Worksheet 2- Literature Review v1.1 Andre Samuel 12th ...



Worksheet 2 Literature Review

The main function of this worksheet is to ensure that your mind is prepared with all the knowledge that it needs to carry out the project and its primary research. When assessing this element the University will look at how YOU use the sources in what you write and at the range of sources that you used. If either is judged deficient your work will not be accepted as the view taken will be that you are not prepared for work at this level and on this topic. The following steps are iterative and you must expect to go backwards and forwards many times before you get a set of answers with which you are happy.

1. LIST – Make a list of all the various topic strands that you need to know about. Alternatively you can generate keywords that stem from your Research Question.

2. ARRANGE – Use the list prepared in step 1 and put the topics into a logical and progressive order.

3. THEME – Decide on a theme that will link all the various topic strands together.

4. REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY – References are sources that you use in the text of your research proposal/dissertation. A bibliography is a list of books you have identified as useful (including references) but not necessarily used. The expectation is that there will be at least 5 or 6 core and relevant sources covering the topic for the Research Proposal and 20 to 30 for the dissertation. For each source you must consider its:

Currency – looks at publication date and be aware of changes in technology.

Coverage – Use your list of sub-topics to ensure that you cover all the areas required so that you are fully prepared. But make sure that you are not including multiple texts with essentially the same content.

Range – Make sure you have a good range of authors.

Authority – For each source ask is the text authoritative. This can be done by considering the author, publisher, writing style and currency. It is also possible to use citation indexes to see how often the source has been used.

Relevance – Make sure that your sources are relevant to your project topic.

The basic usage strategy is:

Find – Relevant texts using a library index, the internet, online book stores electronic databases and so on.

Evaluate – Once you find a possible source you must evaluate it for content and relevance.

Contextualise – that is fit this new source into your personal knowledge base.

Cite – If you decide to use the source then it must be listed in your reference section and cited in the text correctly.

Discuss – You may include something from a source in your work as a copy (quote), paraphrase or summary but in all cases you must introduce it, comment on it at cite its source.

4a. REFERENCES – make a list of your core books, journals articles, online databases etc

4b. BIBLIOGRPHY – make a list of all sources that might be useful whether you have read them or not.

5. STRUCTURE and CONTENT – Now use your themed list of topics and structure what you write using headings, subheading, paragraphs, bullets, tables, diagrams and so on. HERE YOU SHOULD CREATE A RELEVANCE TREE OR CONCEPTUAL MAP

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