Understanding Literature Reviews
- Summary Overview: "surveys different ideas found in some body of literature on a given subject. Reviews and summarizes what has been published by others on a subject without aspiring to provide any novel analytical insight."
- Example: Textbooks, traditional review articles
- Research Background: “provides background for a specific study by discussing the ideas that helped define the research questions. Its purpose is to explain the intellectual sources that inform a specific research project”.
- Examples: Dissertations, theses and empirical studies (i.e. most research articles).
- Research Study: “formal and methodical analysis of a body of literature that is an empirical research study in its own right."
- Examples: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses
Adapted from Harris, David J. Literature Review and Research Design : A Guide to Effective Research Practice . 1st edition, Routledge, 2019
- Literature Review and Research Design : A Guide to Effective Research Practice
Ebook available through Kennedy Library. - Evidence Synthesis Decision TreeIf you are considering conducting an evidence synthesis, think beyond Systematic Reviews. This diagram helps you match your research goals and resources to the most appropriate review type.
Make Good Use of Sources
How to Use Sources in Research and Writing
(From the Library's Research 101 series)
THE BEAM MODEL
Source: Bizup, Joseph. “BEAM: A Rhetorical Vocabulary for Teaching Research-Based Writing.” Rhetoric Review 27.1 (2008): 72-86. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 4 February 2014.
BACKGROUND: Using a source to provide general information to explain the topic.
EXHIBIT: Using a source as evidence or examples to analyze.
ARGUMENT: Using a source to engage its argument. Most will be scholarly sources written by researchers and scholars. These are the sources you engage in conversation.
METHOD: Using a source's way of analyzing an issue to apply to your own issue, whether it's to borrow an approach, concept, idea, or method.
