Chreswell ch3 reviewing the literature

Chapter 3

Reviewing the Literature
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Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and
Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 4e

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By the end of this chapter,
you should be able to:




Define what a literature review is and
why it is important
Identify the five steps in conducting a
literature review

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting,
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research, 4e – Creswell
ISBN: 0132755912

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Education, Inc.
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What Is a Literature Review?



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

A written summary of the literature
Describes past and current information and
research
Organized into topics
Reports the literature based on themes or
individual studies
Documents a need for your proposed study

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting,
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research, 4e – Creswell
ISBN: 0132755912

3-3

© 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson
Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.


Literature Review in a
Quantitative Study







Documents the importance of the research
problem at the beginning of the study
Supports the theory or explanation used in the
study
Foreshadows the research questions
Provides an explanation for the results in other
studies and in the theoretical prediction at the end
of the study

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting,
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research, 4e – Creswell
ISBN: 0132755912

3-4

© 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson
Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.


Literature Review in a
Qualitative Study






Documents the importance of the research
problem at the beginning of the study
Does not foreshadow the research
questions (which are broad in scope to
encourage participants to provide their own
views)
Is used to compare and contrast with other
studies at the end of the study

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting,
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research, 4e – Creswell
ISBN: 0132755912

3-5

© 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.


The Process of Conducting
a Literature Review






Identify key terms
Locate literature
Critically evaluate and select the literature
Organize the literature
Write a review

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting,
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research, 4e – Creswell
ISBN: 0132755912

3-6

© 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson
Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.

Identifying Key Terms








Write a preliminary “working title” for the
project and select two or three key words that
capture the essence of the project
Pose a short general research question that
you would like to answer in the study
Look in catalogues of terms to find words that
match your topic
Scan the contents in your library stacks and
the table of contents of educational journals

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting,
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research, 4e – Creswell
ISBN: 0132755912

3-7

© 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson
Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.

Priority/Value of Sources
in the Literature




Summaries
Journals, books, indexes, databases
Early stage literature (e.g., papers
posted on Web sites, conference
papers)

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting,
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research, 4e – Creswell
ISBN: 0132755912

3-8

© 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson
Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.


Databases Used
in Educational Research
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ERIC
PsycINFO
Sociofile
Social Science Citation Index
EBSCO
Dissertation Abstracts

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting,
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research, 4e – Creswell
ISBN: 0132755912

3-9

© 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson
Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.


Critically Evaluate and Select
the Literature


Is it a good, accurate source?





National journal?
Reviewed source?
Research study?

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting,
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research, 4e – Creswell
ISBN: 0132755912

3-10

© 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson
Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.


Critically Evaluate and Select
the Literature (cont’d)









Is the source worthy of inclusion?

Topic relevance: Is the literature on the same topic as
your proposed study?
Individual and site relevance: Does the literature
examine the same individuals and sites you want to
study?
Problem relevance: Does the literature examine the
same research problem as you propose in your study?
Accessibility relevance: Is the literature available in
your library or can it be downloaded from a Web site?

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting,
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research, 4e – Creswell
ISBN: 0132755912

3-11

© 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson
Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.


Organize the Literature:
Abstracting Studies




Contents of abstracts vary for research studies and
essays.

The structure is essentially the same for quantitative
and qualitative research studies:
 Research problem
 Research questions/hypotheses
 Data collection procedures
 Results/findings

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting,
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research, 4e – Creswell
ISBN: 0132755912

3-12

© 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson
Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.


Sample Hierarchical Literature Map
The Need for Teaching Programs
to Be Culturally Responsive

Study Abroad
Programs

Attitudes Toward
Study Abroad
King, Young,1994

Predominately English
Speaking Cultures
Mahan, Stachowski,
1990;
Quinn, Barr, McKay,
Jarchow, Powell, 1995;
Vall, Tennison, 1992

Bennett, 1995; Eastman,
Smith, 1991; Grant 1994; Noel, 1995

Personal Insights
of Preservice Teachers

Possible
Improvements

Friesen, Kang
McDougall, 1995;
Mahan, Stachowski, 1991

Martin, Rohrlich ,
1991; Stachowski,
1991

U.S.
Programs

Personal Insights
of Preservice

Teachers
Cockrell, Placier,
Cockrell, Middleton,
1999; Goodwin, 1997;
Kea, Bacon, 1999

Need for Further Study:
Non-English Speaking Cultures

Conventional
Programs

Question: Do short-term study
abroad programs in nonEnglish
speaking cultures help create
cultural responsiveness in
preservice teachers?

Colville-Hall,
Macdonald,
Cooper, Beare,
Smollen, 1995;
Thorman, 1990;
Rodriguez,
Larke,
Sjostrom, 1995;
Wiseman,
Vavrus,
1994
Bradley, 1990

© 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting,
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research, 4e – Creswell
ISBN: 0132755912

3-13

Cross-Cultural
Programs

Education, Inc.
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Organize the Literature:
Constructing a Literature Map






Identify key terms for the topic and put
them at the top of the map
Sort studies into topical areas or “families
of studies”
Provide a label for each box which will
become a heading for the review

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting,
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research, 4e – Creswell
ISBN: 0132755912

3-14

© 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson
Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.


Organize the Literature:
Constructing a Literature Map
(cont’d)






Develop the map on as many levels as
possible
Draw a box toward the bottom of the
figure that says “my proposed study”
Draw lines connecting the proposed
study with other branches of the
literature

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting,
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research, 4e – Creswell
ISBN: 0132755912

3-15

© 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson
Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.


Circular Literature Map
Need for Further Study: Non-English Speaking Cultures
Question: “Do short term study abroad programs in non-English
speaking cultures help create cultural responsiveness in preservice teachers?

U.S. Programs
Study Abroad
Programs
Attitudes Toward
Study Abroad
(King, Young 1994)

Personal Insights of
Preservice Teachers
(Friesen, Kang,
McDougall, 1995)

Conventional

Programs
Colville-Hall,
Macdonald, Smolen,
1995)

Predominately English
Speaking Cultures
(Mahan, Stachowski,
1990)

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting,
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research, 4e – Creswell
ISBN: 0132755912

Personal Insights
of Preservice
Teachers (Cockrell,
Placier, Cockrell,
Milleton, 1999

Cross-Cultural
Programs
(Cooper, Beare,
Thorman, 1990)

3-16

© 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson
Education, Inc.

All rights reserved.


Writing a Literature Review


Use a consistent style manual approach





End-of-text references
Within-text references
Headings
Tables/figures

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting,
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research, 4e – Creswell
ISBN: 0132755912

3-17

© 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson
Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.


Writing a Literature Review:

Types of Reviews


Thematic review






Literature documents the theme identified by
researcher
No study is discussed in detail

Study-by-study review




Detailed review of each study
Studies grouped by themes
Summaries linked by transitional sentences and
organized under subheadings

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting,
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research, 4e – Creswell
ISBN: 0132755912

3-18

© 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson
Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.


Concluding Statement in a
Literature Review




Summarize the major themes found in
the literature review
End with a rationale for the need for
your study based on this literature
review

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting,
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research, 4e – Creswell
ISBN: 0132755912

3-19

© 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson
Education, Inc.
All rights reserved.