Essential Insights into Literature Review Process

Review of literature: unit 4

Objectives On the completion of this lecture you be able to : 1- Determine the Importance of the literature review . 2- Distinguish between primary and secondary sources in research literature. 3-Writing a Literature Review

MEANING OF LITERATURE REVIEW A literature review is an account of what has been already established or published on a particular research topic by accredited scholars & researchers It gives a theoretical base for the research & helps to determine the nature of research.

Review of literature is one of the most important steps in the research process. The task of reviewing research literature involves the identification, selection, critical analysis, and written description of existing information on a topic.

Importance of literature Literature reviews can serve a number of important functions in the research process as well as important functions for nurses seeking to develop an evidence-based practice. 1. Identification of a research problem & development or refinement of research questions. 2. Orientation to what is known and not known about an area of inquiry, to ascertain what research can best make a contribution to the existing base of evidence 3. Determination of any gaps or inconsistencies in a body of knowledge.

4. Determination of a need to replicate a prior study in a different setting or with a different study population. 5. Identification or development of new or refined clinical interventions to test through empirical research 6. Identification of relevant theoretical or conceptual frameworks for a research problem 7. Identification of suitable designs and data collection methods for a study

8. For those developing research proposals for funding, identification of experts in the field who could be used as consultants 9. Assistance in interpreting study findings and in developing implications and recommendations

Sources of literature review Literature can be reviewed from two sources : 1. Primary sources 2. Secondary sources

A primary source in the research literature is a description of a research study written by the original investigator(s). Literature review mostly relies on primary sources, i.e. research description of studies written by researchers who conducted them. A primary source for studies are frequently found in journal articles. reports, which are

A secondary source in the research literature is a summary or description of the a research study written by someone other than the original researcher. The secondary sources may be used when primary sources are researchers want external opinions on an issue or problem or even the results of their own research. not available or if

Secondary sources typically fail to provide much detail about studies, and they are seldom completely objective. There is always a danger that the author of the secondary source may misinterpret information or leave out important information that might be valuable to the reader

The main sources from where that literature can be searched are : 1. Electronic Sources: o CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature) o PubMed :PubMed can be used to search research abstracts, available at http://pubmed.com o MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis & Retrieved System Online) at www.pubmed.com or http://ncbi.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi. generally, abstracts of research articles are provided free of cost o Online Journals o Other online databases

2. Printed sources o Printed journals o Research reports o Unpublished dissertations & theses o Magazines & newspapers o Conference papers & proceedings o Encyclopedias & dictionaries o Books

PREPARING REVIEW A number of steps are involved in preparing written review, after identifying potential sources, you need to locate the references and screen them for their relevancy. A WRITTEN LITERATURE a

Screening References References that have been identified through the literature search need to be screened. One screen is totally practical is the reference readily accessible? Abstracting and Recording Notes Once a document has been determined to be relevant, you should read the entire report carefully and critically, identifying material that is sufficiently important to note taking and observing flaws in the study or gaps in the report. It is useful to work with photocopied articles so that you can highlight or underline critical information.

Organizing the Review Organization of information is a critical task in preparing a written review. When the literature on a topic is extensive, we recommend preparing a summary table. Writing a Literature Review At this point, you will have completed the most difficult tasks of the literature review process, but that process is not complete until you have drafted and edited a written product.

Content of the Written Literature Review A written research review should provide readers with an objective, well-organized summary of the current state of knowledge on a topic. A literature review should be neither a series of quotes nor a series of abstracts. The central tasks are to summarize and critically evaluate the evidence so as to reveal the current state of knowledge on a topic not simply to describe what researchers have done.

The review should point out both consistencies and contradictions in the literature, and offer possible explanations for inconsistencies (e.g., different conceptualizations or data collection methods).

Although described in some detail, it is not necessary to provide extensive coverage for every reference (especially if there are page constraints). Reports of lesser significance that result in comparable findings together. important studies should be can be summarized

The literature should be summarized in your own words The review should be objective, to the extent possible. Studies with findings that conflict with personal values should not be omitted. The review also should not ignore a study because its findings contradict other studies. The literature review should conclude with a summary of the state of the art of knowledge on the topic.

Tips In preparing a written review, it is important to organize materials in a logical, coherent fashion. The preparation of an outline is recommended, and the development of summary charts often helps in integrating diverse studies.

The written review should not be a succession of quotes or abstracts. The reviewers role is to point out what has been studied, how adequate and dependable the studies are, what gaps exist in the body of research and (in the context of new study )what contribution the study will make

The literature review section of a research report (or research proposal) usually includes information not only about what is known about the problem and relevant interventions (if any), but about how prevalent the problem is. In research reports and proposals, the authors are trying to build a case for their new study.

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