Traditional Literature Review and Research Synthesis

Traditional Literature Review
and Research Synthesis
Presented by: Shahida

Presented to: Dr. Muhammad Shahbaz
Introduction
The Literature Review or Narrative Review

often appears as a chapter in a thesis or
dissertation.
It describes what related research has already
been conducted, how it informs the thesis, and
how the thesis fits into the research in the field.
General Speculation
 In a study by Zaporozhetz (1987), Ph.D. advisors ranked the literature review section
the lowest in terms of the amount of help they provided to their students—they
reported spending the most time on the supervision of the methods chapter. The
lack of interest in guiding students on how to do a literature review is probably
because
a. It is considered an easy and transparent process, not a skill that needs to be
trained
b. There is a myriad of ways of writing a literature review, which makes it
challenging to provide a general guidance.
However, it can be argued that
(1) doing a literature review is not a naturally acquired skill
(2) Despite the variety of styles and approaches, there are some
common principles and procedures one could follow in order to write a
successful review.
Different Types of Review
 The Critical Review is like a literature review, but requires a more detailed examination
of the literature, in order to compare and evaluate several perspectives.
 The Scoping Review is often used at the beginning of an article, dissertation or research
proposal. It is conducted before the research begins and sets the stage for this research
by highlighting gaps in the literature and explaining the need for the research about to
be conducted, which is presented in the remainder of the article.
 The Conceptual Review groups articles according to concepts, or categories, or
themes. It identifies the current 'understanding' of the given research topic, discusses
how this understanding was reached, and attempts to determine whether a greater
understanding can be suggested. It provides a snapshot of where things are with this
particular field of research.
 The State-of-the-Art Review is conducted periodically, with a focus on the most recent
research. It describes what is currently known, understood, or agreed upon regarding
the research topic, and highlights where are there still disagreements.
Literature Review
 Retrospective account of previous research
 A survey of scholarly sources that provides an overview of a
particular topic.
 Contextualize and inform further research
 Helps in finding a niche to the researcher
 Draws on existing research to verify an existing theory or build a
new theory
 For policy makers findings can help in decision making
(Evidence based practice)
 This evidence-based practice is of particular importance in
heavily practice oriented discipline-Applied Linguistics
Purpose of Literature Review
The purpose of doing a literature review is trifold:

 To contextualize the study to be conducted,(to analyze
something in terms of concepts surrounding it)
 To inform the study design
 To help the researcher interpret the results in the discussion
section
What is Known? How it deviates? Convince about the significance
of current study i.e., its contribution
Content of Literature Review
Conceptual, empirical, and practical.
❖ Conceptual knowledge concerns theories, including arguments, statements, claims, and
terminology.
❖ Empirical knowledge refers to the findings of empirical studies as well as the
methodological aspects of the studies.
❖ Practical knowledge can be divided into two types.
One refers to the knowledge contributed by practitioners including
 the findings of action research
 guidelines and principles for effective practice, such as the information from teacher guides;
 opinions, debates, and discussions on public forums such as the Internet.
The other type of practical knowledge pertains to policies and instructions formulated by
government agencies to guide the practice of the domain in which the research is situated.
Literature in Literature Reviews
 Traditional Literature Reviews

Such as the type that appears in the literature review section
of a journal article.
No clear methodological approach.
Narrative discussion of a previous research typically presented as
introductory or background material to provide a context.
 Systematic Literature Reviews
Quantitative study design used to systematically assess the results of
previous research to derive conclusion about that body of research
uses an explicit methodological approach.
Usually, evidence based. For e.g., research conducted in the field of
medicine.
Stages of the process of Literature Review
 Stage 1 (Define the problem or formulate research questions) and find

relevant studies that seek to answer)
 Stage 2 (Searching for literature to be included in Review)
Electronic Databases the most common strategy
Use electronic data bases like Domain general data bases (google scholar)
and domain specific data bases in applied linguistics like LLBA, databases
from neighboring disciplines as Psy INFO in Psychology, databases for PhD
/MS theses or dissertations like ProQuest or public academic forums like
Academia.
 Stage 3 (Selecting Studies)
Involves Three Principles:

a) Representative: Influential; highly cited--- Diverse; different
perspectives.
b) Relevance: to research questions.
c) Study Quality: High validity
 Stage 4 (Reading the Literature)
A common problem in doing a literature review is piecemeal reading

(Booth, Colomb, & Williams, 1995).
a) Read Carefully & Understand thoroughly

b) No Shortcut to a successful review
c) Actively & Critically
 Stage 5 (Organizing the data)
a) Discretely (arranged study notes of each study)
b) Synthetically (extracting themes, patterns and trends from individual
studies and finding commonalities with primary study)
 Stage 6 ( Writing Up the Review)

