Bio 199 Lecture 3 (Literature Review)

THE LITERATURE REVIEW

Evaluating Others’ and Developing Your Own

RELATED LITERATURE

• RELATED LITERATURE: Composed of discussions of facts and principles to which the present study is related

• RELATED STUDIES: studies, inquiries or investigations conducted to which the present proposed study is related or has some bearing or similarity

• usually unpublished materials

• manuscripts; theses; dissertations

SEARCHING FOR THEORIES

We usually survey the literature to arrive at theories.

THEORY

• DEFINITION

• set of interrelated concepts, definitions and propositions that presents a systematic view of phenomena by specifying relations among variables (Kerlinger, 1973)

• purpose: explaining and predicting the phenomena

FUNCTIONS OF THEORY

• It identifies the start for the research problem by presenting the gaps, weak points, and inconsistencies in the previous researches. This provides the study with a conceptual framework justifying the need for investigations.

• It puts together all the constructs or concepts that are related with the researcher’s topic. The theory then leads you into the specific questions to ask in your own investigation

• It presents the relationships among variables that have been investigated. This process enables you to view your topic on hand against the findings earlier bared.

OTHER IMPORTANCE, PURPOSES AND

FUNCTIONS OF RELATED LITERATURE

“WHAT IS IT FOR ME ME ANYWAY?”

• It gives the researcher a feeling of confidence since by means of the review of related literature he will have on hand all constructs related to the study.

• It provides information about the research methods used, the population and sampling considered, the instruments used in gathering data, and the statistical technique and computation employed in previous research.

• It provides findings and conclusions of past investigations which may relate to your own findings and conclusions.

• The surveyed materials must be as recent as possible

• Materials reviewed must be objective and unbiased

• Materials surveyed must be relevant to the study

• Surveyed materials must have been based upon genuinely original and true facts or data to make them valid and reliable

• Reviewed materials must not be too few or too many

CHARACTERISTICS OF RELATED LITERATURE

MATERIALS

HOW TO CONDUCT THE REVIEW OF RELATED

LITERATURE“WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE?”

WHERE TO SEARCH

• personal or school library (magazines, journals, books, etc)

• attend seminars, scientific meetings (under your topic of course)...take down notes

• do a computer-aided search through databases

• example: www.scirus.com; pubmed; toxnet, etc

HELP, THEY ARE ALL FOR SALE!

• You can actually ask for reprints:

• via postcards

• via request letters

• via emails

AFTER ALL THESE PHOTOX WHAT’S

NEXT?“ITS TIME TO ORGANIZE YOUR TREASURES!”

ORGANIZING YOUR NOTES

• General Information

• Methods in Other Studies

• Support for Objectives

• Results to Compare with My Results

• Pros and Cons of Controversy

• Others...it may be of use (malay mo!)

ALSO...

• write all bibliographic information, i.e., author(s), complete title, publisher, date and place of publication, and so on

• write what others have said on the subject plus your own impressions and comments

• Start paraphrasing

GUIDE QUESTIONS WHEN YOU REVIEW RESEARCH

LITERATURE

• Do the accumulated literature indicate gaps and inconsistencies which you hope to fill?

• Are the variables adequately described?

• What data gathering instruments have been used? Are they reliable and valid tools?

• Are the target and sampling populations presented?

• Were the hypotheses tested and correctly interpreted?

• Are the results logical? Are the conclusions and recommendations data-based?

IT’S TIME TO WRITE...AVOIDING PLAGIARISM!

• Use headings arranged in logical order to indicate main points

• Avoid too long introduction to your main topic.

• Include information that are directly related and relevant to your topic.

• A maximum of half-page (double-space) must constitute one paragraph

• Do not copy in toto the information from your source. No more than 10% of the entire paper is allowed for direct quotation

• Give due credit to the real source of your data. Cite the authors at the end of the sentence.

• Paraphrase using your own words and style the data gathered.

• Summarize important points from your sources and relate them to your topic.

• Reinforce your data with selected figures or statistics from your course.

A common problem...turning your

list of ideas into a BORING review

HOW TO AVOID IT

• Make subheads (not too many), transitional phrases and unifying ideas to make information flow smoothly

HOW TO AVOID IT

• Spice your writing with a variety. Keep your paper alive!

• Vary the way sentence and paragraph begins:

• Author A found out

• Author B found out

• Replace found out with:

• demonstrates; presented evidence for; supported; observed; reported; examined; concluded

• Early in the 1980’s, author A

• According to Author A,

READY TO DO YOUR RRL?

But before that, let us learn to critique or

evaluate a research study

GUIDE QUESTIONS

• Why did the Researchers do this particular study?

• Who/What was/were studied?

• How was the study done?

• What did the researchers find?

• What were the limitations of the study?

• What are the implications of the study?

ACTIVITY 2

• For December 3, 2009

• Materials: photocopy of guide questions and uploaded (FB) journal article

• Task: To be guided by the questions and critique the research study

• One page, single space, Arial, 12

• Submit on December 7, 2009

FOR ACTIVITY 3...

BRING THE FOLLOWING

• December 7, 2009

• Choose 5 abstracts from journal articles related to your desired topic/interest

• Inclusive Dates: 2000 to present

thank you and see you next meeting!