2011 MBBS Honours Literature Review

Structure and Content

Year 3 Honours Workshop 3C

A/Prof Di EleyMBBS Research Coordinator

Based on presentations by A/Prof Lindy McAllister

Overview of this presentation Literature reviews

What are they? What are they not? Searching for literature Reading and compiling literature Writing a literature review

Macrostructure Microstructure

Overcoming being overwhelmed Publishing your review

A literature review IS NOT

a summary IS

a conceptually organised synthesis of the results of your search University of Toronto (2001). http://www.utoronto.ca/hswriting/lit-review.htm

a critique of existing literature an illustration of your mastery of the field an argument e.g., for the need for your research, for

a position. Make sure your argument line is clear.

Why write a literature review? Demonstrates that you know the field

Maps the field and positions you and your research within the context

Justifies the reason for your research Identifies the gap your research can fill Shows your research is important

Allows you to establish your theoretical framework and methodological focusUniversity of Queensland (2002). http://www2.ems.uq.edu.au/phdweb/phhome.html

The stages of writing a literature Searching the literature Reading and compiling literature Writing the document

Macrostructure Microstructure

Publishing your review

Searching the literature

Types of literature

· Journals/periodicals· Books & chapters· Reports

(e.g., technical, government, research)

· Conference papers & proceedings

· Dissertations & theses

· Unpublished work (e.g., e-mail, letters, minutes,

internal reports) · Reviews· Audiovisual media· Electronic media

(e.g., CD ROM, internet)

· Newspapers & magazines

Based on APA (1994) and http://www.clet.ait.ac.th/EL21LIT.HTM

Make sure your review is current

Use the library Learn to search

Medline CINAHL ERIC

Ask colleagues – get help and advice

Reading a mountain of

literature

Reading – just do it, lots of it

"Some books are to be tasted,

others to be swallowed,

and some few to be chewed and digested"

(Bacon)

Reading for different purposes

· accounts of research on similar topics; · accounts of research methods being applied in

ways which are similar to your own plans; · accounts of the context relating to your project.

Baxter, L., Hughes, C., Tight, M. (1996). How to research. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Prepare to be overwhelmed where to start?

Get a feel for the state of play in your topic area Ask your supervisor for the names of 2 influential

researchers in your topic area Look them up on the web; download their CVs if

possible; read all their papers chronologically to trace the development of key ideas in the field

Read a recent state-of-the-art summary or literature review in your topic area Text book chapter; review articles or tutorial articles in

journals; meta-analysis; systematic review

Be ‘picky’ (strategic) with what you read and use

Delimit the searches e.g., by years (say 2000-2006), language, key words etc

Only read ‘older’ literature if it is ‘seminal’/classic or frequently cited In recent search, what papers are most often referred to? Citation indices

Keep good record of searches to save effort and reduplication

Ask librarian to help you!

Information management Electronic

ProCite, EndNote, ScholarsAid Manual

Filing cabinet Concertina files Card system Reading log Spreadheet

Categorise your articlesAfter a comprehensive search decide which are; A - highly relevant B - less relevant, but still important C - articles that leave you with a nagging

feeling that you should have read them X - don’t want to read, not relevant,

never will be relevantFindley, T. W. (1989). The conceptual review of the literature or how to read

more articles than you ever want to see in your entire life. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 70, S17-S22.

Reviewing it all

Individual article review

versus

Conceptual review of the literature

Individual article review – evaluating what you have gathered

Read in this way for ‘A’ articles Numerous formats within various

references for individual article reviews Formats often focus on research

methodology

Literature to help you evaluate individual articles Cuddy, P. G., Elenbaas, R. M., Elenbaas, J. K.

(1983). Evaluating the medical literature - Part I: Abstract, introduction, methods. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 12, 549-62. Part II: Statistical analysis (pp. 610-20) Part III: Results and discussion (pp. 679-86)

Gore, S. M. (1981). Assessing clinical trials (series). British Medical Journal, 282, 1687-89, 1780-81, 1861-63, 1958-60, 2114-17. Also 283, 211-13.

Conceptual literature review Articles are reviewed in an integrated fashion Articles that are methodologically flawed are

included Goal = examination of the state of the art Your conceptual framework will be different from

that of the writer of the article Conceptual review is written from common

themes

Findley, T. W. (1989). The conceptual review of the literature or how to read more articles than you ever want to see in your entire life. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 70, S17-S22.

How to construct a conceptual framework Review the highly relevant articles.

Write a few notes on each front page Construct a framework for classification of

relevant articles List major points from the articles, then sort these

points into a sensible order Draw a table listing author and year under

each conceptual category

Findley, T. W. (1989). The conceptual review of the literature or how to read more articles than you ever want to see in your entire life. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 70, S17-S22.

