@study guide l module 2 writing a literature review

17703 Paradigm and Communication Arts Research

Module 2 Writing a Literature Review

School of Communication Arts, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University

17703 Paradigm and Communication Arts Research

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Module 2 Writing a Literature Review l Study Guide

Module 2 Writing a Literature Review Miss Sara Gabai Contents Outline: Lesson 2.1: Introduction to Writing a Literature Review Issues to be discussed: Topic 2.1.1 What is a Literature Review?

Topic 2.1.2 Why writing a Literature Review?

Lesson 2.2: Conducting a Literature Review Issues to be discussed: Topic 2.2.1 How do I get started?

Topic 2.2.2 Where do I search for my sources and how do I organize my research?

Objectives: After being introduced to Module 2: Writing a Literature Review, students will be able to: 1. Understand the concepts of a Literature Review.

2. Understand the reasons for the need to incorporate a literature review in the thesis or dissertation.

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Main Concept Writing a Literature Review is often considered one of the most difficult tasks for students undertaking research. This module provides guidelines on how to get started in constructing a good literature review and searching for online and offline sources. It will also provide online tools students may use to plan and organize their sources, citations and bibliography.

Learning Activity Read module and watch VDO to support your learning about Module I: Introduction to paradigms and research.

Learning Resources: Exercises and video lectures will help students develop a coherent idea of what is a literature review, why writing a literature review, how to get stated and where to find scholarly sources and organize one’s research.

1) E-Book / Synthesis content of Module 2 (accessible in Moodle e-Learning system).

2) Six Modules uploaded on STOU e-Learning Platform.

3) Key readings, online videos, STOU e-Library international database of scholarly works, infographics, reports, among others.

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Module 2 Writing a Literature Review l Study Guide

Self Pre-Test Module 2: Writing a Literature Review Objectives: To assess the prior knowledge of the student about Module 2 Suggestions: Read the questions, then answer them in the provided space within 30 minutes.

1. What makes a good literature review? …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………

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Lesson 2.1: Introduction to Writing a Literature Review Issues to be discussed:

Topic 2.1.1 What is a Literature Review?

Topic 2.1.2 Why writing a Literature Review?

Objective of Lesson 2.1: Introduction to Writing a Literature Review After students study Lesson 2.1, they will be able to: 1. Differentiate between facts and opinions when gathering data for their research.

2. Understand key components of a good literature review.

Main Concepts of Lesson 2.1: Introduction to Writing a Literature Review 1. Definition of “Literature” and scholarly works.

2. Good and bad examples of Literature Review.

Topics: 2.1.1 What is a literature review?

A literature review is a selected analysis and critical description of existing literature that is relevant to your research topic. After your introduction, the literature review is the first part of your research paper. In the literature review you will show how existing research relates to your investigation and research question(s). Before you can write a research paper, you need to make sure that you are not repeating work that has already been done by others. You need to demonstrate to your readers that you are aware of how your research fits into and fills any gaps in the currently existing body of literature. Avoid re-inventing the wheel; there is nothing worse than to discover that your research has already been done!

A literature review can appear as:  Part of a research paper introduction;  Part of a thesis introduction;  A section in a research proposal.

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Module 2 Writing a Literature Review l Study Guide

Topics: 2.1.2 Why writing a literature review?

Literature reviews are undertaken for several reasons. If your goal is to produce a relevant piece of research, then getting the literature review right is an essential.

These are some good reasons to undertake a literature review (Gabbott, 2004): • To identify gaps or omissions in what has already been published; • To avoid re-inventing the wheel; • To identify other people working in the same field; • To increase your breadth of knowledge; • To identify most important works in your research field or area; • To help you analyze and interpret the results of your research.

A literature review can also help you: • Identify a testable hypothesis; • Identify measuring tools or instruments; • Create citations and your bibliography or page of references.

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Self-Assessment Exercise Lesson 2.1: Introduction to Writing a Literature Review 1. In your Module, you have two examples of literature reviews. Explain why one is good and the other is bad.

2. Watch the NCSU Libraries video: “Literature Reviews: An Overview for Graduate Students� (in your Module) and summarize the key points.

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Module 2 Writing a Literature Review l Study Guide

Lesson 2.2 Conducting a Literature Review Issues to be discussed:

Topic 2.2.1 How do I get started?

Topic 2.2.2 Where do I search for my sources and how do I organize my research?

Objectives of Lesson 2.2 Conducting a Literature Review After students study Lesson 2.2, they will be able to: 1. Narrow down their topic of research and come up with a clear thesis or research question.

