EFFICIENT R
EADING AND
DEVELOPIN
G YOUR
LITERATU
RE REVIEW
K E L L Y P R E E C E
R E S E A R C H E R D E V E L O P M E N T P R O G R A M M E M A N A G E R ( P G R S )
RESEARCHER DEVELOPMENT
www.exeter.ac.uk/as/rdp/ @UofE_RD
Meet the Experts Series of sessions supporting Postgraduate Researchers and Research Staff encouraging
researchers to think more widely about career choice by exploring a range of options.
15th June 2016
To find out more visit:http://as.exeter.ac.uk/rdp/postgraduateresearchers/careerspanelday2016/
Morning sessions include: Research Careers Outside Higher Education STEMM
Research Careers Outside Higher Education HASSDoctoral Graduates in Business, Finance and Law
Afternoon sessions include:Doctoral Graduates in the Cultural and Creative Industries
HE Professional Services Careers Doctoral Graduates into Teaching
WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM THIS COURSE…?
TODAY WE WILL COVER
Introducing the Literature ReviewSearching the LiteratureReadingNote-takingOrganising your ideasStructuring and Writing the Literature Review
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Reduce reading load by intelligent selection
Retain more of what you readSearch and judge relevance of source
material efficientlyKnow strengths and weaknesses of
various types of sources
Read and take notes with a defined purpose
Understand the purpose and value of a literature review
Feel confident when outlining and writing up the review
PADLET
https://padlet.com/UofE_RD/efficientreadinganddevelopingyourlitreview13_6_16
PART 1: INTRODUCING THE LITERATURE REVIEW
WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW?
‘The ‘literature review’ is the part of the thesis where there is extensive reference to related research and theory in your field; it is where connections are made between the source texts that you draw on and where you position yourself and your research among these sources…
…You can use the literature to support your identification of a problem to research and to illustrate that there is a gap in previous research which needs to be filled.’
(Ridley, 2012: 3)
TWO PARTS
ProductProcess
TYPES OF LITERATURE REVIEW
• Conceptual• State-of-the-art• Expert• Scoping• Traditional
(Thomson, 2013)
SO, WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A LITERATURE REVIEW?
THE MULTIPLE PURPOSES OF A LITERATURE REVIEW• It provides a historical background for your
research;• It gives an overview of the current context in
which your research is situated by referring to contemporary debates, issues and questions in the field;
• It includes a discussion of relevant theories and concepts which underpin your research;
• It introduces relevant terminology and provides definitions to clarify how terms are being used in the context of your own work;
• It describes related research in the field and shows how your work extends or challenges this, or addresses a gap in work in the field;
• It provides supporting evidence for a practical problem or issue which your research is addressing, thereby underlining it significance.
(Ridley, 2012: 24)
WHAT DOES A LITERATURE REVIEW DO FOR MY RESEARCH?
Builds your confidence as a researcher and a member of the academic community
Helps you to define the boundaries of your project, which will be as important as knowing your core findings
Develops your skill as an excellent researcher, who can locate, analyse, critique, synthesise and build on existing knowledge
LEARNING TO SITUATE YOUR RESEARCH IN THE FIELD
THE PROCESS
PHASES OF A LITERATURE REVIEW
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Thinking
Searching Reading
Reading
Writing
The initial research question
The refined research question
The initial scope of research
The revised scope of the review
PART 2: SEARCHING THE LITERATURE
FINDING LITERATUREBreakdown your topic and/or research
questions to identify ‘key words’ Pay attention to the keywords used in articlesUse Boolean logic and logical operators –
AND/OR/*Narrow your search – exact phrase or
ADJ/NEARConsider the limits of your search
THE SNOWBALL TECHNIQUE
FOR MORE SUPPORT
RECORDING YOUR SEARCHES
The proposed topic of my researchKey word searches have been completed in the
following places:
Name of catalogue, database, search engine or social bookmarking site
Key word searches conducted or tags used
Results of search (e.g. articles and books located)
Date of search
KEEPING UP TO DATE – ALERTING SERVICES
• New book alerts• Journal table of content alerts• Database search and auto alerts• Conference alerts• Web content alertsFor more information:
http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/515918/mod_resource/content/1/keepinguptodate.pdf
IN WHAT WAYS DO YOU USE THE FOLLOWING?
TARGETING SOURCE MATERIALSSocial mediaWord-of-mouthIndicesCritical reviewsEdited volumes
Journal articles Monographs FootnotesTheses
PART 3: READING
TYPES OF READING• Pleasure or interest• Functional (News, Information and
Instructions)• Work (Keeping up to date: ‘local news’,
Reports, Research)
AN ACTIVE READER…
Is selectiveIs critical Interacts with the textChanges reading orderRe-reads with a purposeAnticipates
DISCUSSION – READING HABITS
How many hours do you spend reading a week? (Research reading only)
Do you feel you read enough? Where do you read?When do you read?How long is your ‘attention span’?
