca: sage, of literature is important to think of knowledge in a given field as consisting of three layers. Second are the reviews of those studies that summarize and offer new interpretations built from and often extending beyond the primary studies. Third, there are the perceptions, conclusions, opinion, and interpretations that are shared informally that become part of the lore of composing a literature review, it is important to note that it is often this third layer of knowledge that is cited as "true" even though it often has only a loose relationship to the primary studies and secondary literature reviews. Given this, while literature reviews are designed to provide an overview and synthesis of pertinent sources you have explored, there are a number of approaches you could adopt depending upon the type of analysis underpinning your of literature form examines literature selectively in order to support or refute an argument, deeply imbedded assumption, or philosophical problem already established in the literature. Educational reform; immigration control], argumentative approaches to analyzing the literature can be a legitimate and important form of discourse. However, note that they can also introduce problems of bias when they are used to make summary claims of the sort found in systematic reviews [see below]. A form of research that reviews, critiques, and synthesizes representative literature on a topic in an integrated way such that new frameworks and perspectives on the topic are generated. The body of literature includes all studies that address related or identical hypotheses or research problems. A well-done integrative review meets the same standards as primary research in regard to clarity, rigor, and replication. This is the most common form of review in the social things rest in isolation from historical precedent. Historical literature reviews focus on examining research throughout a period of time, often starting with the first time an issue, concept, theory, phenomena emerged in the literature, then tracing its evolution within the scholarship of a discipline.
Literature review and methodology
The purpose is to place research in a historical context to show familiarity with state-of-the-art developments and to identify the likely directions for future ological review. Review does not always focus on what someone said [findings], but how they came about saying what they say [method of analysis]. Those of theory, substantive fields, research approaches, and data collection and analysis techniques], how researchers draw upon a wide variety of knowledge ranging from the conceptual level to practical documents for use in fieldwork in the areas of ontological and epistemological consideration, quantitative and qualitative integration, sampling, interviewing, data collection, and data analysis. This approach helps highlight ethical issues which you should be aware of and consider as you go through your own form consists of an overview of existing evidence pertinent to a clearly formulated research question, which uses pre-specified and standardized methods to identify and critically appraise relevant research, and to collect, report, and analyze data from the studies that are included in the review. The goal is to deliberately document, critically evaluate, and summarize scientifically all of the research about a clearly defined research problem. This type of literature review is primarily applied to examining prior research studies in clinical medicine and allied health fields, but it is increasingly being used in the social purpose of this form is to examine the corpus of theory that has accumulated in regard to an issue, concept, theory, phenomena. The theoretical literature review helps to establish what theories already exist, the relationships between them, to what degree the existing theories have been investigated, and to develop new hypotheses to be tested. Often this form is used to help establish a lack of appropriate theories or reveal that current theories are inadequate for explaining new or emerging research problems. Thinking about your literature structure of a literature review should include the following:An overview of the subject, issue, or theory under consideration, along with the objectives of the literature review,Division of works under review into themes or categories [e. Were the techniques used to identify, gather, and analyze the data appropriate to addressing the research problem? Data evaluation -- determining which literature makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the topic. Analysis and interpretation -- discussing the findings and conclusions of pertinent er the following issues before writing the literature review:If your assignment is not very specific about what form your literature review should take, seek clarification from your professor by asking these questions:1. What types of sources should i review (books, journal articles, websites; scholarly versus popular sources)? The exercise of reviewing the literature to examine how authors in your discipline or area of interest have composed their literature review sections. Read them to get a sense of the types of themes you might want to look for in your own research or to identify ways to organize your final review. Your professor will probably not expect you to read everything that's available about the topic, but you'll make your job easier if you first limit scope of the research problem. A good strategy is to begin by searching the homer catalog for books about the topic and review the table of contents for chapters that focuses on specific issues. You can also review the indexes of books to find references to specific issues that can serve as the focus of your research. This is particularly true in disciplines in medicine and the sciences where research conducted becomes obsolete very quickly as new discoveries are made.
