TSLB3143

FUNDAMENTALS OF
RESEARCH IN
EDUCATION
TOPIC 3: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
What is Literature Review?

 Written summary of journal articles, books

and other documents that describes the past
and current state of information on the topic of
your research study.
 It also organizes the literature into subtopics,
and documents the need for a proposed study.
Purpose of Literature Review

Define and limit the problem

• Most studies that add to education knowledge
investigate only one aspect of a larger topic.
• By becoming familiar with the major works on that
topic and the possible breadth of that topic, the
researcher can refine the general idea to a specific
problem.
Place the study in a historical perspective
• The researcher analyse how their study relates to
existing literature.
• Research A, B, C and D has added a certain amount to
the body of current knowledge.
• Work D and E has further added to that knowledge;
and that the study extends knowledge by investigating
the stated question.
Avoid unintentional and
unnecessary replication
• Conducting a thorough search of the
literature enables the researcher to avoid
unintentional and unneeded replication.
• The researcher, however, may deliberately
replicate a study for verification.
Select promising methods and measures
• As researchers sort out the knowledge on a subject,
they assess the research methods that have been
used to establish that knowledge.
• Analysis of instruments, sampling and methods of
prior research may lead to a mere sophisticated
design, the use of different instrument, a more
appropriate data analysis procedure, or an improved
methodology for studying the problem.
Relate the findings to previous
knowledge and suggest further
research
• The results of a study are contrasted to the
findings of previous research in order to
determine how the study adds new knowledge.
• Most researchers suggest directions for further
research based on insights gained from
conducting their studies.
Develop research hypotheses
• Quantitative studies: use literature to justify the
formulation of specific research hypotheses.
• Previous studies may suggest certain results,
and the hypotheses should be consistent with
those studies.
• Sometimes they use theories, rather than
empirical studies, to justify research
hypotheses.
Sources of Review
Primary Sources
According to Creswell (2012), primary sources literature consists of
literature reported by the individual(s) who actually conducted the
research or who originated the idea.

According to McMillan & Schumacher (2006), primary literature is

the original research study or writing by a theorist or a researcher.

Example: Research articles, journals, Research Reports, Monographs of Single

Studies
Secondary Sources
According to Creswell (2012), secondary source literature is the
literature that summarizes primary sources as it does not
represent material published by the original researchers.

Examples: Handbooks, Encyclopedias, journals that

summarize research.
 Different Types of
Literature
1 SUMMARIES
Provide overviews of the literature and research on issues in
education. They introduce new researcher to a problem area, help
locate key references and identify current issues.
Sources include encyclopedias, dictionaries and glossaries of terms,
handbooks, statistical indexes, etc.

Example of research summary: ..\Desktop\ExampleResearchSummary.pdf

 TYPES OF SUMMARIES AVAILABLE IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES WITH EXAMPLE

Encyclopedias Encyclopedia of Educational Research

(Alkin, 1992)
The International Encyclopedia of
Education (Husen & Postlethwaite, 1994)

Dictionaries and Glossaries of Terms The SAGE Dictionary of Qualitative Inquiry

(Schwandt, 2007)
Dictionary of Terms in Statistics and
Methodology: A Nontechnical Guide for the
Social Sciences (Vogt, 2005)

Handbooks Handbook of Research on Multicultural

Education (Banks & Banks, 1995)

Statistical Indexes American Statistics Index (Congressional

Information Service, 1973–)

Reviews and Syntheses Review of Educational Research (1931–)

Annual Review of Psychology (1950–)
 2 ENCYCLOPEDIAS

Reading the short, authoritative summary of a topic in an

encyclopedias is useful in the early stages of a review.
For example, The Encyclopedia of Educational Research which over
250 articles & extensive bibliographies, a comprehensive analysis of
15 fields of educational research.
 DICTIONARIES &
3
GLOSSARIES OF TERMS
Dictionaries contain most of the recent educational terms.

Example: Dictionary of Statistics and Methodology : A NonTechnical

Guide for the Social Sciences, 3rd Edition (Vogt, 2005), defines
statistical and methodological terms used in the social and
behavioural sciences.
 4 HANDBOOKS

Handbooks specialize in certain areas of practice and research which are

similar to encyclopedias, with several exceptions.

The chapters in handbooks are usually more comprehensive and longer

than encyclopedias but also more specific in nature.

There are plenty of handbooks that discuss topics such as teaching,

reading, curriculum, social studies, educational administration,
multicultural education and teacher education.

Example: Educational Research, Methodology and Measurement : An

International Handbook (Keeves, 1998) addresses methods of research
inquiry, the utilization of knowledge, measurement and statistics.
..\Desktop\handbook-of-quantitative-methods-for-educational-
research.pdf
 5 STATISTICAL INDEXES

Primary literature includes empirical studies, research reports, and

government document. Indexes identify primary published
literature.
Statistics on total number of teachers in Malaysia (MOE Website)
LEVEL NUMBERS

PRIMARY SCHOOL LEVEL 239, 850

SECONDARY SCHOOL LEVEL 181, 978

TOTAL NUMBER 421,828

 6 REVIEWS AND SYNTHESES

A final summary source on topics consists of timely reviews and

syntheses in education, psychology and social sciences.
A review/synthesis is a combination of several texts into a single
one. It aims to create understanding or original perspective of the
information in those texts.

