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1、Supervising Masters & PhD students - Writing a literature reviewDr Katherine SamuelowiczAcademic Writing & Research ConsultantWhy is literature review so important?Why is literature review so important?Its an integral part of the thesis (and students need to bear this in mind from the beginning)It s
2、ets the scene for the research presented in the thesisIt provides justification for the research presented in the thesisSome examiners claim they can judge the quality of a thesis from its literature reviewWhat problems have you encountered with students literature reviews as a supervisor and or as
3、an examiner?Deficiencies noted by examinersexclusion of landmark studiesemphasis on outdated materialadopting a parochial perspectivenot being criticalnot discriminating between relevant and irrelevant materials, andlacking synthesis(Afolabi, 1992)Deficiencies (continued)Literature Review the second
4、 most deficient aspect of theses (typographical errors were first)Most common criticisms: Failure to use recent literature, and an inability to critically assess the existing literatureLengthy; irrelevant; outdated; tedious; repetitive; bewildering; & flabbergasting(Hansford & Maxwell, 1993)What is
5、its purpose?What is its purpose?To demonstrate professional competence in the area of the research (ideally, students know the background to their work and have an appreciation of the present state of the art: the breakthroughs, the controversies, whats hot in the field, etc.)To justify the need for
6、 the research undertakenTo establish the theoretical framework of the researchThe literature review then needs to:Show a thorough knowledge of the relevant research, theory, ideology & opinion (convergence/divergence of views)Locate students work within the aboveEnsure the reader knows their review
7、is selective and relevant to the research questionEvaluate the focal literature critically Distinguish between what has previously been done or said and what is proposed in this studyTherefore .The literature review has to be:DISCURSIVE - a logical argumentnot a list of studies presented one after a
8、nother (students need to focus on ideas, theories, issues, results not sources)not a catalogue of factsWhen to do it? How to do it?When and how to do itAt the beginningWhen students have first resultsAt the end, when all other chapters are finishedAt the beginningStudents need to do two things: lear
9、n from the literature and learn to evaluate it criticallyIn doing this, they should be looking for the strength, and the significance, and contributions made by the researchers and limitations, flaws and weaknesses of particular studies, or of whole lines of enquirySome questions students could ask
10、when reading 1/2Is the problem important and clearly spelled out?Is the methodology well justified as the most appropriate to study the problem?How were the results analysed? Is the theoretical basis transparent?What perspective are they coming from?How large a sample was used?Are the results presen
11、ted new?Some questions 2/2Are the generalisations justified by the evidence on which they are made? How convincing is the argument made?What is the significance of this research?What are the assumptions behind the research?Was the research influential in that others picked up the threads and pursued
12、 them?When students have first resultsNow your students would be better equipped to make sense of the literatureThey would be able to synthesise findings, to start placing their results within the body of knowledge, to see the quality of results in other studies, to see the finer points of methods u
13、sedAt the endNow your students should be able to see where their results belong, how they compare with other results, what they add to the understanding of a particular problemThey will be also see how previous research motivated their own researchThey should be able to seamlessly integrated their l
14、it review into the plot of their thesisStructuring the review“Examiners appreciate work which is logically presented, focused, succinct, and in which signposts are used to help readers to understand the path they are taking through the work One of the problems with work that is poorly presented is t
15、hat the examiner tends to lose confidence in the candidate and can become suspicious that there are deeper problems of inadequate and rushed conceptualisation. “ (Johnson, 1997 p.345 in Mullins and Kiley 2002)Helping students structuring their lit review ExerciseDuring the next 5 - 10 minutes plot o
16、ut the story your literature review is going to tell. You may use concept maps, diagrams, flow charts to present your plot. Think about the sections into which you would like to divide your review.Think about the abstract youve written in the previous session to make sure that your review fits with
17、the overall plot of the thesis.How to do itPlot out the story your literature review is going to tell in order to achieve your purposeUse maps or diagrams to shape it to see the overall picture and to identify the core literature (re-do if emphasis changes)From the diagram, organise the review into
18、sectionsHo to do it - working on sectionsOnce you have the overall story/plot for your literature review work on sections:- What is the point Im making in this section? - What is its purpose in the whole story?ReviewingEVALUATE the worth of what others are doing (and build a bank of useful VERBS)SHA
19、PE this to show how your work logically comes out of what others have doneBring together what you read into a FRAMEWORK and identify the relationships, contradictions, anomalies. Dont forget to look critically at already accepted workReviewing - ExamplesEstablish a bank of poor and good reviews and
20、discuss them with studentsReviewing - Example 1 (first take)Significance of the problem: theoreticalpracticalHistory of the problemProblems with current approaches (i.e. to the problem!)leading to the research in this studyReviewing - Example 2 (final)Batt & Kompala (1989) lumped the biotic phase in
21、to The key criticism of the model is that the proposed kinetics is essentially unfounded Whether there is a need to include a description of changes in cell composition , also remains to be clarified. To my knowledge, no data have shown With 49 parameters, the model of Batt & Kompala is expected to
22、fit Thus, the fit was achieved to data that were wrongly transformed.Example 2 (contd)From a production point of view, the key point of interest is what limits the system and how to overcome these limits. The limitation of the system is what ultimately determines the economics. Surprisingly little f
23、undamental research work has been performed on animal cell culture in this area.One reason for the lack of work in this area has been the assumption that growth is inhibited at Reviewing - VerbsLets look at the language used in Example 2often students use three verbs:Smith (2001) says.Black (2002) s
24、tated that Green (1999) mentioned Reviewing - Example 3 (draft)clearly judged to suffer from a number of deficiencies (Baker, 1974; Baker and Freeland, 1975). These deficiencies For example, the are some of the objections (Baker, 1976). In addition, the data validity (Dumbleton, 1986). Furthermore,
25、many models did not in decision making (Lee, et al., 1986). Lastly, most of the models did not allow decision makers to priority structure associated with the multiple objectives. Reviewing - Example 4 (final)In summary, recent writings have used the concept of tradition as an intellectual phenomeno
26、n to relate . There are a number of common themes in the writings examined. First, there is an acceptance that . Second, this relationship depends not so much upon There is also general agreement upon the dimensions of this intellectual and attitudinal base.Reviewing - Example 5 (draft)Definitions o
27、f food security used over the last ten years reflect an evolution from concern for early warning, to improved prediction and understanding of the structural processes and outcomes for prevention of food insecurity.As well as broadening the focus of definitions, geographical concerns . Consequently t
28、here is a need for a sound generic definition that provides a structural framework applicable to a range of . Operational definitions of food security can be formulated from this general framework according to the specific context.Reviewing - Example 5 (contd) One of the first definitions was given
29、by . Since then food security has been defined in various ways . However, the various definitions illustrate genuine differences in emphasis between the scale and dimensions of .While there may be differences, most definitions include five components which form the framework of the food and nutritio
30、n system:Reviewing - Things to remind your studentsProvide an OVERVIEW; remain in controlClarify WHOSE CRITIQUE it isUse SPECIFIC DETAIL when relevant Develop and assess DEFINITIONSCLUSTER similar studies and review the body of workMake use of SECTION SUMMARIESRE-WRITE at several stagesSeek comments
31、 & talk about your work withYour supervisorFellow research studentsWebsite: PhD: First Thoughts to Finished Writing http:/www.uq.edu.au/student-services/linkto/phdwriting/ Mullins, G & Kiley, M. (2002). “Its a PhD, not a Nobel Prize”: How experienced examiners assess research theses. In Studies in Higher Education V.27, N.4.