However, when writing a review in the social sciences, a survey of the history of the literature may be required. In other words, a complete understanding the research problem requires you to deliberately examine how knowledge and perspectives have changed over time. Sort through other current bibliographies or literature reviews in the field to get a sense of what your discipline expects. Ways to organize your literature your review follows the chronological method, you could write about the materials according to when they were published. This approach should only be followed if a clear path of research building on previous research can be identified and that these trends follow a clear chronological order of development. For example, a literature review that focuses on continuing research about the emergence of german economic power after the fall of the soviet your sources by publication chronology, then, only if the order demonstrates a more important trend. For instance, you could order a review of literature on environmental studies of brown fields if the progression revealed, for example, a change in the soil collection practices of the researchers who wrote and/or conducted the ic [“conceptual categories”]. Reviews of literature are organized around a topic or issue, rather than the progression of time. For example, a review of the internet’s impact on american presidential politics could focus on the development of online political satire. A review organized in this manner would shift between time periods within each section according to the point made. Or the review might focus on the fundraising impact of the internet on a particular political party. A methodological scope will influence either the types of documents in the review or the way in which these documents are sections of your literature you've decided on the organizational method for your literature review, the sections you need to include in the paper should be easy to figure out because they arise from your organizational strategy. In other words, a chronological review would have subsections for each vital time period; a thematic review would have subtopics based upon factors that relate to the theme or issue. What other sections you include in the body is up to you but include only what is necessary for the reader to locate your study within the larger scholarship are examples of other sections you may need to include depending on the type of review you write:Current situation: information necessary to understand the topic or focus of the literature y: the chronological progression of the field, the literature, or an idea that is necessary to understand the literature review, if the body of the literature review is not already a ion methods: the criteria you used to select (and perhaps exclude) sources in your literature review. For instance, you might explain that your review includes only peer-reviewed articles and rds: the way in which you present your ons for further research: what questions about the field has the review sparked? Writing your literature you've settled on how to organize your literature review, you're ready to write each section. Your interpretation of the available sources must be backed up with evidence [citations] that demonstrates that what you are saying is only the most important points in each source to highlight in the review. The type of information you choose to mention should relate directly to the research problem, whether it is thematic, methodological, or chronological. Related items that provide additional information but that are not key to understanding the research problem can be included in a list of further short quotes are okay if you want to emphasize a point, or if what an author stated cannot be easily paraphrased.
Do not use extensive quotes as a substitute for your own summary and interpretation of the ize and er to summarize and synthesize your sources within each thematic paragraph as well as throughout the review. Recapitulate important features of a research study, but then synthesize it by rephrasing the study's significance and relating it to your own the literature review presents others' ideas, your voice [the writer's] should remain front and center. Common mistakes to are the most common mistakes made in reviewing social science research s in your literature review do not clearly relate to the research problem;. Do not take sufficient time to define and identify the most relevent sources to use in the literature review related to the research problem;. Accepts another researcher's findings and interpretations as valid, rather than examining critically all aspects of the research design and analysis;. Isolated statistical results rather than synthesizing them in chi-squared or meta-analytic methods; and,Only includes research that validates assumptions and does not consider contrary findings and alternative interpretations found in the , kathleen e. Interdisciplinarily about a research problem can be a rewarding exercise in applying new ideas, theories, or concepts to an old problem. You don’t want to substitute a thorough review of core research literature in your discipline for studies conducted in other fields of study. However, particularly in the social sciences, thinking about research problems from multiple vectors is a key strategy for finding new solutions to a problem or gaining a new perspective. Consult with a librarian about identifying research databases in other disciplines; almost every field of study has at least one comprehensive database devoted to indexing its research an, robert. Conducting a review of the literature, maximize the time you devote to writing this part of your paper by thinking broadly about what you should be looking for and evaluating. You begin to write your literature review section, you'll be glad you dug deeper into how the research was constructed because it establishes a means for developing more substantial analysis and interpretation of the research , chris. Are several strategies you can utilize to assess whether you've adequately reviewed the literature:Look for repeating patterns in the research findings. If the same thing is being said, just by different people, then this likely demonstrates that the research problem has hit a conceptual dead end. If you begin to see the same researchers cited again and again, then this is often an indication that no new ideas have been generated to address the research the web of science [a. Web of knowledge] citation database and google scholar to identify who has subsequently cited leading scholars already identified in your literature review. Here again, if the same authors are being cited again and again, this may indicate no new literature has been written on the , anthea. University of southern ent disciplines put different emphases on literature reviews but the term generally refers to a designated part of a larger research project such as a dissertation or paper. In it, you produce a written critical survey of the already available published work on the topic you are ing a literature review on a specific topic will sometimes be set as an assignment on your course, and the phrase can also refer more generally to the process of assessing published material in preparation for an essay.