For example, the Review of Educational Research (1931-) is a journal

that publishes lengthy articles synthesising educational research on
various topics.
 7 BOOKS

Professional books, including some textbooks, give detailed analysis

of broad fields from particular perspectives.
However, textbooks used in classes are less helpful as they typically
do not contain reports of single research studies but they contain
summaries of literature and useful references.

Example: The Subject Guide to Books in Print (1957-) and the Core
List of Books and Journals in Education (O’Brien & Fabiano, 1990)
 JOURNALS, INDEXED PUBLICATIONS
8
& ELECTRONIC SOURCES
Journal (or periodical) articles and conferences papers that report research are prime sources
for a literature review.
Journal articles are usually short papers on specific topics. They are published in issues or parts
of journals.

Indexed publications are considered to be of higher scientific quality as compared to non-

indexed journals. Once a journal is indexed by a database, it is immediately made available to all
users of that database. Some databases index titles, some index full articles while some others
index only the abstract and/or references.

The resources to which "electronic" applies (in the context of collections development) include:

Online Electronic Resources

Web Sites - Open Access and Full-Text
Web Sites - Bibliographic
Electronic Journals
Data Files
 9 ABSTRACT SERIES

Abstract series allows for a broad search of journal articles by

subject area which are available in many fields.
For example, early childhood development, try to look for Child
Development Abstracts and Bibliography (Society for Research in
Child Development, 1945–)

These abstracts can usually be found by accessing the online library

catalog and using key words such as abstracts, and the subject field
or topic to determine if the library contains a specific abstract series.
 10 DATABASES

A Google search can often lead to plenty of articles and discussions

on educational topics.
A more careful and monitored approach is to examine one of the
many literature databases.
By examining these databases, we can easily access hundreds of
journal articles on educational topics. Computerized databases also
facilitate searching the literature for conference papers and
miscellaneous publications, such as papers from professional
associations or education agencies.
Start a computerized search of the databases with the education
data, followed by the psychological and sociological sources of
information.
ERIC DATABASE
ERIC (1991) is a national system of information in education
established in 1966 by the U.S. Department of Education and the
National Library of Education (NLE).
Because public monies supported the development of ERIC, you
can search the ERIC database free of charge.

https://eric.ed.gov/
STEPS OF WRITING A REVIEW
Five steps in conducting a literature
review

Identify Key Terms

Locate Literature

Critically Evaluate and Select the Literature

Organize the Literature

Write a Literature Review

Identify Key Terms
Terms to use in your search for literature review
Begin your literature by narrowing your topic to a few key terms
using one or two words or short phrases
Important for initially locating literature in a library or through an
Internet search
Example: ‘’Weapon Possession by High School Students.”
Locate Literature
Begin your search by asking for recommending good articles and studies
review
Use Academic Libraries
◦ Begin the search in an academic library
◦ Provide online journals for easy computer access
Use Both Primary and Secondary Resources
◦ Primary source literature consists of literature reported by individual(s) who actually
conducted the research or who originated the research.
◦ Secondary source literature is literature that summarises primary source. It does not
represent material published by original researcher. Examples: handbooks and
encyclopedias
Critically Evaluate and Select the
Literature
Begins with identifying key words and locating resources
Determine if it is a good source to use and whether it is relevant to your
research
Look for “research’’ studies to include in you literature review.
◦ This research consists of posing questions, collecting data and forming results and
conclusions from the data. Also, the claims made by authors in their results need to be
justified and supported based on the data collected
The literature must be relevant to use
Problem and questions relevance: Does the literature examine the same
research problem that you propose to study? Does it address the same research
questions you plan to address?
Organize the Literature
Abstracting Studies
Constructing a Literature Map
Write a Literature
Use appropriate style to write complete references for the
summaries and develop headings for the literature review
Employing specific writing strategies related to the extend of the
review, the type of review and the concluding statements in a review
Three most frequently used approaches
◦ End-of-Text References
◦ Within-Text References
◦ Headings
Within-Text References
◦ References cited in a brief format within the body of the
text to provide credit to the authors

Rogers (1994) compared reaction times for athletes and nonathletes in middle
schools…
Types of Literature Reviews
Concluding Statement of the Review
◦Summarize the major theme
◦Ask yourself what are the major results and findings from
all of the studies that you have reviewed?
Conceptual Framework

• Testing theory does not have to be the

beginning point of a qualitative empirical
study; instead qualitative research often
explores areas that are understudied and
searches for emergent theory (Creswell,
2003).
A Conceptual Framework is used in research to
outline possible courses or action or to present a
preferred approach to an idea or thought.

Conceptual framework is the researcher’s

understanding of how the particular variables in his
study connect with each other. (researcher’s “map”)
•When searching for emergent theory, however, a
conceptual framework is important for situating the study.
•The author must demonstrate the importance of the study
by defining the main ideas and the network of relationships
between them (Becker, 1998).
•A conceptual framework grounds the study in the relevant
knowledge bases that lay the foundation for the importance
of the problem statement and research questions.