literature review backgroundViva Du文档格式.docx
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literature review backgroundViva Du文档格式.docx
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Bell,2007).Inotherwords,agoodliteraturereviewingprocessisnotsimplyaboutsearchingforpaststudiesonaparticulartopicandthendescribingtherelevantinformation/resultsgeneratedbyeachstudy,butmoreimportantlyitshouldalsore-organizeandcriticallyevaluatetheselectedliterature,integratetheirresults,interpretthecumulativefindingsandultimatelytoproduceacomprehensiveandcoherentreportofthesynthesis’findingsonthechosentopic(Kennedy,2007).Itaimstoreviewthecriticalpointsofcurrentknowledgeanddemonstratetherelationshipofeachworktotheothersunderconsideration,thusitdoesnotcontributeanyoriginalexperimentalwork(Gall,Borg,&
Gall,2002;
Hart,1998).
Purposesofconductingaliteraturereview
Byconductingaliteraturereview,theresearchercangainacomprehensiveunderstandingandincreaseone’sownknowledgeabouttheareaofinterestbasedonwhathavealreadybeenstudiedandpublishedbyotherscholars(Galletal.,2002).Thiswillhelptheresearchertoknowwhatisalreadyknowninthefieldsothats/hewouldnot“reinventthewheel”.Fromreaders’pointofview,thiswillalsobringthereadersuptodatewithwhathavebeencurrentlystudiedandknown.
Theresearcherscanalsocheckideasandtestpersonalperceptionsduringthisprocess.Therelevanttheoriesandconceptsonaparticulartopicwillbeexploredbyreviewingavarietyofsources(Galletal.,2002).Basedonthisexistingknowledge,researcherswillneedtothinkcriticallyaboutthekeyissuesandaskthemselvesquestionssuchas“arethesefindingsreliable?
”,“arethereanygapsamongthosestudiesthatneedtobelookedintoinfuturestudies?
”,or“arethereanymajordebatesinthefieldandhowcanmyresearchcontributetothem?
”(Bryman&
Bell,2007).Theexistingknowledgefromtheliteraturecombinedwithcriticalthinkingcanhelptheresearcherreviseandrefinetheresearchquestionsoranalyticalframeworkforhis/herownresearchprojectorprovidesomebasisforfuturestudies(Hart,2001).Forexample,researchersmayconductaliteraturereviewistoexplorewhatmethodsandresearchstrategiesareoftenadoptedinconductingthestudiesinafieldofinterest.Thesemethodsandstrategiesneedtobecomparedandcriticallyevaluatedinordertoexploreanypotentialproblemsthatareaffectingthevalidityandreliabilityofpreviousstudies(Dellinger,2005).Inthisprocess,researcherscanlearnfromothers’mistakesandthereforetorefinetheresearchdesignoftheirownresearchproject(Galletal.,2002).Furthermore,researchersreviewliteraturetofindoutanyinconsistenciesorsignificantcontroversiesinpreviousfindingsoranyunansweredquestionsinaparticulararea(Colling,1003;
Saunders,Lewis,&
Thornhill,2007).Thustheprocessofconductingaliteraturereviewhelpsresearcherstodecidetheirresearchfocuses(suchasfocusingontestingaparticularhypothesis)orsuggestnewfutureresearchdirections.
Inshort,aliteraturereviewisameansofdevelopinganargumentaboutthesignificanceofone’sresearchandwhereitleads.Thereviewshouldshowwhytheproposedresearchquestionsareimportant.Insomeinstances,researchersmayinterpretwhatotherscholarshavearguedinpreviousliteratureandusethoseprominentwritingstosupportaparticularviewpoint.Thisisameansofaffirmingtheresearcher’scredibilityassomeonewhoisknowledgeableinthechosenarea(Bryman&
Bell,2007).
Commonstepsinconductingaliteraturereview
Therearemanydifferentwaysofconductingaliteraturereviewduetodifferentphilosophicalpositionsheldbytheresearchers.HoweverAccordingtoDenyerandNeely(2004)thefollowingstepsareveyoftenincluded.
