Terminology and Concepts from Chapter 2

Chapter 2 of my text (Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, 3rd ed., by John W. Creswell) focuses on literature review.

Creswell begins by focusing on the question of study topics.  The topic is, simply, the subject matter of a proposed study, written as a few words or a short phrase.  Researchers gain insight or focus their topic in the planning phase by:

• drafting a brief title (my study is about ___), which can be changed/refocused as the proposal or study progresses,
•  stating the topic as a brief question,
• considering "Can this be researched?"  Are there willing participants? Do you have the resources to collect & analyze the data?
• considering "Should this be researched?"  Does it add to the available research knowledge, duplicate past studies, lift up the voices of underrepresented groups/individuals, address social justice or transform the ideas/beliefs of the researcher? How does the project contribute to the literature?  Does it pay off for the researcher in terms of career goals?  Have you solicited opinions from others in your field?

Creswell then focuses more specifically on the Literature Review as a way to consider a topic and as part of the expected reporting of a study proposal, journal article, dissertation, etc.

The purposes of a literature review are to share with the reader the results of other related studies, to relate the study to the larger dialogue surrounding that topic in existing literature, and to fill in the gaps/extend past studies.  It provides a framework for establishing the importance of the proposed study, as well as a benchmark for comparing the results/findings.

Literature reviews are used in several ways.

In a study proposal, consult your advisor, but in general lit reviews are a brief summary (not yet fully developed) of about 20 pages OR an outline of topics/references for development into a "literature review" chapter (20-60 pgs written).

In a journal article, the lit review is an abbreviated form of that found in a thesis/dissertation in a "related literature" section after the introduction, threaded throughout the study, or at the end (depending upon the type of study and methods used).

For qualitative research, use the literature review in a manner consistent with the assumptions of the participant.  Literature reviews can set the stage (as part of or near the introduction), can be a separate section with theory discussion, or can be a final section that compares/contrasts results of the new study with past studies. Creswell suggests using literature sparingly at the beginning of studies to convey teh inductive design of Qualitative research--unless the design type requires substantial literary orientation.  Consider the most appropriate place (beginning, seperate section, end), making your decision based on the intended audience.

For quantitative research, literature reviews are more substantial and are found at the beginning of the study to provide direction for research or hypothesis.  They may be used to introduce a problem in a "related literature" or "review of literature" section at the beginning of a study.  The literature review can introduce a theory or describe a theory that will be used, or it can discuss why it is useful to examine a specific theory.  At the end of a study, the literature review may be revisited to compare results.  Creswell suggests using the literature review as the basis for advancing research or a hypothesis in the introduction or a separate section at the beginning, and revisiting the literature to compare findings at the end.  Researchers must decide if they will use an integrated, theoretical, or mithodological approach (see below).

For mixed methods research, the literature can be any of the above, depending upon the research strategies used.   Creswell suggests using a placement consistent with teh study type.

Literature reviews can be INTEGRATED (summarize broad themes in literature), THEORETICAL (focuses on extant theory), and METHODOLOGICAL (less used today, focuses on methods and definitions).

An incredibly helpful, practical section of ch. 2 includes a list of steps in conducting a literature review, summarized below.  I wish I'd read this/taken this course as an undergraduate, as it would have helped me both there as a student and as a high school English teacher.

1. Identify key words to use to find materials at an academic library.  They may emerge in identifying the topic or from preliminary readings.
2. Search catalog holdings for the key words.  Focus initially on journals and books related to the topic.  Then search computerized databases.
3. Locate about 50 reports of research, placing priority on journal articles and books because they are easy to locate.
4. Skim this initial group of findings.  Copy/keep those central to your topic.  At this point you're just looking for "is this relevant to my topic," not "what does this say specifically about my topic."
5. Create a literature map (this is brilliant)--a visual representation of the literature on your topic (more on this later).
6. Draft summaries of the most relevant articles, including references in APA (or the appropriate style).
7. Assemble the summaries into a literature review, organized by theme or concepts.  End the lit review with a summary of your study and how it adds to the literature.

