Postgraduate Literature Reviewing

Presenter:

Caroline Forsyth

Adapted from presentation by Dr. Derek Richards & Dr Mark Mathews

Workshop Overview

Examine the elements of conducting a literature review

Formulating the question Identifying the literature Critically evaluating the literature

Purpose of a literature review

Assess the contribution of existing literature to the subject under review.

Allows you to demonstrate your ability to identify relevant information and to

outline existing knowledge.

Allows you to identify any gap in the research thereby providing a rationale

for your own.

( taken from PG Day Literature Review 10062013 Library Presentation)

Challenges in Conducting

Literature Reviews

Knowing where to start, (e.g. wide then narrow,

or narrow then wide?)

Knowing what to include

Knowing when to stop literature searching

Knowing how far to venture into the literature of

associated domains

Literature Review

What is a Literature Review?

Literature Reviews

A review of a clearly formulated question that uses systematic and explicit methods to identify, select and critically appraise relevant research.

from www.sebc.bangor.ac.uk

It critically evaluates the research already undertaken on a particular topic

Literature Reviews

Readers need to be able to judge whether the

relevant literature is likely to have been found, and

how the quality of studies was assessed.

Key features

The literature review process:

Explicit and transparent methods

A standard set of stages

Accountable, replicable and updateable

To summarise …

You need:

1. A clearly formulated question

2. Systematic and explicit methods

3. Critical appraisal of relevant research

1st step - Formulating a Problem

A Research Question should be:

- Specific

- Focused

- Clearly formulated

- Well defined

Ask questions of the question!

Discuss following thesis titles in pairs/threes

1. Why are social networking sites harmful?

2. How are online users experiencing or addressing

privacy issues on such social networking sites as

MySpace and Facebook?

3. What is the effect on the environment from global

warming?

4. How is glacial melting affecting penguins in Antarctica?

5. How are doctors addressing diabetes in the U.S.?

6. What are common traits of those suffering from

diabetes in America, and how can these commonalities

be used to aid the medical community in prevention of

the disease?

Research Question Examples

Why are social networking sites harmful?

Doesn’t specify which social networking sites

What kind of harm the sites are causing.

Assumes that this “harm” is proven and/or accepted.

http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/?p=307

Research Question Examples

How are online users experiencing or addressing privacy

issues on such social networking sites as MySpace and

Facebook?

Specifies sites (MySpace and Facebook),

Type of harm (privacy issues)

Who the issue is harming (users).

http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/?p=307

A strong research question should never

leave room for ambiguity or interpretation.

Research Questions Examples

What is the effect on the environment from

global warming?

So broad that it couldn’t be adequately answered

in a book-length piece, let alone a standard

college-level paper.

http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/?p=307

How is glacial melting affecting penguins in

Antarctica?

narrows down to a specific cause (glacial melting),

a specific place (Antarctica)

a specific group that is affected (penguins).

http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/?p=307

Research Question Examples

How are doctors addressing diabetes in the

U.S.?

This question can be looked up online and

answered in a few factual sentences; it

leaves no room for analysis

When in doubt, make a research question

as narrow and focused as possible

http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/?p=307

What are common traits of those suffering

from diabetes in America, and how can these

commonalities be used to aid the medical

community in prevention of the disease?

This is thought provoking and requires both

significant investigation and evaluation from

the writer.

As a general rule of thumb, if a quick Google

search can answer a research question, it’s

likely not very effective.

1st step - Formulating a Problem

What is your research question?

Take a few moments to write down your

research question.

Is Your Research Question:

- Specific?

- Focused?

- Clearly formulated?

- Well defined?

Ask questions of your question!

Take five minutes each to discuss your

research topic. Ask your partner to

interrogate your question to see if it meets all

the criteria mentioned earlier

Online students can take the time to objectively

interrogate their own question.

Exercise to do in pairs:

Example of well defined question

Computer-based psychological treatments for

depression:

A systematic review

Identifying the Research

Step 2 - Locating and Finding Studies

1. Defined search terms

2. Defined search arena

3. Other broad search limits, e.g. language, date, populaton

TIPS!