Example of tabular format

Study Discipline Country Research approach Participants Data analysis Major findings

Scully & Shepard, 1983 Physiotherapy USA Ethnography 31, various experience levels Grounded theory Key themes/subthemes

Primacy of patient needs Rewards-Personal satisfaction, Professional

development, Dept enrichment Hardships-Time conflicts, Loss of patient

contact, Loss of privacy Teaching tools unique to clinical setting-

Diagnosis of student readiness, Selection of clinical problems, Manipulating time, Coaching, Shifting status of student to therapist, Evaluation of students, Self-evaluation

Example: Concept map framework

Create your own! Use Powerpoint Butcher’s paper Post It notes Inspiration.com Mind mapping software

Concept map

Literature review

Definition

Where to findliterature

Sources of literature

Publishing the

review

Reading

Writing

Macrostructure

Microstructure

Resources

Librarian

Show examples

Writing your literature review

Macrostructure

versus

Microstructure

Macrostructure Funnel your writing from

what is widely known

to what is not known Take the reader to the "point" (reason)

of your research

Macrostructure: Funnel (1) Establish a territory

Show the general area is: important/ central/ interesting/ problematic/ relevant

Introduce and review previous research Establish a niche

Indicate a gap in previous research raise a question about it extend previous knowledge

(but it remains unclear)

Learning Assistance Centre, The University of Sydney, 1997

Macrostructure: Funnel (2) Occupy the niche

Outline purposes/nature of the research Announce principle findings Indicate structure of the paper

Learning Assistance Centre, The University of Sydney, 1997

Developing a structure – some ideas

Put all related articles together e.g., in piles on the floor if need be

Discuss why these piles go together Sort and re-sort as explanations become clearer These piles will become sections of the literature review

Create sub-piles within piles These sub-piles become sub-headings

Create a word file of these headings and sub-headings – do they flow logically

Mindmapping on paper or software will achieve similar results; visual-spatial work and ‘doing’/moving are right brain tasks and working with words is left brain

Macrostructure: Writing paragraphs

Keep in mind that the literature review should provide the context for your research by looking at what work has already been done in your research area.

It is not supposed to be just a summary of other people's work!

The next few slides show the difference

How NOT to do it

This is more like an annotated bibliography than a literature review

"Green (1995) discovered…""In 1998 Black conducted experiments and discovered..""Later Brown (2000) illustrated this in…"

A better way Approaching the review this way forces you

to make judgements and to distinguish your thoughts from assessments made by

others

There seems to be general agreement that xxx (e.g., Brown, 2000; Green, 1995; White, 1997). Green (1995) sees xxx as a consequence of yyy; whereas Black (1998) puts xxx and yyy as … While there are limitations with Green’s analysis, its main value lies in …...

University of Queensland (2002). http://www2.ems.uq.edu.au/phdweb/phhome.html

Writers’ block - don’t believe it Start with an annotated bibliography

Summarise each article in one pile/section Decide on the key themes in the annotated

bibliography Write a paragraph for each theme (as per

suggestions above, in order to obtain synthesis not description/recounts) e.g, Various researchers have conducted randomised control trials on x. The results are equivocal in that some found…. (Refs), while others found …. (Refs). Smith and Jones (2000) have suggested that this variability in results may be due to ….

Just start writing - anything

Start off as a letter……. Go back to your outline (headings/sub-headings) Get feedback on sections and rework Arrange in order of headings and sub-

headings Create linkages between each section and

within each section Build in critique of the literature as you go

Microstructure Relationship between content and form

Form isn’t only for pendants; it can enhance, or detract from,the content

Content is difficult to understand if form is deficient

"Hey, where’s the next mistake?"

Microstructure

Includes Grammar Spelling Referencing

BE CONSISTENT

Grammar and spelling

Watch out for: Singulars / plurals Fewer / less However Apostrophes That / which Affect / effect

CapitalisationCommasFull stops AbbreviationsSplit infinitivesColons and semi colons

Apostrophe’s by Greg Dare

Greg’s First Law of punctuation:

for every omitted apostrophe (Australias, Womens)

theres an equal and opposite extra one (potato’s, pyjama’s).

Its predicted by the year 2000 apostrophe’s will cease to exist or every ’s will have one

but I’ suspect the’yll still keep coming randoml’y.

Reasons for referencing

Academic honesty Credibility Sources of information

i.e., where the ideas, material, etc. come from

Location of information i.e., where to find the original material

Good Guide: APA Publication Manual 5th edition

Publish your literature review

Where? Conference (poster or paper),

journal (tutorial paper), book chapter Why?

To get reviewers’ and readers’ feedback To accomplish something early To stake your claim to that area

Hints for good writing

1. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.

2. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects, but data is

not singular.

3. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.

4. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat.)

5. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.

6. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.

7. Be more or less specific.

More hints for good writing

8. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.

9. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.

10. No sentence fragments.

11. Foreign words and phrases are not de rigeur.

12. Do not be redundant; do not use more words than

necessary; it's highly superfluous.

13. One should NEVER generalize.

Yet more hints for good writing!

14. Don't use no double negatives.

15. One-word sentences? Eliminate.

16. Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice.

17. Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.

18. Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it correctly.

19. Don’t use contractions.

20. An ‘underway’ is the opposite of an ‘overpass’.

Four key features One key concept

1. Content

2. Critical analysis

3. Considered reflection

4. Elegance of exposition

In a single word

SCHOLARSHIP

Resources People - write your own list

Other academics, people outside your discipline, people you know who are good writers, CRGT, successful grant writers, copy editors(look around the room as well!)

Useful resource McLeod, S. & McAllister, L. (Eds).

(2002). Getting started on research: Age old issues, new age tools. ACQuiring Knowledge in Speech, Language and Hearing, 4 (1).

Available from Speech Pathology Australiaoffice@speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

($22 including postage)