2. Distinguish between theoretical and contextual literature and choose the right sources that are closely related to their area or subject of research.

3. Recognize the structure of a good literature review and write one following the provided easy steps.

Main Concepts of Lesson 2.2 Conducting a Literature Review 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Learn how to define a specific research area or a research question.

Reading strategies are just as important as writing strategies.

Brainstorming strategies.

Writing a literature review in 6 steps.

Structure of a literature review.

Searching for sources and citation styles.

Topics 2.2.1: How do I get started?

Your first step in writing your literature review is defining your specific research area. If you have already created a thesis (a statement about what you think is happening in your text) or a research question (a question about what you think might be happening in your text), then your research area has already been defined. If you have not created a thesis or hypothesis, what are you waiting for?

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You’ll need to know what you’re looking for before you can begin your literature review.

You must have a clear sense of:

Topics 2.2.2: Where do I search for my sources?

It’s easy to think that the best way to search for texts is to use the Internet – to ‘Google it’. There are useful online tools that you may use, like Google Scholar. However, for most literature reviews you will need to focus on academically authoritative texts like academic books, journals, research reports, and government publications. Searching Google will give you thousands of hits. However, few of them are authoritative, and you will waste time sorting through them. The most comprehensive form of research is performed in the library, where there is a wide range of materials for your research.

Scholarly sources (also referred to as academic, peer-reviewed, or refereed) are written by experts in a particular field and serve to keep others interested in that field up to date on the most recent research, findings, and news. These resources will provide the most substantial information for your research and papers.

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Module 2 Writing a Literature Review l Study Guide

The authority and credibility evident in scholarly sources will contribute a great deal to the overall quality of your papers. Use of scholarly sources is an expected attribute of academic course work.

Self-Assessment Exercise Lesson 2.2 Conducting a Literature Review 1. Narrowing your research topic: Narrow each of the general topics below to one specific topic using the reversed pyramid below: 1. Media bias 2. Media power 3. Stereotypes 4. Reality shows

2. Visit the website of the UNC University Libraries (http://guides.lib.unc.edu/citing-information/apa-sample) and explore the rules of APA References and in-text citations.

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Recommended readings Gabbott, M. (2004) ‘Undertaking a Literature Review in Marketing’. The Marketing Review. (4), 411-429.

Asian Institute of Technology cited in IDEA Student Center and Gordon Leadership Center Grad Talk. Available at: http://www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/student/student_grad/docs/How_to_Write_an_Effective _Literature_Review.pdf ATM University Writing Center. Get Lit: The Literature Review. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1hG99HUaOk

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Module 2 Writing a Literature Review l Study Guide

Self Post-Test Module 2: Writing a Literature Review Objectives: To assess the knowledge of the student after study Module 2.

Suggestions: Read the questions, then answer them in the provided space within 30 minutes.

1. What makes a good literature review? …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………

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Assignment of Module 2 In this assignment you will review some of the literature that covers your research area of study or question.

1) You should decide on a question to use in your literature review. It should be a question that you are interested in and appears likely to have some substantive literature available on the topic. (Do not hesitate to consult with your professors on this).

2) Submit a list of seven (7) sources that you propose to use for your literature review. (I will not expect that the seven sources listed in this submission will be necessarily the same seven you will use in your final thesis). All sources must follow the APA Reference Style, they must be submitted in alphabetical order and follow the format of a formal literature cited list (see example in the APA Style tutorial).

2.1) Choose sources from: - Scholarly journals (at least 4); - Review papers or chapters in edited scholarly books (at least 2). Check also online from Google Books; - Web sources (select 1 trusted online source) - Overall you will have 7 sources.

2.2) Your main purpose is to show what is known already about your topic. Before you show what others have said about your topic, you must understand your topic well!

3) Once you complete your list of sources, write a brief summary (100 words) for each source. Your assignment is to focus on a summative annotated bibliography with your short summaries highlighting the main points of each source and how these are related to your research question. USE YOUR OWN WORDS when summarizing the sources.

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Guided answers for Self Pre-Test and Post-Test of Module 2 Students are encouraged to read carefully the contents explained in the Module in order to justify and support their answers.

Guided Answers of Lesson 2.1 1. Students are expected to carefully analyze, compare and contrast the two examples provided.

2. Learners are encouraged to watch the video and create a mind map that includes key concepts.

Guided Answers of Lesson 2.2 1. Students are encouraged to follow this example and reflect on whether their topic is: too broad or abstract; if research has been conducted already on their topic; and, why should they write about this topic.

2. UNC University Libraries provide numerous clear examples on how to build your References Page and in-text citations.

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