Module 7: Lit Review Organizational Overview

Before you can write a literature review, it would be helpful to have an understanding of a literature review's components. This overview begins by providing a narrative of these components and then an outline of the important parts of each section.

The Literature Review Overview

The department requirement for the Master of Arts in Education may be met through completion of a scholarly review. The purpose of such a review is to identify and develop a better understanding of a problem by analyzing information from appropriate sources.

Conditions under which a review is especially useful will include the following:

• When research and scholarly works related to a specific problem appear to present ambiguous or conflicting results, and there is a need to select a most likely means to solve a problem.
• When published research and scholarly works related to a problem area appear in isolated and varied disciplines, and there is a need to discover the contributions from within each discipline in order to use them in the solution of a specific problem.
• When you have identified a problem which is best resolved by analyzing information usually found in published or related sources.
• A review shall include the following major components. In addition to the following sections, your paper should also include: title and approval pages (samples attached), a table of contents, an abstract, and a bibliography/list of references. Other divisions and subsections may be included.

Your literature review will be composed of 4 sections. The following paragraphs explain what is included in each section. An outline is also included at the end of this document.*

Introduction
Describe the problem which the review will help resolve and indicate why an analysis of existing information is appropriate for addressing this problem. The introduction should also present the importance of the problem, the scope of the review, and how the results of the review might be applied. The problem may be made specific by presenting one or more trend for which the review will provide answers.

Methodology
Explain the method of identifying and locating sources, the rationale for selecting the sources to analyze, the procedures to be used in analyzing the sources, and the criteria for evaluating the information found. 

Analysis and Discussion
Present evidence and ideas summarized from the sources analyzed. This review is driven by the problem presented, and by sub-topics related to that problem. Therefore, individual sources are to be reviewed, not as isolated entities, but with attention to the contribution they make to the topic under discussion. Information based on personal experience, observations, or interviews may be included as a means of clarifying questions, exemplifying research conclusions, or as a source of new information. The source and limitations of such supplementary information should be clearly stated. An evaluation of the quality or adequacy of the related sources may also be included. This evaluation may relate to individual works, or to characteristics of several investigations available on a specific topic. This review, then, is a result of a search for the information which will provide the most useful answers available for your research topic.

Conclusions and Recommendations
Identify and synthesize findings from the analysis as the conclusion of the review. Recommendations for future research, classroom applications, educational policies and procedures, program revision, or other warranted situations should be presented.

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Outline

1. Introduction
1. State the purpose of this literature review
2. Identify the importance of the problem
3. Define the scope of the review (e.g., middle school English courses)
4. Explain why this analysis is appropriate (needed).
5. Suggest how the results of the review can be applied.
6. List and define terms that the reader should understand to make sense of your review. (cite the source of each definition)
   
2. Methodology 
1. Explain the method you used for identifying and locating your source.
1. Include the databases and search terms used. Put your search terms in italics to make them stand out.
2. Explain your rationale for selection sources
3. Explain the procedures used to analyze your sources.
4. Identify your criteria for evaluating information found and how you determined if it would be used in your review. This might include evaluating the author, journal, year of publication, citations, etc.
   
3. Analysis and Discussion
1. Intro paragraph(s) set the framework for this section.
2. Reintroduce the research question and then describe the themes that you found in your research of the literature. This will provide this section’s basic organization using each of the themes as a subheading.
3. In each theme,
4. Intro paragraph – describes the meaning and a couple of sentences about the findings.
5. Review individual sources, not as isolated entities, but with attention to the contribution they make to the theme.
6. End with a summary paragraph
   
4. Conclusions and Recommendations
1. Conclusions
1. Organize using each of the themes you identified at the beginning of the review.
2. Identify and synthesize findings from the analysis.
1. Clearly show how the themes are supported or negated.
2. Recommendations
1. Future research – required
2. Additional recommendations – Select the relevant ones.
3. Classroom applications
4. Educational policies and procedures
5. Program revision

* Based upon the C&I: Handbook for Master’s Degree Programs

Module 3: Intro to a Literature Review

What is a literature review?  I don't think that It's like nothing you have ever written before. 

Unlike the research papers you have written so far, a literature review requires you to identify research questions that you want to explore and then find ACTUAL RESEARCH (not written opinions) that may lead you to the answers to your questions. PLEASE NOTICE that I didn't use the verb, support. Research questions are unbiased. Research questions should read "What are the effects of using social media in high school social studies courses?" NOT "What are the benefits of using social media in high school social studies courses?"
The reviewer is using these questions to explore the literature to see what has been researched to lead towards answering these questions.

You have identified a question and will search the literature for answers. Once you have reviewed the literature, you will tell your reader about what you have found. You are guiding them through the stories(research) that you have discovered on your exploration. 

Writing the Literature Review: Knowing what and why you write a literature review is important. Here is an overview by David Taylor at the University of Maryland. He is actually presenting it in the context of using the lit review as part of a larger document, but it is good description.


What IS a Literature Review
You have heard David Taylor's Description of a Literature Review.  Here is another WONDERFUL 9-minute video entitled Literature Reviews: An Overview for Graduate Students.  It is directly written for you . . . the graduate student. 

This video reveals the multiple places where a Literature Review can be found.  It can be found in the introduction of a report on research.  This literature discussion creates a foundation for the research by describing what has already been accomplished.  Some literature reviews are meant to stand alone so that a reader can acquire an overall understanding of the field.




You Are the Storyteller
The best metaphor that I have found for explaining how to write literature reviews is that of someone telling you the story of a town by telling the stories of the people who live there. A great example of such a story is Our Town. I am sure that many of you either performed-in or saw your friends/children present Our Town in high school. This is a story where the narrator takes the viewer on a tour of their town by telling stories about the people in the town. 

Watch this 1940 video of Our Town. It is a 2-hour story that you might enjoy as evening entertainment (and homework too.)  If 2-hours is too long for your busy schedule, then watch at least the first 30 minutes to get the sense of what I am saying about telling a story.

This is not just for your entertainment.  It includes telling the story of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire. You might say that it is a Grover's Corners Review. As you watch this video, keep track of the "main topics" that are covered.  Look for indicators of the validity of the items discussed.  Consider how the "main topics" intertwine.   




Now Read chapter 1 of Pan's book, Preparing Literature Reviews to get an overall understanding of what a Literature Review is and how it must be written. 

Review the Literature Review 1 in the back of the book as well (p. 135 - 136).   The labels may vary but how does it fit the overall structure?

Return to the Assignment page to see what happens next.