Here, though, we are focussing on the literature review as it forms a part of a dissertation or other research you want to find out about the following (and more):Strategies for conducting a literature structure of the literature to cover and what to ent ways of organising your so, click on the links in the box below:University of sheffield sity library - seven steps to producing a literature l graduate school - literature sity of plymouth - writing a literature sity of north carolina - conducting a literature sity of southamption - what is a literature sity of toronto - a few tips on conducting a literature sity of reading - starting a literature university - what is a literature review? Of wisconsin - learn how to write a review of sity of pretoria - writing the literature - research resource for bioscience acto - how to write your literature review. 2017 the university of sity of southern zing your social sciences research of research zing your social sciences research paper: types of research purpose of this guide is to provide advice on how to develop and organize a research paper in the social of research flaws to ndent and dependent ry of research terms. An oral g with g someone else's to manage group of structured group project survival g a book le book review ing collected g a field informed g a policy g a research beginning your paper, you need to decide how you plan to design the research design refers to the overall strategy that you choose to integrate the different components of the study in a coherent and logical way, thereby, ensuring you will effectively address the research problem; it constitutes the blueprint for the collection, measurement, and analysis of data. Note that your research problem determines the type of design you should use, not the other way around! L structure and writing function of a research design is to ensure that the evidence obtained enables you to effectively address the research problem logically and as unambiguously as possible. In social sciences research, obtaining information relevant to the research problem generally entails specifying the type of evidence needed to test a theory, to evaluate a program, or to accurately describe and assess meaning related to an observable this in mind, a common mistake made by researchers is that they begin their investigations far too early, before they have thought critically about what information is required to address the research problem. Without attending to these design issues beforehand, the overall research problem will not be adequately addressed and any conclusions drawn will run the risk of being weak and unconvincing. As a consequence, the overall validity of the study will be length and complexity of describing research designs in your paper can vary considerably, but any well-developed design will achieve the following:Identify the research problem clearly and justify its selection, particularly in relation to any valid alternative designs that could have been used,Review and synthesize previously published literature associated with the research problem,Clearly and explicitly specify hypotheses [i. Research questions] central to the problem,Effectively describe the data which will be necessary for an adequate testing of the hypotheses and explain how such data will be obtained, be the methods of analysis to be applied to the data in determining whether or not the hypotheses are true or organization and structure of the section of your paper devoted to describing the research design will vary depending on the type of design you are using. However, you can get a sense of what to do by reviewing the literature of studies that have utilized the same research design. This can provide an outline to follow for your own : to search for scholarly resources on specific research designs and methods, use the sage research methods database. The database contains links to more than 175,000 pages of sage publisher's book, journal, and reference content on quantitative, qualitative, and mixed research methodologies. Also included is a collection of case studies of social research projects that can be used to help you better understand abstract or complex methodological vaus, d. New york: guilford, research tion and essentials of action research design follow a characteristic cycle whereby initially an exploratory stance is adopted, where an understanding of a problem is developed and plans are made for some form of interventionary strategy. Then the intervention is carried out (the "action" in action research) during which time, pertinent observations are collected in various forms. Is a collaborative and adaptive research design that lends itself to use in work or community focuses on pragmatic and solution-driven research outcomes rather than testing practitioners use action research, it has the potential to increase the amount they learn consciously from their experience; the action research cycle can be regarded as a learning research studies often have direct and obvious relevance to improving practice and advocating for are no hidden controls or preemption of direction by the these studies don't tell you? Is harder to do than conducting conventional research because the researcher takes on responsibilities of advocating for change as well as for researching the research is much harder to write up because it is less likely that you can use a standard format to report your findings effectively [i. Over-involvement of the researcher may bias research cyclic nature of action research to achieve its twin outcomes of action (e.