PREPARING TO READ
Prepare your workspaceScope the reading projectCollect materialsNo interruptions!
WHY HARDCOPY WINS
Annotations are flexible and easy Navigation by look and touch Multitasking easierEasier viewing of several documents Easier on the eye
PREVIEWING AND SELECTING
At the moment…
How do you select what is worth reading? How is this working for you? Do you read every line?
PREVIEWING AND SELECTING
Currency?Credibility?Relevance?What is new to me?What do I already know?In which order should I read the sections/chapters?
What needs my in-depth attention?
TASK - SCAN READING
1 Read the title2 Read the abstract3 Read the introduction, the headings, the first
and last sentence of every paragraph and the conclusion and then
4 Tell your neighbour what you thought the article was about
(Thomson, 2012)
READING CRITICALLY• What is the author’s central argument or main
point, i.e. what does the author want you, the reader, to accept?
• What conclusions does the author reach?• What evidence does the author put forward in
support of his or her arguments and conclusions?• Do you think the evidence is strong enough to
support the arguments and conclusions i.e. is the evidence relevant and wide reaching enough?
• Does the author make any unstated assumptions about shared beliefs with the reader?
• Can these assumptions be challenged?• What is the background context in which the text
was written? Does the cultural and historical context have an effect on the author's assumptions, the content and the way it has been presented?
(Ridley, 2012: 66)
ACCELERATION BY DEFAULT
Reading more quickly is the result of Eliminating distractions where possible (or responding to them positively)
Finding focus: time, place, environment Selecting more efficiently (preview, skimming)
Making space for proper reading sessions
STEPS
KNOWING WHEN TO STOP
DEALING WITH INFORMATION OVERLOAD
‘Information overload will make your head spin for a while, but once its settled down again, you will find that you are much better at sorting the good stuff from the bad, and quickly.’
(Marshall and Green, 2010: 55)
HOW DO I KNOW I’M GETTING SOMEWHERE?
‘[If you're] starting find themes and patterns in the literature ... that means you are making progress.’
(Marshall and Green, 2010: 54)
HOW DO I KNOW I’M GETTING SOMEWHERE?
‘You will also find that, after a while, the same things keep cropping up, and that means you have covered most of the intellectual ground, even if you haven't read everything written on the matter.’
(Marshall and Green, 2010: 54)
THE LITERATURE REVIEW: KNOWING WHERE TO STOP• Time• Prioitise• Control• Familiarity• Be realistic
Eloise Zoppos for The Thesis Whisperer
‘Build an argument, not a library’.
(Rudestam and Newton, 1992: 49)
// COMFORT BREAK \\
PART 4: NOTE-TAKING
TALK ABOUT
Why do you take notes?
What is in your notes?
WHY DO YOU TAKE NOTES?
• To identify and understand the main points of a text• To aid recall• To use in later research and writing• To aid concentration• To make connections between different sources• To rearrange information for writing• To avoid plagiarism
(Ridley, 2012: 67)
YOUR NOTES
Key wordsParaphrase with the book closed and with
citationsEnclose all quotes or near quotes in your
original notes Summarise each new substantive text in one
short paragraph
YOUR NOTES
Comparisons with other worksYour critical appraisalNotes should interrogate the text!Knowledge and information mapping
YOUR NOTESWrite the argument and the claim of the paper in
no more than three to four sentences, then answer these questions:
• Is the text located in the same field, or another one?
• What aspect of your topic does the text address?
• What definition is offered of the topic?
• If the text is in the same or a different field, what concepts and language are brought to bear on the topic that might be helpful to you?
• What kind of text is this? Is it theory building? A think piece? A meta-study or systematic review? An empirical piece of work?
• What categorisations are offered? • What connections does this text make?