Document the

search protocol

and record what

research was

found

Systematically

manage the

search output,

e.g. using

endnote

Identify the Research

Defined search terms for:

Computer-based psychological treatments for

depression:

A systematic review

Online self-help treatment for depression

Web-based intervention for depression

Online depression treatments

Computerized cognitive behaviour therapy for

depression

Phase 1- Identify the Research

Other broad search limits, e.g. language,

date:

Studies published in English in peer-reviewed journals in the last 9 years (March 2005–March 2014)

The authors decided that the years represented a

meaningful timeframe in terms of:

contemporary technologies advances in multimedia broadband developments

Identify the Research

Link to literature search results

Order of search terms give different results

Boolean search terms ‘and’ ‘or’ ‘not’ give

different results

Changing Search Terms

Different search terms

See here for results due to changing boolean

terms

Try different boolean terms to see what

results you

2. Where do you search?

Databases

citation indices

reference lists from primary and review articles

grey literature

conference proceedings

research registers

the internet

individual researchers/practitioners

A search of three databases (EMBASE, PubMed, and PsychINFO including PsychARTICLES)

Identify the Research

Selection of Literature

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria - related to your research question

Develop inclusion or exclusion statements, these might relate to study outcomes, research design, methods used, population worked with etc.

e.g.

studies with a mixed population of men and women,

only random control trials,

maximum exposure time of 10mins

Selection

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria - related to your research question

Included studies using a variety of different computer-based

technologies

Study participants had to be adults (18+years) with depression (self-report or diagnosis), established using valid and reliable measures

Studies included were published in peer reviewed journals in English in the last 9 years

Participants could be from the general population or a clinical group so long as depression was specifically measured.

Preliminary research into recent developments in computerized paradigms for depression such as cognitive bias modification (CBM) based interventions were not considered for inclusion

How much literature?

Finding too much –

Rethink search criteria?

Rethink question?

Not finding enough

Broaden search terms?

Look in other places?

Subject Librarian can help

3. Critical appraisal of studies

“Assessing the quality of methodology is

a critical part of the systematic review process”

You will need to make decisions on all aspects of the

review and simply justify what you decide, making

sure its credible and meets the criteria, that it is

transparent, replicable and updateable.

3. Critical appraisal of studies

Computer-based psychological treatments for depression:

•Programs and their content

•Methodological characteristics

•Objectives of the studies

•Recruitment, sample types and sizes

•Eligibility criteria employed

•Outcome measures used

•Support type and communication mode in the studies

•Outcomes, support types and dropout

•Satisfaction

•Limitations

Critical Evaluation of

Literature

Descriptive

Summarises what other people have found without saying what

these findings mean for your investigation.

Usually a chronological list of who discovered what, and when.

Analytical

Synthesises the work and succinctly passes judgement on the

relative merits of research conducted in your field.

Reveals limitations or recognises the possibility of taking research

further, allowing you to formulate and justify your aims for your

investigation.

For example:

"Green (1975) discovered …."

"In 1978, Black conducted experiments and discovered that …."

"Later Brown (1980) illustrated this in ……"

For example:There seems to be general agreement on x, (see

White 1987, Brown 1980, Black 1978, Green 1975). However,

Green (1975) sees x as a consequence of y, while Black(1978)

puts x and y as …. While Green's work has some limitations in

that it …., its main value lies in …."

(Examples taken from University of Queensland: Writing the literature review)

3. Critical appraisal of studies

What?

When? Who? Where?

Why?

How?

What if?

Description

Analysis

Evaluation So what?

What next?

Learning Development University of Plymouth

Model to Generate Critical Thinking

Topic

Comprehensive Literature Review

Coherent synthesis

of past and present

research in the

domain of study

Source: Dr Hazel Hall, Napier University

What are the main

conclusions on

previous research in

this area?

What are the key

areas of debate in this

area?

Which aspects of this

work are of most

relevance to my

study?

What are the key

concepts in this area?

What have been the

main research

questions?

Where is existing

knowledge “thin”?

How is this topic

approached by

others?

Where are the gaps in

literature?

What are the

main

perspectives

on this topic in

previous

research?

Do parallel

literatures exist

for this topic?

Which

discussions?

Which sub-

themes? Which writers?

Which work is

subject to

challenge?

Who are

these

“others”?

Which existing

work could be

extended?

In which

subject areas

has the topic

been studied?

Student Learning Development, TCD 42

Write up literature review - Structure

Background

Purpose/Research question

Method

Findings

Discussion

Implications/Recommendations

Other ideas and options

Speed reading

Endnote

Databases in my area

Data mining techniques

Recording

SR websites

Centre for Evidence-based Conservation -http://www.cebc.bangor.ac.uk/

Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (medical) -http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/crd/index.htm

Cochrane Collaboration (international- medical) -http://www.cochrane.org/

EPPI-Centre, Institute of Education - http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/

Social Policy and Social Care -http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/chp/srspsc/index.htm

If you read one article, an example here of a review of the ways studies in reviews are appraised - http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=521688

If you prefer power-point, how about this one on mixed method reviews http://www.ccsr.ac.uk/methods/events/challenges/documents/JamesThomasESRCMethodologicalchallenges.ppt