Case study is an in-depth study of a particular research problem rather than a sweeping statistical survey or comprehesive comparative inquiry. It is often used to narrow down a very broad field of research into one or a few easily researchable examples. The case study research design is also useful for testing whether a specific theory and model actually applies to phenomena in the real world. It is a useful design when not much is known about an issue or do these studies tell you? Researcher using a case study design can apply a variety of methodologies and rely on a variety of sources to investigate a research can extend experience or add strength to what is already known through previous scientists, in particular, make wide use of this research design to examine contemporary real-life situations and provide the basis for the application of concepts and theories and the extension of design can provide detailed descriptions of specific and rare these studies don't tell you? Single or small number of cases offers little basis for establishing reliability or to generalize the findings to a wider population of people, places, or e exposure to the study of a case may bias a researcher's interpretation of the does not facilitate assessment of cause and effect information may be missing, making the case hard to case may not be representative or typical of the larger problem being the criteria for selecting a case is because it represents a very unusual or unique phenomenon or problem for study, then your intepretation of the findings can only apply to that particular studies. This type of research is used to measure what impact a specific change will have on existing norms and assumptions. Research designs assist researchers in understanding why the world works the way it does through the process of proving a causal link between variables and by the process of eliminating other ation is is greater confidence the study has internal validity due to the systematic subject selection and equity of groups being these studies don't tell you? Using a quantitative framework, a cohort study makes note of statistical occurrence within a specialized subgroup, united by same or similar characteristics that are relevant to the research problem being investigated, rather than studying statistical occurrence within the general population. In open cohort studies, researchers can only calculate rate based data, such as, incidence rates and variants cohort studies [static populations, such as patients entered into a clinical trial] involve participants who enter into the study at one defining point in time and where it is presumed that no new participants can enter the cohort. Research that measures risk factors often relies upon cohort e cohort studies measure potential causes before the outcome has occurred, they can demonstrate that these “causes” preceded the outcome, thereby avoiding the debate as to which is the cause and which is the analysis is highly flexible and can provide insight into effects over time and related to a variety of different types of changes [e. Studying the effects of one group exposed to asbestos and one that has not], a researcher cannot control for all other factors that might differ between the two groups. These factors are known as confounding studies can end up taking a long time to complete if the researcher must wait for the conditions of interest to develop within the group. This also increases the chance that key variables change during the course of the study, potentially impacting the validity of the to the lack of randominization in the cohort design, its external validity is lower than that of study designs where the researcher randomly assigns p, devane d. Sectional tion and -sectional research designs have three distinctive features: no time dimension; a reliance on existing differences rather than change following intervention; and, groups are selected based on existing differences rather than random allocation. The cross-sectional design can only measure differences between or from among a variety of people, subjects, or phenomena rather than a process of change. As such, researchers using this design can only employ a relatively passive approach to making causal inferences based on do these studies tell you? Sectional studies provide a clear 'snapshot' of the outcome and the characteristics associated with it, at a specific point in an experimental design, where there is an active intervention by the researcher to produce and measure change or to create differences, cross-sectional designs focus on studying and drawing inferences from existing differences between people, subjects, or s collecting data at and concerning one point in time. While longitudinal studies involve taking multiple measures over an extended period of time, cross-sectional research is focused on finding relationships between variables at one moment in identified for study are purposely selected based upon existing differences in the sample rather than seeking random -section studies are capable of using data from a large number of subjects and, unlike observational studies, is not geographically estimate prevalence of an outcome of interest because the sample is usually taken from the whole e cross-sectional designs generally use survey techniques to gather data, they are relatively inexpensive and take up little time to these studies don't tell you?
