Qualitative Research Methods- Literature reviews continued and Research Design

What are some practical screening criteria?

-Set of selection criteria -Narrows down the amount of studies that you have to read through

What is a technical definition of a literature review?

-"A systematic, explicit, and reproducible method for identifying, evaluating and synthesizing the existing body of completed and recorded work produced by researchers, scholars and practitioners" (Fink, 2005, p.3) -a technical definition of what a literature review is

What is a systematic literature review?

-A systematic review (SR) examines a specific research question by collecting and summarizing all empirical evidence that fits a pre-specified criteria.

Flowchart for literature reviews by Hart (1998)

-Flow of information: how it is communicated to us. Important as it is crucial that we have understanding of the work already out there. Need to figure out where the most reliable/robust information comes from.

How can you tell if a journal is peer reviewed?

-In order to see if it is peer reviewed: use of language, discussion of methodology, how sensitive they are: provide back-up evidence, usually a list of names attached on the webpage of those who have reviewed the journal. Most research in is quantitative: can also use quantitative research in a qualitative literature review. The journal should also feature a page with a list of reviewers, most of them whom emanate from international universities. Details are also provided on how to submit an article for consideration by the journal; these will include the kinds of academic fields the journal is interested in

What are the different sources that can be included in a literature review?

-It is important that any literature review is based on high-quality research from reputable sources: ▪ Textbooks ▪ Articles ▪ Theses ▪ Government publications ▪ Legal and professional publications ▪ Conference papers ▪Monographs ▪ Statistics

According to Strauss & Corbin (2015, p.68-70) what are the 4 purposes of literature reviews?

-Making comparisons -Enhancing sensitivity -Supplying questions -Confirming findings

What is grey literature?

-Material that is not produced by commercial publishers and, as such, cannot always be identified through traditional bibliographic methods.

Why may a researcher do a systematic literature review?

-One reason why a researcher may do a systematic literature review is the criticism that a limitation of traditional literature reviews is that they can be made to tell any story that experts want to tell.

What are the 2 screening stages that Fink (2005) recommends?

-The first screening is practical, setting out, including, and in some cases, excluding criteria -The second screening stage examines the methodological quality of sources, looking at how well a study has been designed and implemented to achieve its objectives

What are some criteria for making critical judgements?

-What a good source is like -It is necessary to go beyond the application of selection criteria, to making value judgements about what constitutes an authentic source and what doesn't -It is worth examining a source more than once, especially if its value or worth is unclear the first time -Operationalizing issues listed in the table above means using sets of tools to analyse and evaluate the literature. This means developing a complex set of critical skills, acquired through practice -If conducting the review as part of a research team, the question of achieveing inter-judge reliability of measurement comes into play: first they all have to agree a set of selection criteria, and then conduct the review itself. A good way of checking whether researchers are applying the criteria in a similar way is using the Kappa statistic-compares the level of agreement between two people against what might have been predicted just by chance.

What is the difference between a peer-reviewed and professional journal?

-What is the difference? • Journal webpage will specify and include a list of reviewers • Academic rigour of content (formal language, methods, reference section) • Non-peer reviewed often have few reference and a more informal tone

What does Creswell (2009) suggest should be the 5 components of literature reviews?

-an introduction informing the reader about how the review is to be organised and structured, review of topic 1-addressing the literature on the IV or variables, review of topic 2-the literature on the dependent variable-if there are multiple dependent variables devote a sub-section to each one or focus on a single important DV, review of topic 3-the literature that relates the IV to the DV: review specific studies and should be short, provide a summary of the review-highlighting the most significant studies and key themes that have emerged---- this is vitally important: must produce a synthesis of subjects or related subjects in the form of an increasingly focused argument or set of concerns.

What are the 3 possible locations of a literature review that Creswell suggests?

-in the introduction, as a separate summary or in the final section in the study. For some qualitative studies the literature can be discussed in the introduction to "frame" the subject being studied. However, using a separate literature review section towards the beginning of a study is more typical of a quantitative approach. Some types of qualitative research, such as the use of grounded theory, theoretical perspectives are developed inductively from the data itself: any literature review is created towards the end of the research, providing a benchmark against which the results can be compared.

What are 2 key differences between a traditional and systematic literature review?

1) Aims to limit researcher bias by attempting to identify, evaluate & synthesize all studies that are relevant: rather than it being on a personal level 2) These processes are identified in advance and reported in detail so that they can be replicated by others. Traditional literature reviews are more exploratory.

What does Cresswell (2009) suggest are the most important sources to include in literature reviews? (in order of importance)

1) Peer-Reviewed Journal articles: researchers in that field have read that research and validated it: checked-not just produced by one researchers. Fairly regularly produced: current. Online: able to get them for free. 2) Books (in particular monographs. Textbooks quickly become dated and/or not fit for purpose),Specifically focused on one thing-not textbooks. 3) Conference papers (up to date with developments in a field): show you what is happening at the moment, at a pre-publication phrase.

According to Braun and Clarke, what is good and bad practice in literature reviews?

2. Qualitative research is different and has different aims to quantitative research: eg. doesn't want generalisability 4. Have to choose previous studies that are relevant

What are the original questions that a literature review should have covered by the end? -How should literature reviews end?

Bringing everything together Answers some of the original questions. For example: ▪ What do we know about this issue or these issues? ▪ What problems have been identified? ▪ What solutions have been attempted? ▪ How has this actually been done? (i.e. methodology) -Given that all reviews should take a critical stance to the literature, this is also an opportunity to highlight the weaknesses of some of the studies described, particularly in terms of validity and reliability of their results. In this way the literature review becomes the basis for showing how the future study will avoid these mistakes and produce more robust findings.