(Thomson, 2012)
HAND-WRITING WINS
NOTE-TAKING STRATEGIES
SUMMARISINGMake a record of the mains points of a text –
notetaking, highlighting, annotatingDraft a summary acknowledging the source and
writing down the main points the text is making. Consider: purpose, main evidence/supporting points, and connections between evidence and argument
Redraft to present the main points in the most logical order
(Adapted from Ridley, 2012 and Thomson, 2015)
CORNELL METHOD
NOTE-TAKING MATRIX
Text Argument Field Thesis Topic
Definitions Concepts Type of text
Categorisations offered
Connections
NOTE-TAKING MATRIX
Author/s (year)
Aims or research questions
Location of study
Sample size and identity
Data collection and methods
Key findings
NOTE-TAKING MATRIX
Themes in research
Preece (2015)
Wood (2012)
Torr (2009)
Smart (2013)
White (2015)
Foster (2014)
NOTE-TAKING TECHNOLOGIESEvernote - https://evernote.com/
Freemind - http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Goodreader - http://www.goodreader.com/
Google Keep - https://www.google.com/keep/
Microsoft One Note - https://www.onenote.com/
Mindnode - https://mindnode.com/
Noteability - http://www.gingerlabs.com/
Scan Pen - http://scanmarker.com/
Scrivener - http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php
BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCING TOOLSEndnote - http://endnote.com/Mendeley – https://www.mendeley.com/ReadCube - https://www.readcube.com/Zotero - https://www.zotero.org/
For more information: http://as.exeter.ac.uk/library/subjectguides/general/referencing/referencingsoftware/
DATA MANAGEMENT
PART 5: ORGANISING YOUR IDEAS
A KNOWLEDGE MAP/MIND MAP
WHAT GETS SORTED?
Meaningful thingsThings often encounteredUnique things
A Radiant Hierarchy of Ideas
MIND MAP TO STRUCTURE
WRITING A LITERATURE REVIEW: SIX STEPS TO GET YOU FROM START TO FINISHStep One: Decide on your areas of
researchStep Two: Search for the literatureStep Three: Find relevant excerpts in
your books and articles
Step Four: Code the literatureStep Five: Create Your Conceptual
SchemaStep Six: Begin to Write Your Literature
Review
LATCH – PROCESSING YOUR LITERATURE
Location
Alphabet
Time
Category
Hierarchy
From: The Thesis Whisperer
‘5 Ways to Tame the Literature Dragon’
PART 6: STRUCTURING AND WRITING THE LITERATURE REVIEW
STRUCTURING YOUR LITERATURE REVIEW
• Chronologically• By theme• By sector • By development of ideas• By some combination of the above, or by
another structure you create(University of Leicester, 2016)
STRATEGIES TO IDENTIFY YOUR STRUCTUREDiscuss the structure with a colleague,
explaining it as a continuous story you're trying to write
Use visual techniques like mind-mappingCreate a storyboard for your literature review.
This tells the ‘story' of the literature review in a small number of panels that mix text and pictures
Sort index cards with key ideas into a coherent structure
Use post-it notes with key ideas on a whiteboard to make connections with lines and colours
(Vitae, 2015)
ANALYSING EXISTING THESES
Macro level:• Structure:
•How many sections?•How long is each section?•How has the writer organised the material (thematically, chronologically, methodologically…)?
• Signposting
Mid level:• Linking between sections• Repetition
Micro level:• Paragraph structure• Sentence structure• Choice of words
(adapted from Vitae, 2009 and 2015)
ANALYSING EXISTING THESES – KEY ISSUES
• how the gap in knowledge is shown?• how is the research contextualised within
the wider scholarly field?• how has the writer rationalised their choice
of literature(s)?• how is the writer’s voice shown?
(adapted from Vitae, 2009)
PLANNING
Adopt a planning tool to draft and re-draft your Lit Review
MindmapsGantt chartsLists…
RD COURSES ON
Research Planning & Time Management Plan and Write your ThesisCreative Approaches to Writing your
Thesis Completing your Thesis
WRITE
‘It doesn’t matter if it is dot points, poorly thought out ideas, scribbles from paper notes… Whatever it is, start writing your chapters. Many people only give themselves 6 months to write, and it is so relieving to go back and see stuff already on paper. You will thank yourself for organising your literature, giving yourself some reminders or for thinking! Writing early may save you months of effort when you are strapped for time.’
Extracted from a blog post on www.thesiswhisperer.com
SO, WRITE EARLY, WRITE OFTEN.
DEVELOP A CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
Forms an index of referencesHelps you keep track of what you’ve readHighlights key points – for re-readingGets you to critique not just describeWriting practiceContent you could potentially use in your
thesis
SOME GUIDANCE FOR WRITING THE LITERATURE REVIEW
TO WRITE CRITICALLY YOU SHOULD:Present logical arguments which lead into
your conclusionsProvide sound evidence to support your
argumentEvaluate, select, organise and categorise
(Ridley, 2012: 142)
STRATEGIES FOR WRITING CRITICALLYComparing and contrasting Strategic and selective referencing Synthesising and reformulating arguments Agreeing with, confirming and defending Highlighting strengths and weaknessesRejecting a point of view with a rationale
(Ridley, 2012: 143)
FOREGROUND YOUR OWN VOICE
The organisation of the textMaking your own assertions, supported by
relevant referencesMaking explicit connections between theories
and conceptsSummarising and evaluating source material
Providing summaries at the end of sections/chapters
The use of personal pronounsExpressing a point of
view/agreement/disagreement(Ridley, 2012: 159-174)
QUESTIONS?