The best way to start
the literature review is to think of the broadest category of your variables
and work down to the most narrow. Let's say that you are interested in older
adults and their opinion of their health care provider (one of my own research
interests). You would want to start with aging and the elderly, providing
demographics, what constitutes "elderly," and discussing the
importance of the age group. Then move to elderly and health care, showing why
this is an important topic. Next, the elderly and their health care provider.
Since this is the most narrow category and the key area of interest, you will
want to discuss this in more depth. Particularly addressing how this area has
been examined methodologically. This study is a mixed method one, so you will
administer some surveys as well as interview participants. So next, you will
discuss each of the survey instruments, examining their previous use with the
age group, and in the context of health care. If anyone has examined the
relationship of the surveys with health care providers, you will want to
include this too.
Here is the starting
outline for the chapter, and my notes:
A. Introduction
B. Search Strategy
C. Theories
1. Theory A
2. Theory B
D. Concepts/
philosophy (if appropriate)
1. Info on mixed methods, philosophy
behind it
E. Literature Review
1.
Aging and the elderly, include demographics
2.
Elderly and health care, why do we care about topic?
3.
Elderly and their health care provider
a.
Include methods used previously
b. Previous findings
c. What is missing from previous
research?
d. What does my study add?
4.
Survey instruments
a. Survey A
1. Used with
my age group?
2. Used in
health care research?
3. Used in
health care providers research?
b. Survey B
1. Used with
my age group?
2. Used in
health care research?
3. Used in
health care providers research
F. Summary and
Conclusions
You will refine this
as you search the literature and bring in related areas; but to begin the
chapter you now have some direction. Pick a topic and start writing about it.
Use your research journal to keep track of your starting outline and any notes
to yourself as you go. I am a big fan of track changes and including comments
to myself as I write (e.g., "find more about this topic," or "check
Smith et al. paper- did they say this too?").
I have a tendency to
find interesting but tangential literature that can lead me far from my topic;
the outline keeps bringing me back to task. Think of it as a map of where you
are planning to go.
I recommend adding in
your references as you go, otherwise, you will spend several long frustrating
hours later trying to track them down. Prevent plagiarism by never
copying into your paper. Instead, read the passage you are interested in, and
restate it in your own words (including your own old papers). You want to avoid
quotes, saying it in your own words is always better.
Next time, we'll
consider the lonely task of writing, structuring your time, and getting help. Do
you have an issue or a question that you would like me to discuss in a future
post? Send me an email with your ideas. leann.stadtlander@mail.waldenu.edu
If you would like to
see how the study outlined above looks in journal form (shorter literature
review than for a dissertation) see:
Stadtlander, L., Giles, M., Sickel,
A., Brooks, E., Brown, C., Cormell, M., Ewing, L., Hart, D., Koons, D., Olson,
C., Parker, P., Semenova, V., & Stoneking, S. (2013). Independent Living
Oldest-Old and Their Primary Health Provider: A Mixed Method Examination of the
Influence of Patient Personality Characteristics. Journal of Applied Gerontology. (Available in Walden Library's
Psychology/ Sage database)
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