Components of a literature review. A literature review typically consists of
three components:
an introduction, the body of the review, and research questions.
The length of the introduction ranges from one or two paragraphs (for a
journal article) to a chapter (for a Ph.D. thesis).
Later parts include overview of topic, key issues surrounding the topic,
significance, gaps, aims.
Structuring a literature review
 1. There are two ways to present the information contributed by empirical studies: thematic and
anthological. Thematic presentation is based on the themes emerging from the primary studies (from the
synthetic notes), and the flow of information proceeds through arguments.
 Anthological presentation means that the review is organized as a collection of individual studies, reporting
details on the methods and results of each study—like study notes.
 The critical nature of a literature review.
▪ The differences and similarities between primary studies in terms of their findings and methods
▪ Include all representative findings, not only those that are “cherry-picked” to support your own position.
▪ Challenge existing theories and research.
▪ Discuss the significance of previous studies.
▪ Evaluate and clarify controversies or opposing theoretical positions.
 Propose new directions, methods, or theories, which may complement, but not necessarily contradict or
supersede, existing research.
 Use linguistic devices to show the relationships between ideas and describe the authors’ stances. “in
contrast,” “however,” “therefore,”
Research Synthesis
 Research synthesis grew out of the dissatisfaction with traditional reviews, which
are deemed unscientific and subjective. comprehensive in coverage and
transparent in reporting, and its purpose is to reach conclusions based on study
findings, Methodological and substantive.
Methodological synthesis:
 provides a survey of one or more methodological aspects of the primary research
with a view to evaluating whether current practices meet certain criteria and what
improvements can be made.
Substantive syntheses:
 seek to aggregate the results of primary studies and reach conclusions about
whether an instructional treatment is effective, or a certain relationship exists or
how frequently a certain phenomenon occurs.
What is a Systematic Review?
 The Systematic Review is important to health care and medical

trials, and other subjects where methodology and data are
important. Through rigorous review and analysis of literature that
meets a specific criterion, the systematic review identifies and
compares answers to health care related questions.
What is the significance of Systematic
Reviews?
 Systematic Reviews minimize bias. “A systematic review

is a more scientific method of summarizing literature
because specific protocols are used to determine which
studies will be included in the review.
Key Characteristics of Systematic
Reviews
 Clearly stated title and objectives
 Comprehensive strategy to search for relevant studies (unpublished
and published)
 Explicit and justified criteria for the inclusion or exclusion of any study
 Clear presentation of characteristics of each study included and an
analysis of methodological quality
 Comprehensive list of all studies excluded and justification for exclusion
Meta-Analysis
The systematic review may include meta-analysis and meta-synthesis, which

leads us to...
 The Quantitative or Qualitative Meta-analysis Review can both make up the
whole or part of systematic review(s).
 Both are thorough and comprehensive in condensing and making sense of a
large body of research.
 The quantitative meta-analysis reviews quantitative research, is objective,
and includes statistical analysis.
 The qualitative meta-analysis reviews qualitative research, is subjective (or
evaluative, or interpretive), and identifies new themes or concepts.
Steps of Meta-analysis ( General
Observation)
 Define the Research Question
 Perform the literature search
 Select the studies
 Extract the data
 Analyze the data
 Report the results
Writing Up the Research Report
Like the report for an empirical study, a meta-analytic report includes the
following sections: introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion.
The introduction should contextualize the meta-analysis by:
1. elaborating the relevant theories

2. defining the research problem and scope
3. identifying the central issues and controversies
4. explaining the rationale for examining the variables
Traditional review Research synthesis
Focus Theory, research, and practice Research
Purpose To justify further research; identify To answer one or more research
central issues and research gaps; questions by collating evidence
discuss state of the art; critique from previous research; resolve
previous research controversies; guide practice
Coverage Selective: most relevant and Inclusive: all relevant studies;
representative; no selection based on systematic search and
criteria justified selection criteria
Methodology No prescribed methodology With transparent methodology
Structure Organized by themes and Analogous to the template of a
patterns research report, including an
introduction, methods, results,
discussion, and conclusion
Style Narrative, critical, and interpretive Descriptive, inductive, and

quantitative
Pros Flexible; appropriate when the Objective, transparent, and
purpose is to critique rather than replicable; results may inform
aggregate research findings practice and policy-making
Cons Subjective; based on idiosyncratic Subject to the quality of
methods; not replicable available studies; comparing
oranges and apples;
time-consuming
References
 Margaliot, Zvi, Kevin C. Chung. Systematic Reviews: A Primer for Plastic

Surgery Research. PRS Journal. 120/7 (2007)
 Kevin C. Chung, MD, Patricia B. Burns, MPH, H. Myra Kim, ScD, “Clinical
Perspective: A Practical Guide to Meta-Analysis.” The Journal of Hand
Surgery. Vol. 31A No.10 December 2006. p.1671
 Linda N. Meurer, MD, MPH Department of Family and Community
Medicine. “Systematic Synthesis of the Literature: Introduction to Meta-
analysis”. Power Point Presentation.
 Linda N. Meurer, MD, MPH Department of Family and Community Medicine.
“Systematic Synthesis of the Literature: Introduction to Meta-analysis”.
Power Point Presentation.
Thank you!

Traditional Literature Review and Research Synthesis

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Traditional Literature Review and Research Synthesis

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Traditional Literature Review and Research Synthesis

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Traditional Literature Review

and Research Synthesis

Presented by: Shahida

The Literature Review or Narrative Review

The purpose of doing a literature review is trifold:

 Traditional Literature Reviews

 Stage 1 (Define the problem or formulate research questions) and find

Involves Three Principles:

A common problem in doing a literature review is piecemeal reading

a) Read Carefully & Understand thoroughly

 Stage 6 ( Writing Up the Review)

 The Systematic Review is important to health care and medical

 Systematic Reviews minimize bias. “A systematic review

The systematic review may include meta-analysis and meta-synthesis, which

1. elaborating the relevant theories

Style Narrative, critical, and interpretive Descriptive, inductive, and

 Margaliot, Zvi, Kevin C. Chung. Systematic Reviews: A Primer for Plastic

You might also like