People, subjects, or phenomena to study that are very similar except in one specific variable can be s are static and time bound and, therefore, give no indication of a sequence of events or reveal historical or temporal s cannot be utilized to establish cause and effect design only provides a snapshot of analysis so there is always the possibility that a study could have differing results if another time-frame had been is no follow up to the hem, jelke. Tion and ptive research designs help provide answers to the questions of who, what, when, where, and how associated with a particular research problem; a descriptive study cannot conclusively ascertain answers to why. Descriptive research is used to obtain information concerning the current status of the phenomena and to describe "what exists" with respect to variables or conditions in a do these studies tell you? Research is often used as a pre-cursor to more quantitative research designs with the general overview giving some valuable pointers as to what variables are worth testing the limitations are understood, they can be a useful tool in developing a more focused ptive studies can yield rich data that lead to important recommendations in h collects a large amount of data for detailed these studies don't tell you? Results from a descriptive research cannot be used to discover a definitive answer or to disprove a e descriptive designs often utilize observational methods [as opposed to quantitative methods], the results cannot be descriptive function of research is heavily dependent on instrumentation for measurement and tion and purpose. Blueprint of the procedure that enables the researcher to maintain control over all factors that may affect the result of an experiment. Experimental research is often used where there is time priority in a causal relationship (cause precedes effect), there is consistency in a causal relationship (a cause will always lead to the same effect), and the magnitude of the correlation is great. In so doing, it allows researchers to answer the question, “what causes something to occur? The researcher to identify cause and effect relationships between variables and to distinguish placebo effects from treatment mental research designs support the ability to limit alternative explanations and to infer direct causal relationships in the ch provides the highest level of evidence for single these studies don't tell you? Design is artificial, and results may not generalize well to the real artificial settings of experiments may alter the behaviors or responses of mental designs can be costly if special equipment or facilities are research problems cannot be studied using an experiment because of ethical or technical ult to apply ethnographic and other qualitative methods to experimentally designed s, jeane w. Slideshare tion and exploratory design is conducted about a research problem when there are few or no earlier studies to refer to or rely upon to predict an outcome. The focus is on gaining insights and familiarity for later investigation or undertaken when research problems are in a preliminary stage of investigation. Exploratory designs are often used to establish an understanding of how best to proceed in studying an issue or what methodology would effectively apply to gathering information about the goals of exploratory research are intended to produce the following possible insights:Familiarity with basic details, settings, and grounded picture of the situation being tion of new ideas and pment of tentative theories or ination about whether a study is feasible in the get refined for more systematic investigation and formulation of new research ion for future research and techniques get do these studies tell you? Is a useful approach for gaining background information on a particular atory research is flexible and can address research questions of all types (what, why, how). An opportunity to define new terms and clarify existing atory research is often used to generate formal hypotheses and develop more precise research the policy arena or applied to practice, exploratory studies help establish research priorities and where resources should be these studies don't tell you? Research generally utilizes small sample sizes and, thus, findings are typically not generalizable to the population at exploratory nature of the research inhibits an ability to make definitive conclusions about the findings. They provide insight but not definitive research process underpinning exploratory studies is flexible but often unstructured, leading to only tentative results that have limited value to lacks rigorous standards applied to methods of data gathering and analysis because one of the areas for exploration could be to determine what method or methodologies could best fit the research l, michael. Tion and purpose of a historical research design is to collect, verify, and synthesize evidence from the past to establish facts that defend or refute a hypothesis. Historical research design is unobtrusive; the act of research does not affect the results of the historical approach is well suited for trend ical records can add important contextual background required to more fully understand and interpret a research is often no possibility of researcher-subject interaction that could affect the ical sources can be used over and over to study different research problems or to replicate a previous these studies don't tell you?
Ability to fulfill the aims of your research are directly related to the amount and quality of documentation available to understand the research historical research relies on data from the past, there is no way to manipulate it to control for contemporary reting historical sources can be very time sources of historical materials must be archived consistently to ensure access. This may especially challenging for digital or online-only al authors bring their own perspectives and biases to the interpretation of past events and these biases are more difficult to ascertain in historical to the lack of control over external variables, historical research is very weak with regard to the demands of internal is rare that the entirety of historical documentation needed to fully address a research problem is available for interpretation, therefore, gaps need to be , martha c. For example, with longitudinal surveys, the same group of people is interviewed at regular intervals, enabling researchers to track changes over time and to relate them to variables that might explain why the changes occur. Longitudinal research designs describe patterns of