Discusses about related literature for studies

1. Pamela M. Veroy, RN, MAN

2. Review of Literature
Content: This section discusses the theoretical
foundations of the problem.
The goal: is to develop your problem
conceptually and place it in the context of
previous scientific work.
Thus, a conceptual integration of previous
research is needed. Point out the themes, link,
gaps, and inconsistencies in the literature with the
aim to provide a clear conceptualization of the
problem.
Note that it is NOT the purpose of this section to
display how much literature you have read.
Avoid presenting a litany of past studies that are
conceptually disconnected from each other.

3. Review of Literature
This section provides justification of your
problem and hypothesis:
Why study these particular variables?
Why propose these particular hypotheses?
Why study the problem with this method?
 What differentiates your approach from
what has been previously done?

4. Review of Literature
Format: Unlike other sections in Chapter I,
this section is written in the past tense.
Begin this section with a heading (bold,
centered, upper- and lowercase).
To enhance organization, use subheadings.

5. Types of Literature
1. Conceptual Literature
2. Research Literature
Note: Researchers undertake a literature
review to familiarize themselves with the
knowledge base.

6. Purposes of Literature Review
1. Identification of a research problem and
development or refinement of research
questions or hypotheses
2. Orientation to what is known and not
known about an area of inquiry, to
ascertain what research can best make a
contribution to the existing base of
evidence

7. Purposes of Literature Review
3. Determination of any gaps or
inconsistencies in a body of research
4. Determination of a need to replicate a
prior study in a different setting or with a
different study population
5. Identification or development of new or
refined clinical interventions to test
through empirical research

8. Purposes of Literature Review
6. Identification of relevant theoretical or
conceptual frameworks for a research
problem
7. Identification of suitable designs and data
collection methods for a study
8. For those developing research proposals
for funding, identification of experts in the
field who could be used as consultants

9. Purposes of Literature Review
9. Assistance in interpreting study findings
and in developing implications and
recommendations

10. Scope of a Literature Search
1.Types of Information to Seek:
Primary source research reports -
descriptions of studies written by the
researchers who conducted them
Secondary source research reports -
descriptions of studies prepared by
someone other than the original researcher

11. Scope of a Literature Search
2. Depth and Breadth of Literature
Coverage
A review included in a research report.
A review included in a research proposal.
A review in a thesis or dissertation.
Free-standing literature review.

12. Locating Relevant Literature for a
Research Review
1. Electronic Literature Searches
Commonly used service providers in World Wide Web:
Aries Knowledge Finder (www.ariessys.com)
Ebsco Information Services (www.ebsco.com)
PaperChase (www.paperchase.com)
Galaxy (www.galaxy.einet.net)
Go Network (www.go.com)
Hotbot Directory (www.hotbot.com)
LookSmart (www.looksmart.com)

13. Locating Relevant Literature for a
Research Review
1. Electronic Literature Searches
Commonly used service providers:
SilverPlatter Information (www.silverplatter.com)
Magellan Web Guide (www.magellan.excite.com)
Open Directory Project (www.dmoz.org)
Web Crawler Channels (www.webcrawler.com)
Yahoo (www.yahoo.com)
Google (www.google.com)
 Lycos (www.lycos.com)

14. Locating Relevant Literature for a
Research Review
Key Electronic Databases for Nurse
Researchers:
-a. CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and
Allied Health Literature)
-b. MEDLINE (Medical Literature On-Line)
-c. AIDSLINE (AIDS Information On-Line)
-d. CancerLit (Cancer Literature)
-e. CHID (Combined Health Information Database)

15. Locating Relevant Literature for a
Research Review
Key Electronic Databases for Nurse
Researchers:
f. EMBASE (the Excerpta Medica database)
g. ETOH (Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Science
Database)
h. HealthSTAR (Health Services, Technology,
Administration, and Research)
I. PsycINFO (Psychology Information)

16. Locating Relevant Literature for a
Research Review
2. Print Resources
Print indexes - are books that are used to
locate articles in journals and periodicals,
books, dissertations, publications of
professional organizations, and government
documents.

17. Locating Relevant Literature for a
Research Review
Common print indexes
a. International Nursing Index
b. Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health
Literature
c. Nursing Studies Index
d. Index Medicus
e. Hospital Literature Index

18. Locating Relevant Literature for a
Research Review
2. Print Resources
Abstract Journals - summarize articles that have
appeared in other journals.
Two most important abstracts:
-a. Nursing abstracts
-b. Psychological abstracts

19. Reading Research Reports
What are research journal articles?
 - are reports that summarize a study or
one aspect of a complex study.
Content of Research Reports
- research reports consist of introduction,
method section, results section, discussion
section, plus an abstract and references.

20. Flow of tasks in a literature
review
1. Identify key words and key concepts to be
searched
2. Identify potential references through
electronic or manual search
3. Retrieve promising references
4. Screen references for relevance and
appropriateness (Note: Discard irrelevant
and inappropriate references)

21. Flow of tasks in a literature
review
5. Read relevant reference and take notes
6. Identify new references through citations
7. Organize references
8. Analyze and integrate materials
9. Write review

22. 5 Parts of Review Literature Review
1. The introduction: state the nature of the
research problem and states the research question
2. The body: reports what others have found or
thought about the research problem.
- Related study are usually discussed in group under
subheads (to make the review easier to read)
- Major studies described in more details, while less
important work can be referred to in just a line or
two

23. 5 Parts of Review Literature Review
2. The body:
- Referring to several studies that reported
similar results in a single sentence,
somewhat like this;
- Ex. Several other small-scale studies
reported similar results (Adams, 1976;
Brown, 1980; Cartright, 1981; Davis, 1985;
Frost, 1987)

24. 5 Parts of Review Literature Review
3. The summary: ties together the main
threads revealed in the literature reviewed
- Presents a composite picture of what is known or
thought to date
- Give readers some idea how many other
researchers have reported identical or similar
findings or have similar recommendations.
4. Any conclusions:

25. 5 Parts of Review Literature Review
4. Any conclusions: the researcher feels
justified based on the state of knowledge
revealed in the literature should be
included.
5. A Bibliography: a full bibliographic data
for all sources mentioned in the review is
essential.

26. Group Homework
Find related studies in various sources
- General source
- Primary source
- Secondary source
Make an APA format from the sources taken
Make a preliminary work of your chapter 2