According to Howitt (2019, p.370), what are the problems that literature reviews can help us to identify

Issue 1 - Failure to explore a specific aspect of some phenomena -e.g. Previous research has failed to examine how the initial greeting in a doctorpatient interaction influences the later interaction with the patient Issue 2 - An under-researched topic area e.g. There has been little work on how disputes between neighbours end Issue 3 - Specific issues surrounding general concerns -e.g. There is a widespread concern about knife crime, but what in particular is it that concerns people? Rather than focusing on broad general trends, qualitative research enables us to be specific in that given topic. Situate qualitative research in the broader field.

What are the different online sources that you can use?

Search Engines - Best to search the academic literature first as it can provide a diverse, scattered set of sources to evaluate. - e.g. www.google.com Wikipedia - AVOID Reading Lists - These offer a good starting place for students Publisher's Websites - Many publishers offer supplementary material to compliment their textbooks

What does grey literature include?

Theses and Dissertations ▪ Usually accessible through University repositories- will tell you if someone has already done a dissertation on the topic before. ▪ These provide a comprehensive list of references which may be useful for your own work Other Grey Literature: ▪ Newspapers ▪ Magazine Articles ▪ Business & Trade Journals ▪ Editorials ▪ Reports

How do qualitative and quantitative literature reviews differ?

• Quantitative = informing predictions (shape hypotheses)-looking for effects, relationships, causation • Qualitative = providing a clear rationale for your work: why we are doing the research-looking at research already out there and how our research will contribute to this field

How do literature reviews supply questions?

• A researcher can use the existing literature to help them formulate questions for interviews or provide guidance for observations. These may change with the data but it provides with a starting point. • Also, the literature can be useful during the analytic phase as it may provide discrepancies/contrasts with the data which could be further explored -What do we already know? Can form observations

How do literature reviews help us to enhance sensitivity?

• Gives the researcher an enhanced sensitivity to "subtle nuances" (p.69) in their data - e.g. What is the difference between 'humour' and 'joking'? Disentangling the words that seem to be saying the same things-unpicking subtle differences between them, and being sensitive to these complexities in the data.

What are the 2 types of journal articles?

• Peer-reviewed • Professional journals (not usually peer-reviewed)

What does a good literature review allow for, according to Shulman?

•A good literature review allows for what Shulman calls "generativity": the ability of researchers to build upon the scholarship of those who have come before-helps to develop both integrity and sophistication in research: easier to generate when there is an established research community and a canon of shared knowledge

What is the difference between the deductive and inductive approach?

•Deductive approach: literature review will help provide a source for the focus of your research, including aims, objectives and, in some cases, hypotheses •Inductive approach: may begin with the collection and analysis of data, a process that leads to questions that are then addressed through engagement with the literature

What does a literature review demonstrate?

•The literature review demonstrates the essential theories, arguments and controversies in the field and highlights the way in which research in the area has been undertaken by others •Some of the purposes of the literature review are to identify the gaps in knowledge that are worthy for further investigation, challenge current ideas or take an accepted theory but apply it in a new field

What are the 2 steps for deciding whether something is worth using or not?

•Two steps to whether something if worth using: the first is establishing a set of screening criteria-narrows down your search considerably, the next set is reading abstracts or full-text articles and making critical judgements about their worth

What are the two literatures associated with a literature review?

•When we talk about literature reviews we are really discussing two literatures: one describes the focus of the study, but the other is concerned about research methods

What is a bibliographic database?

▪ A bibliographic database is a source which gives an index of articles and other related materials and either the full article or details about where it can be accessed. Like a library database: able to bring all information in a given field together. ▪ These are usually online and many can be accessed through the university library.

How do literature reviews help us to make comparisons?

▪ Allows for concepts derived from the data to be compared to pre-existing literature and how these are similar/different from what has already been studied. Compare our findings to what is already out there, compare what is already out there to our findings.

What is the review protocol for a literature review?

▪ Background - rational for the study needed ▪ Review questions - exactly what is to be answered from the research ▪ Search Strategy - search terms/resources to be searched ▪ Study selection criteria and procedures - which studies will be included/excluded. ▪ Study quality assessment checklist and procedures - how quality of resources be assessed ▪ Data extraction strategy - defines how the information required from each primary study will be obtained ▪ Synthesis of extracted evidence - how will the researcher synthesise evidence -Pre-defined parameters for the kind of work that you will study: combination of another studies in another area, synthesised together in a systematic way, providing an overview of a topic

What are some bibliographic sources?

▪ Online public bibliographic databases (e.g. PsychINFO)-brings all info together in abgiven field. ▪ Private bibliographic databases (e.g. PubMed) ▪ Specialised bibliographic databases (e.g. government reports, legal bodies) ▪ Manual and hand searches based upon references from articles These bibliographic databases will be dependent on the field of study

How do literature reviews confirm findings?

▪ The literature can be used as a way of confirming (or validating) your findings or can be used to demonstrate how your research suggests the literature is incorrect, simplistic, or does not fully explain a phenomena: eg. qualitative research can cover areas that quantitative research doesn't address.

What are the different criteria you can use to see if a book is worth borrowing/ buying or not?

▪ Title/Subtitle - Do they seem relevant? ▪ Preface - Does it cover the subject area your looking at and at an appropriate level? Just because something seems relevant, doesn't mean that it is relevant at the level that you need ▪ Contents page - Does it offer material on your topic? ▪ Publisher - Reputable? ▪ Author - Credible?- eg. are they a professor, or lecturer in that area? ▪ Bibliography/References - Is there a list of sources given?