change and help establish the direction and magnitude of causal relationships. Data facilitate the analysis of the duration of a particular s survey researchers to get close to the kinds of causal explanations usually attainable only with design permits the measurement of differences or change in a variable from one period to another [i. Data collection method may change over ining the integrity of the original sample can be difficult over an extended period of can be difficult to show more than one variable at a design often needs qualitative research data to explain fluctuations in the results. Longitudinal research design assumes present trends will continue can take a long period of time to gather is a need to have a large sample size and accurate sampling to reach s, jeane w. Tion and -analysis is an analytical methodology designed to systematically evaluate and summarize the results from a number of individual studies, thereby, increasing the overall sample size and the ability of the researcher to study effects of interest. The purpose is to not simply summarize existing knowledge, but to develop a new understanding of a research problem using synoptic reasoning. A well-designed meta-analysis depends upon strict adherence to the criteria used for selecting studies and the availability of information in each study to properly analyze their findings. And explicit acknowledgment of any researcher bias in the identification and selection of those studies;. And evaluation of the degree of heterogeneity among the sample size of studies reviewed; and,Justification of the techniques used to evaluate the do these studies tell you? Be an effective strategy for determining gaps in the es a means of reviewing research published about a particular topic over an extended period of time and from a variety of useful in clarifying what policy or programmatic actions can be justified on the basis of analyzing research results from multiple es a method for overcoming small sample sizes in individual studies that previously may have had little relationship to each be used to generate new hypotheses or highlight research problems for future these studies don't tell you? Lack of uniformity regarding, for example, the type of literature reviewed, how methods are applied, and how findings are measured within the sample of studies you are analyzing, can make the process of synthesis difficult to ing on the sample size, the process of reviewing and synthesizing multiple studies can be very time , lewis w. Cleveland clinic journal of medicine 75 (june 2008): tion and methods research represents more of an approach to examining a research problem than a methodology. Mixed method is characterized by a focus on research problems that require, 1) an examination of real-life contextual understandings, multi-level perspectives, and cultural influences; 2) an intentional application of rigorous quantitative research assessing magnitude and frequency of constructs and rigorous qualitative research exploring the meaning and understanding of the constructs; and, 3) an objective of drawing on the strengths of quantitative and qualitative data gathering techniques to formulate a holistic interpretive framework for generating possible solutions or new understandings of the problem. Tashakkori and creswell (2007) and other proponents of mixed methods argue that the design encompasses more than simply combining qualitative and quantitative methods but, rather, reflects a new "third way" epistemological paradigm that occupies the conceptual space between positivism and do these studies tell you? Broader, more complex research problem can be investigated because the researcher is not constrained by using only one strengths of one method can be used to overcome the inherent weaknesses of another provide stronger, more robust evidence to support a conclusion or set of generate new knowledge new insights or uncover hidden insights, patterns, or relationships that a single methodological approach might not es more complete knowledge and understanding of the research problem that can be used to increase the generalizability of findings applied to theory or these studies don't tell you? Researcher must be proficient in understanding how to apply multiple methods to investigating a research problem as well as be proficient in optimizing how to design a study that coherently melds them increase the likelihood of conflicting results or ambiguous findings that inhibit drawing a valid conclusion or setting forth a recommended course of action [e.
The research design can be very complex, reporting the findings requires a well-organized narrative, clear writing style, and precise word invites collaboration among experts. However, merging different investigative approaches and writing styles requires more attention to the overall research process than studies conducted using only one methodological rent merging of quantitative and qualitative research requires greater attention to having adequate sample sizes, using comparable samples, and applying a consistent unit of analysis. For sequential designs where one phase of qualitative research builds on the quantitative phase or vice versa, decisions about what results from the first phase to use in the next phase, the choice of samples and estimating reasonable sample sizes for both phases, and the interpretation of results from both phases can be to multiple forms of data being collected and analyzed, this design requires extensive time and resources to carry out the multiple steps involved in data gathering and , patricia and carolyn j. Bethesda, md: office of behavioral and social sciences research, national institutes of health, 2010creswell, john w. International journal of multiple research approaches 8 (2014): tion and type of research design draws a conclusion by comparing subjects against a control group, in cases where the researcher has no control over the experiment. An observational study allows a useful insight into a phenomenon and avoids the ethical and practical difficulties of setting up a large and cumbersome research do these studies tell you? Researcher is able to collect in-depth information about a particular reveal interrelationships among multifaceted dimensions of group can generalize your results to real life ational research is useful for discovering what variables may be important before applying other methods like ation research designs account for the complexity of group these studies don't tell you? Of data is low because seeing behaviors occur over and over again may be a time consuming