Firstofall,theresearchtopicneedstobenarroweddowninordertolimitthenumberofsourcesthatshouldbereadandreviewed.Bynarrowingthetopicdown,theresearcherwillbemorefocusedononespecificarea.Thisenablestheliteraturereviewandtheanalysistobemorecomprehensiveandremainabetterquality(Cronin,Ryan,&
Coughlan,2008;
DeakinUniversityLibrary,2011).Secondly,developthecriteriaforjudgingwhetherastudywasconductedwellenoughtobeincludedinthesynthesis.Itisunlikelythatoneoracoupleofarticleswillprovidesufficientinformationrelevanttothechosentopic.Researchersalwaysneedtoreadalargeamountofarticlesthatseemtoberelevantinordertodiscoverwhatisgenerallyagreedorwhatarethemaindebatesinthefield.Thereforethepredeterminedcriteriacanhelpresearcherstomakegoodandconsistentjudgmentsonwhatneedtobeincludedorexcludedduringtheliteraturereviewprocess.Moreover“alackoftime”isacommonlimitationforresearchprojects,thissecondstepsavesresearchers’timeonreviewingliteratureandenablestheresearchprocesstobeefficient(Bryman&
Bell,2007).Thenextstepistothinkaboutwhatthemesandcriticalissuesconnecttheliteraturetogetherastheliteraturereviewrequiresare-organizationandasynthesisratherthansimplysummarizeeachworkonebyone.Somescholarsclassifythesethreestepsintooneandnameit“problemformulation”.Itinvolvesidentifyingwhichtopicorfieldaretobeexaminedandwhatitscomponentissuesare(Trochim,2006).
Aftertheproblemformulation,thefollowingstepistobeginsearchingfortherelevantmaterialsandidentifythekeyissuesandfindingsdemonstratedbythosestudies.Theresearcherneedstoevaluatehowtheevidencesupportstheauthors’argumentsandhowtheseargumentsorproposedtheoriesandconceptsarerelated.Inthisprocess,itisimportanttohighlightanymajordebatesonthetopicandanyinconsistencyofthosefindingsinordertoproduceathoroughcritiqueofexistingliterature.Thereviewerneedstodistinguishbetweenfactsandopinionsandjustifyhowtheseexistingargumentsandmodelsarerelatedtothereviewer’sownresearcharea(Dees,2003;
Sharpetal.,2002).
Fromhereonresearcherscanstartdesigningtheresearch.Howeveritisworthnotingthatresearchersshouldnotstopreviewingtheliteratureoncetheystartdesigningtheresearchandcollectingdata.Thereviewshouldbecarriedoutmoreorlessthroughouttheentireresearchprocessinordertokeepresearchersuptodatewithanycurrentstudiesinthesamefield(Bryman&
Bell,2007).Thereasonisthatresearchprojectsoftentakeafewweeksormonthsorevenyears,inthemeantimetheresearchgapthatyouarecurrentlyworkingonmayhavealreadybeenfilledbyanotherresearcher’lateststudy.Inthiscase,youmaywanttochangetheresearchdirectiontoavoidduplicationofeffort.Anotherreasonisthatcontinuouslyreviewingmoreliteraturethroughouttheresearchprojectmayenabletheresearchertogainbetterinsightsandnewideastowardstheresearchquestionsandthereforetogeneratebetterresearchoutcomes(Galvan,1999).
Keyelementsofaliterature
Aliteraturereviewconsistsofthreemainparts:
aintroduction,amainbodyandaconclusion(TheUniversityofWisconsin-MadisonWritingCenter,2009).Theintroductionisanoverviewofthechosentopic.Itbrieflyoutlinesthemainissuesortheoriesunderinvestigation.Theobjectivesoftheliteraturereviewarepresentedhereaswell.Themainbodyoftheliteraturereviewshouldclearlyidentifythekeyargumentsinthefield(Saundersetal.,2007;
TheUniversityofWisconsin-MadisonWritingCenter,2009).Theargumentsmaybedividedintocategories,forexample,theonesthatsupportaparticularviewpointmaybediscussedtogetherandthosethatshowanoppositepositionmaybediscussedtogetheragainsttheformerones(Sharpetal.,2002).Thelinkbetweenthosepositionsshouldbeportrayedclearlyinordertoidentifywhythedifferences/debatesexist.Theworkthatprovidesthemostconvincingargumentsormakesthegreatestcontributiontothedevelopmentofthatparticularfieldshouldbehighlightedhere(Bryman&
Bell,2007;
H.Cooper,2010;
TheUniversityofWisconsin-MadisonWritingCenter,2009).Thisprocessrequiresacriticalthinkingandtheresearchershouldgiveconsiderationstothefollowingfewaspectswhenreviewingeachwork:
1)aretheargumentssupportedbyempiricalevidences,2)arethereanybiasintheresearchdesign,3)doestheworksignificantlycontributetotheresearchareaorprovidesanyvaluableinsightsthatworthmentioningintheliteraturereview(Machi,2009).
Approachestotheliteraturereview
Literaturereviewscanhavedifferentpurposes,goals,focuses,perspectives,coveragestrategies,organizationsandaudiences.Theymayhavedifferentfocusesoneitherresearchmethods,researchoutcomes,theoriesorapplications.Researchersmayattempttointegratewhatothershavewrittenandhighlightthecentralissues,ortocriticizethosearguments,ortobuildconnectionsbetweenrelatedtopics(Kennedy,2007).Basedonthesedifferences,literaturereviewscanbeclassifiedintothefollowingtypes:
Argume
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