literature review 310

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Activity # 3 – Literature Review

Conducting a literature review is an important part of the research process. Good research is situated in reference to other research that has already been done on a topic. On the rare occasion that you are doing research on a topic that has never been researched, it is important to be sure that this is the case before making this claim! A good literature review summarizes existing research, but it also synthesizes it, identifying patterns, themes, and gaps in the literature.

Goals of a good literature review:

  • Situate your research in relation to existing research
  • Summarize work that has been done already
  • Synthesize themes that appear in multiple papers
  • Acknowledge other people whose work has informed your thinking
  • Refine your question

Activity

Using one of the questions you posed in Activity # 1 in reference to Allie Volpe’s article “Why You Need a Network of Low Stakes, Casual Friendships”, conduct a search using Sociological Abstracts.

  1. First, brainstorm your topic and think of search phrases that you might start with. List 5 topics you could start your search with
  2. Enter your search topic into the database. How many results did you get? Do they appear to be related to your topic of interest?
  3. Is your topic too broad, too narrow, or just right?
  4. What can you do to refine your results to make them more useful? How would this modification change your original question?
  5. List 3 articles from this database that you would add to an annotated bibliography of this topic.

Now go to Web of Science and perform the same exercise.

  1. Enter your search topic into the database. How many results did you get? Do they appear to be related to your topic of interest?
  2. What can you do to refine your results to make them more useful?
  3. List 3 articles from this database that you would add to an annotated bibliography of this topic.

Read the abstracts of all 6 articles you have selected. Also make note of keywords used.

  1. How do the articles you selected relate to the question you originally posed?
  2. Refine your question in reference to the articles on your annotated bibliography.
 
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