Chapter 4

Reviewing the Literature

Power Point Slides by Ronald J. Shope in collaboration with John W. Creswell

Key Concepts
Defining a literature review
Distinguishing between a quantitative
and qualitative literature review
Understanding the 5-step process of
conducting a literature review

Educational Research 2e: Creswell

What is a Literature Review?

Written summary of the literature
Describes past and current information
and research
Organized into topics
Reporting the literature based on
themes or individual studies
Documenting a need for your proposed
study
Educational Research 2e: Creswell

Literature Review in a
Quantitative Study
Documents the importance of the research
problem at the beginning of the study
Supports the theory or explanation used in
the study
Foreshadows the research questions
Provides an explanation for the results in
other studies and in the theoretical
prediction at the end of the study.
Educational Research 2e: Creswell

Literature Review in a
Qualitative Study
Documents the importance of the research
problem at the beginning of the study
Does not foreshadow the research
questions (which are broad in scope to
encourage participants to provide their own
views)
Is used to compare and contrast with other
studies at the end of the study
Educational Research 2e: Creswell

What is the Process of

Conducting a Literature Review?

Identify key terms

Locate literature
Critically evaluate and select the literature
Organize the literature
Write a review

Educational Research 2e: Creswell

Identifying key terms

Write a preliminary working title for the
project and select two or three key words that
capture the essence of the project
Pose a short general research question that
you would like to answer in the study
Look in a thesaurus of terms to find words
that match your topic
Scan the contents in your library stacks and
the table of contents of educational journals
Educational Research 2e: Creswell

Priority/Value of Sources for

Searching the Literature
Summaries
Journals, Indexes, Databases
Early stage literature (e.g., Web
studies)

Educational Research 2e: Creswell

Databases Used in
Educational Research

ERIC
PsyINFO
Sociofile
Social Science Citation Index
Dissertation Abstracts
Others: PubMed

Educational Research 2e: Creswell

Critically Evaluate and Select

the Literature
Is it a good, accurate source?
National journal?
Reviewed source?
Research study?

Educational Research 2e: Creswell

Critically Evaluate and Select

the Literature
Is the source worthy of inclusion?
Topic relevance: Is the literature on the same
topic as your proposed study?
Individual and site relevance: Does the
literature examine the same individuals and sites
you want to study?
Problem relevance: Does the literature examine
the same research problem as you propose in your
study?
Accessibility relevance: Is the literature
available in your library or can it be downloaded
from a web site?
Educational Research 2e: Creswell

Organize the Literature:

Abstracting Studies
Contents of abstract vary for research study
and essay
Structure essentially same for quantitative
and qualitative research studies:
Research problem
Research questions/hypotheses
Data collection procedures
Results/Findings

Educational Research 2e: Creswell

Sample Hierarchical Literature

Map
The need for Teaching Programs
Study Abroad
Programs

Attitude Toward
Study Abroad
King, Young,1994

to be Culturally Responsive

U.S.
Programs

Bennett, 1995; Eastman,

Smith, 1991; Grant 1994; Noel, 1995

Personal insights
of Preservice Teachers

Possible
Improvements

Personal insights
of Preservice Teachers

Friesen, Kang
McDougall, 1995;
Mahan, Stachowski, 1991

Martin, Rohrlich ,
1991; Stachowski,
1991

Cockrell, Placier,
Cockrell, Middleton
1999; Goodwin, 1997;
Kea, Bacon, 1999

Predominately English
Speaking Countries
Mahan, Stachowski, 1990;
Quinn, Barr, McKay,
Jarchow, Powell, 1995;
Vall, Tennison, 1992

Need for further study:

Non-English Speaking Cultures

Conventional
Programs

Question: Do short-term study

abroad programs in non-English
speaking cultures help create
cultural responsiveness in
preservice teachers?

Colville-Hall
Macdonald,
Smollen, 1995;
Rodriguez,
Sjostrom, 1995;
Vavrus, 1994

Educational Research 2e: Creswell

Cross-Cultural
Programs
Cooper, Beare
Thorman, 1990;
Larke, Wiseman,
Bradley, 1990

Organize the Literature:

Constructing a Literature Map
Identify key terms for the topic and put them at
the top of the map
Sort studies into topical areas or families of
studies.
Provide a label for each box which will become
a heading for the review
Develop the map on as many levels as possible

Educational Research 2e: Creswell

Constructing a Literature Map

Draw a box toward the bottom of the figure
that says my proposed study
Draw lines connecting the proposed study
with other branches of the literature

Educational Research 2e: Creswell

Circular Literature Map

Need for Further Study
Non-English Speaking Cultures
Question: Do short term study abroad programs
in non-English speaking cultures help create
cultural responsiveness in preservice teachers?

Study Abroad
Program
Attitudes Toward
Study Abroad
(King, Young 1994)

Personal insights of
Preservice Teachers
(Friesen, Kang,
McDougall, 1995)

Predominately English
Speaking Cultures
(Maha, Stachowski,
1990)

U.S. Programs
Conventional Programs
Preservice Teachers
(Friesen, Kang,
McDougall, 1995)

Personal Insights of
Teachers (Cockrell,
Placer, Cockrell,
Milleton, 1999

Cross-Cultural Program
(Cooper, Beare,
Thorman, 1990)

Educational Research 2e: Creswell

Write a Literature Review

Use consistent style manual approach
End-of-text references
Within-text references
Headings
Tables/Figures

Educational Research 2e: Creswell

Write a Literature Review:

Types of Reviews
Thematic Review
Literature documents theme identified by
researcher
No study discussed in detail
Study-by-Study Review
Detailed review of each study
Studies grouped by themes
Summaries linked by transitional sentences
and organized under subheadings
Educational Research 2e: Creswell