Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 1 Chapter 3: Reviewing the Literature Objectives Define the purpose of a review of related literature in quantitative and qualitative studies. Find primary and secondary sources for a literature review using indexes, databases, the internet, and library stacks.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 Chapter 3: Reviewing the Literature Objectives Evaluate the sources to determine their appropriateness as part of the literature review. Describe the steps involved in analyzing, organizing, and reporting a review of the literature. Define meta-analysis and describe the process for conducting a meta- analysis.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 3 Review of Related Literature Definition, purpose, and scope The review of related literature involves systematic identification, location, and analysis of documents containing information related to the research problem. May include documents such as articles, dissertations, reviews, etc.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 4 Review of Related Literature Definition, purpose, and scope Some meaningful studies are conducted in areas where little previous research exists, and some meaningful problems remain in heavily-researched areas of study.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 5 Review of Related Literature Definition, purpose, and scope Purposes: To determine what has already been done on your topic. Provides information so you don’t unintentionally duplicate existing research. Provides information to help you adequately frame your study in what has been conducted before your work.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 6 Review of Related Literature Definition, purpose, and scope Purposes: To determine what has already been done on your topic. Helps you to identify research strategies and data collection mechanisms that have and have not worked in previous studies. Facilitates your ability to interpret your findings.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 7 Review of Related Literature Definition, purpose, and scope Scope: Determining scope is challenging for beginning researchers. It is difficult to determine what to include and what not to include in the literature review.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 8 Review of Related Literature Definition, purpose, and scope Suggestions for adequate scope. Avoid the temptation to see how everything you find is related. When there is a large existing database, review only those directly related to your problem. When there are few existing studies, cast the net a little larger and include previous work related in a meaningful way to your problem.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 9 Qualitative Research Review Qualitative researchers may not review the literature in-depth before they begin a research study. Qualitative research topics emerge over time. Reviewing too much literature may compromise the inductive process of qualitative research.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 10 Qualitative Research Review Demonstrates underling assumptions critical to the research questions Demonstrates that the researcher is knowledgeable about related research Helps researcher identify gaps in the body of literature and may provide rationale for additional research Assists in refining research questions and guides working hypotheses

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 11 Steps for Conducting a Review 1. Identify and make a list of keywords to guide your literature search. 2. Using your keywords, locate primary and secondary sources. 3. Evaluate the quality of your sources. 4. Abstract your sources. 5. Analyze and organize your sources using a literature matrix. 6. Write the literature review.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 12 Identifying Keywords Identifying keywords Make a list of keywords that will guide your search. Consult indexes to identify keywords. Consider logical keywords and alternatives. Keywords can help narrow a literature search. For example, reading is too broad but reading strategies and elementary students would be more narrow.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 13 Identifying Sources Identifying sources: There are a range of sources available. Primary sources are preferred. Contain first-hand information e.g., articles published in American Educational Research Journal

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 14 Identifying Sources Secondary sources Second-hand information—not written by the person who did the study. Some start by reviewing these first. e.g., Handbooks, encyclopedias, and reviews such as Review of Educational Research, The Handbook of Research on Teaching

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 15 Locating Sources Identifying sources: Searching for books on your topic Become familiar with the library. Know what sources of help exist and use them when you need to.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 16 Locating Sources Use the library catalogs Use Boolean operators. AND and NOT narrow searches. OR broadens the search. Use field qualifiers such as date ranges, authors, or publication type.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 17 A: Technology B: Science C: Technology and Science Technology or Science is represented by A, B, and C. C represents the shared articles with both Technology and Science

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 18 Locating Sources Identifying sources: Consulting computer databases Identify keywords Select database(s) e.g., ERIC, Education Index, PsycINFO, Dissertation abstracts Specify your search strategy.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 19 Locating Sources Identifying sources: Searching the Internet and World Wide Web Very extensive Very current Quality control is lacking. So much content it may be overwhelming! There are many websites for educational researchers including: CSTEEP, NCES, US Department of Education

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 20 Locating Sources Identifying sources: Membership in professional organizations Professional organizations can assist in your search for current literature. e.g., NCTM, AERA, APA, ASCD, IRA

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 21 Evaluating Sources Evaluating your sources: A series of questions to ask yourself to determine if the source is appropriate for your purposes: 1.What was the problem statement of the study? Is this source related to your research problem? 2.Who was studied? Examine the sample.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 22 Evaluating Sources 3.Where was the source published? Refereed journal? Person’s opinion? 4.When was the research conducted? Recent, up to date? 5.How was the study conducted? Objective and impartial? Is evidence provided? Appropriate data collection?

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 23 Abstracting Sources Abstracting your sources Abstracts are summaries that describe hypotheses, procedures, conclusions. When you abstract, you review, summarize, and classify your references.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 24 Abstracting Sources Abstracting your sources Keep these notes organized and well-guarded and keep a copy! A literature matrix can help your organization.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 25 Steps for Abstracting Sources 1. Read the abstract or summary to determine relevance. 2. Skim the entire article and make mental notes of the main points. 3. Write a complete bibliographic reference. 4. Classify and code the article. Develop codes that are meaningful to you

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 26 Steps for Abstracting Sources 5. Abstract or summarize the source. Include the main points of an author’s opinion. State the problem, procedures, main findings. Note any special aspects relevant to your study or suggestions made by the author.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 27 Steps for Abstracting Sources 6. Include any thoughts that come to your mind. Note disagreements, questions you may have, and anything that is not clear to you. 7. Indicate statements that are quotes or paraphrases to assist you in avoiding plagiarism. Include page numbers

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 28 Analyzing, Organizing, and Reporting the Literature Some students are intimidated to start writing a literature review largely due to a lack of experience. Provide referential support for your statements. Consistently define your terms. Make an outline. Fit sources within your outline.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 29 Analyzing, Organizing, and Reporting the Literature Analyze similarities and differences among the sources. Provide a meaningful review of previous research. Include contradictory studies. Review least connected references first and then move to most relevant. Conclude the review with a brief summary of the literature and its implications.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application, 9 th edition. Gay, Mills, & Airasian © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 30 Analyzing, Organizing, and Reporting the Literature Meta-analysis is a statistical approach for summarizing the effects found in many quantitative studies that have investigated the same or a similar problem. Decreases subjectivity Sometimes more efficient than traditional reviews Meta-analysis uses a measure of relation called an effect size. Effect sizes range from small (e.g.,.25) to large (e.g.,.80).