Chapter 3: Conducting and Writing Your Own Literature Review
Sections of a Literature Review
1. Introductory Section 2. Section on Findings 3. Discussion Section 4. References
Bibliographic Index
A list of publications on a particular topic
Secondary Source
A publication in which the author reviews research studies, theories, and educational practices and programs that others have generated about a particular problem or topic
Primary Source
A publication written by the individual who actually conducted the work presented in the publication
Effect Size
A statistic that represents the magnitude of the difference between the average scores of two groups on a measure or the magnitude of the relationship between a sample's distribution of scores on two measures
Peer-Reviewed Journal
A type of journal in which the peers are authorities who review the research manuscript and decide whether it merits publication
Meta-Analysis
Involves translating the statistical results from each of a set of research studies on the same problem into a statistic called an effect size
Meta-Ethnography
Makes use of qualitative research techniques, such as induction and interpretation, to identify concepts and themes in the case studies being reviewed, to examine similarities and differences in concepts and themes across the case studies, and to develop a set of interpretive findings based on these analyses
Exploratory Case Study Method
Provide a synthesis of case studies on the same topic by identifying concepts and principles that are present across cases, while also acknowledging the unique characteristics of each case
Informal Literature Review
Satisfies a need for immediate information to get a quick overview of a problem of practice or an educational topic
Search Engine
Software that looks for publications or other information in a database, based on user-defined criteria
Professional Literature Review
Synthesize research findings but with much less technical detail than formal literature reviews, because their primary audience is educators and other stakeholders whose research expertise is limited
Formal Literature Review
Systematic, thorough searches and syntheses of the literature on a problem of practice or educational topic
Chart Essay
Uses charts to focus the audience's attention on aspects of the literature review that will be interesting and comprehensible
A report of a research study written by the individuals who conducted the study is
a primary source
The primary advantage of a chart essay over a written report of a literature review is that a chart essay
is easier to understand by individuals without sophisticated knowledge about research methodology
Meta-analysis...
is the standard procedure for synthesizing the findings of quantitative research studies
There is general consensus among researchers that an effect size has practical significance if it has a value
of 0.33 or larger
Effect sizes
provide information about the practical significance of a research finding
Reviewers who use meta-ethnography as a method for synthesizing research results
seek to identify concepts and principles that are present across cases in a set of qualitative research studies
The report of a literature review
should include a description of your literature search procedures
Most published reports of educational research follow the style specifications established by
the American Psychological Association
The most useful system for classifying publications obtained through a review of the literature is likely to be one that sorts publications by
topics relevant to the research questions
Search engines...
vary in the amount of information they provide about each publication in their database