task and are difficult to observational research, findings may only reflect a unique sample population and, thus, cannot be generalized to other can be problems with bias as the researcher may only "see what they want to see. Is no possibility to determine "cause and effect" relationships since nothing is s or subjects may not all be equally group that is knowingly studied is altered to some degree by the presence of the researcher, therefore, potentially skewing any data on, paul and martyn hammersley. Tion and tood more as an broad approach to examining a research problem than a methodological design, philosophical analysis and argumentation is intended to challenge deeply embedded, often intractable, assumptions underpinning an area of study. This approach uses the tools of argumentation derived from philosophical traditions, concepts, models, and theories to critically explore and challenge, for example, the relevance of logic and evidence in academic debates, to analyze arguments about fundamental issues, or to discuss the root of existing discourse about a research problem. Metaphysics research lab, csli, stanford university, tion and tial research is that which is carried out in a deliberate, staged approach [i. After each sample is analyzed, the researcher can accept the null hypothesis, accept the alternative hypothesis, or select another pool of subjects and conduct the study once again. This means the researcher can obtain a limitless number of subjects before making a final decision whether to accept the null or alternative hypothesis. Researcher has a limitless option when it comes to sample size and the sampling to the repetitive nature of this research design, minor changes and adjustments can be done during the initial parts of the study to correct and hone the research is a useful design for exploratory is very little effort on the part of the researcher when performing this technique. The only possibility of approaching representativeness is when the researcher chooses to use a very large sample size significant enough to represent a significant portion of the entire population. In this case, moving on to study a second or more specific sample can be design cannot be used to create conclusions and interpretations that pertain to an entire population because the sampling technique is not randomized. University of southern wikipedia, the free to: navigation, a focused scientific review with pre-defined methodology, see systematic has been suggested that this article be merged into review article. Literature review is a text of a scholarly paper, which includes the current knowledge including substantive findings, as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topic.
Most often associated with academic-oriented literature, such reviews are found in academic journals, and are not to be confused with book reviews that may also appear in the same publication. 1][unreliable source] a narrow-scope literature review may be included as part of a peer-reviewed journal article presenting new research, serving to situate the current study within the body of the relevant literature and to provide context for the reader. In such a case, the review usually precedes the methodology and results sections of the ing a literature review may also be part of graduate and post-graduate student work, including in the preparation of a thesis, dissertation, or a journal article. Literature reviews are also common in a research proposal or prospectus (the document that is approved before a student formally begins a dissertation or thesis). Fourth type, the systematic review, is often classified separately, but is essentially a literature review focused on a research question, trying to identify, appraise, select and synthesize all high-quality research evidence and arguments relevant to that question. A meta-analysis is typically a systematic review using statistical methods to effectively combine the data used on all selected studies to produce a more reliable result. And rangarajan (2013) distinguish between the process of reviewing the literature and a finished work or product known as a literature review. 5]:193–229 the process of reviewing the literature is often ongoing and informs many aspects of the empirical research project. Scholars need to be scanning the literature long after a formal literature review product appears to be completed. The process of reviewing the literature requires different kinds of activities and ways of thinking. 6] shields and rangarajan (2013) and granello (2001) link the activities of doing a literature review with benjamin bloom’s revised taxonomy of the cognitive domain (ways of thinking: remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating). For a person doing a literature review this would include tasks such as recognition, retrieval and recollection of the relevant literature. Understanding may be challenging because the literature could introduce the scholar to new terminology, conceptual framework and methodology. In bloom’s third category applying the scholar is able to make connections between the literature and his or her larger research project. This is particularly true if the literature review is to be a chapter in a future empirical study. Analysis of the literature allows the scholar to develop frameworks for analysis and the ability to see the big picture and know how details from the literature fit within the big picture. When scholars use bloom’s fifth category evaluating they are able to see the strengths and weaknesses of the theories, arguments, methodology and findings of the literature they have collected and read. 7] when scholars engage in creating the final category in bloom's taxonomy, they bring creativity to the process of doing a literature review. They may be able to find a fresh and original research question, identify a heretofore, unknown gap in the literature or make surprising connections.
By understanding how ways of thinking connect to tasks of a literature review, a scholar is able to be self-reflective and bring metacognition to the process of reviewing the literature. The process of reviewing the literature and writing a literature review can be complicated and lengthy. When an orderly system can be designed, it is easier to keep track of the articles, books, materials read, notes, outlines and drafts. Promoting cognitive complexity in graduate written work: using bloom's taxonomy as a pedagogical tool to improve literature reviews. Writing literature reviews: a guide for students of the social and behavioral sciences (6th ed.