The Literature Map:  There is a good example of this in the textbook, but the literature map is essentially a "mind map" of the literature in existence.  Creswell suggests starting with the general topic, then breaking it into three broad subtopics.  Place specific aspects of each subtopic, along with relevant citations from the literature reviewed, under each subtopic.  Include quantitative, qualitative, and mixed research in your lit review.  Then place a box representing your proposed study in the appropriate spot, indicating its relationship to the existing literature.  In this way, researchers can easily see how their study fits into (or does not fit into) the existing literature.  What is new or different about their topic? Why is it needed?  I love this idea.

More on database searches:  I have long wondered when, exactly, I would learn this type of thing in "library school."  I was happy to see it in this chapter.  Creswell gives information on several free and commercial databases and their uses/benefits.  He advises using a thesaurus of search terms/descriptors from each database (if available) to refine individual search terms.  Free databases included ERIC, Google Scholar, and PubMed.  Commercial databases included ProQuest (which accesses several databases in one spot), Sociological Abstracts, PsycINFO, and The Social Sciences Citation Index.  I can honestly say this is the first time in my education that any book or instructor has discussed what differentiates one database from the next.  I feel like the next time I research I will make a more informed choice regarding where to begin my database searches, and the descriptions on the SLIS library liason's page will have a whole new context for me.

Creswell's priority in selecting literature:  This hierarchy helps beginning researchers determine which types of literature are most/least desirable.  This is another list that would have been helpful earlier in my academic career and in my teaching career.

1. Start with broad synthesis, such as overviews in encyclopedias or literature summaries from journal abstracts (this is obviously for giving the researcher a base of knowledge, not for specific inclusion in a scholarly lit review).
2. Then, look at journal articles from respected peer-reviewed national journals that report research studies.
3. Books.
4. Recent conference papers.
5. dissertation abstracts (pay attention to quality)
6. WWW.  (pay attention to quality). Check online journals to see they have solid review boards.

An abstract is a brief review of the literature (short paragraph) summarizing major elements.  Abstracts of studies mention the problem, state the central purpose of the study, give information abotu the sample/population/subjects, review key results, and, in the case of methodological reviews, point out flaws in research methodology.  Abstracts of other literature mention the problem, identify central theme(s), discuss major conclusions, and, if methodological, mention flaws in reasoning,  logic, force of argument, etc. 

Creswell also mentions style manuals.  APA must be my new best friend.

Definition of Terms:  this may either be part of a lit review or separate from it.  Regardless of study type, the definition of terms section should:

• define terms that individuals outside the field of study might not understand.
• define terms when they first appear in the document.
• define terms in all sections of the research plan (title, problem statement, purpose statement, research questions/hypotheses, or objectives, literature review, theory base, and methods).
• define terms at a specific, operational level (as used here)
• use accepted language in research literature (not everyday language)
• definitions can define a common language word in the research context, pair a common term with a limitation, list a criterion, or define a term operationally
• One approach is a 2-3 page separate section.

Qualitative studies should delay definition of terms until they appear in the study.  Writers may pose tentative definitions before their entry into the field if necessary, but definitions should emerge as the study progresses.

Quantitative studies should include extensive definitions in the research proposal in a separate section at the beginning.

Mixed Methods studies vary depending up on the methods used in the study.

In Quantitative studies, structure literature reviews by first discussing literature focused on independent variables, then literature focused on dependent variables, then studies focused on the relationship between the two.

There is a lot to digest in this chapter, and being able to apply it to research of my own (or hypothetical research of my own) would be helpful.  I can see how becoming a good researcher requires putting on a different "hat" or mindset than the practitioner hat.  Which probably means now is a good time to go read the assigned article, which I think focuses on practitioners as researchers.