efficient reading and developing your literature review 2nd november 2015

EFFICIENT R

EADING AND

DEVELOPIN

G YOUR

LITERATU

RE REVIEW

K E L L Y P R E E C E

R E S E A R C H E R D E V E L O P M E N T P R O G R A M M E M A N A G E R ( P G R S )

Researcher Led Initiatives2015-2016

Professional Development by & for Researchers

6 x £1,000 Awards for Early Career Research Only Staff

8 X £500 Awards for Postgraduate Research Students

Closing Date for Applications: 8th January 2016

www.exeter.ac.uk/rdp/funding/awards

RESEARCHER DEVELOPMENT

www.exeter.ac.uk/rdp/

Santander Postgraduate Research Award

2015-2016

Professional Development for Researchers

35 x £500 Awards for Postgraduate Research Students

Closing Date for Applications: 18 December 2015

http://as.exeter.ac.uk/rdp/funding/

RESEARCHER DEVELOPMENT

www.exeter.ac.uk/rdp/

WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM THIS COURSE…?

…ANSWERS ON A POST-IT NOTE!

TODAY WE WILL COVER

Introducing the Literature ReviewSearching the LiteratureThe Active ReaderPreviewing and SelectingNote-takingThe Writing Process

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Reduce reading load by intelligent selection

Retain more of what you readSearch and judge relevance of source

material efficientlyKnow strengths and weaknesses of

various types of sources

Read and take notes with a defined purpose

Understand the purpose and value of a literature review

Feel confident when outlining and writing up the review

PADLET

http://padlet.com/UofE_RD/efficientreadinganddevelopingyourlitreview02_11_15

PART 1: INTRODUCING THE LITERATURE REVIEW

WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW?

An organised, critical appraisal of published attempts to answer a question…

…not merely a descriptive catalogue!

The starting point is therefore knowing and understanding the question!

SO, WHY WRITE A LITERATURE REVIEW?

WHAT DOES A LITERATURE REVIEW DO FOR MY RESEARCH?

Builds your confidence as a researcher and a member of the academic community

Helps you to define the boundaries of your project, which will be as important as knowing your core findings

Develops your skill as an excellent researcher, who can locate, analyse, critique, synthesise and build on existing knowledge

LEARNING TO SITUATE YOUR RESEARCH IN THE FIELD

THE PROCESS

PHASES OF A LITERATURE REVIEW

Phase 1

Phase 2

Phase 3

Thinking

Searching Reading

Reading

Writing

The initial research question

The refined research question

The initial scope of research

The revised scope of the review

TYPES OF LITERATURE REVIEW

• Conceptual• State-of-the-art• Expert• Scoping• Traditional

(Thomson, 2013)

YOUR LITERATURE REVIEW SHOULD:

1.Sketch out the nature of the field relevant to the inquiry – including history if relevant and

2. Identity major debates and define terms, in order to

3.Establish which studies, ideas and/or methods are most pertinent to your study, and

4.Locate gaps in the field, in order to5.Create a warrant for the study in question,

and6. Identify the contribution the study might

make(Kamler and Thomson, 2006)

PART 2: SEARCHING THE LITERATURE

In what ways do you use the following?

15 minutes

LIBRARY RESOURCES TO AID EFFICIENT READINGHome>Courses>University Resources>Library

and Research Skills>Researcher Development

http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=1830

Or through Researcher Development Onlinehttp://

vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=1943

ADDITIONAL TOOLS AND STRATEGIES

Simple online searches from time to time Database alertsReading groupsCritically reading citation lists (ie Google

scholar)Abstracts

PART 3: THE ACTIVE READER

TYPES OF READING

Pleasure or interest

Functional NewsInformation and Instructions

Work Keeping up to date: ‘local news’ReportsResearch

AN ACTIVE READER…

Is selectiveIs critical Interacts with the textChanges reading orderRe-reads with a purposeAnticipates

STEPS

DISCUSSIONHow many hours do you spend reading a

week? (Research reading only) Do you feel you read enough? Where do you read?When do you read?How long is your ‘attention span’?

15 minutes

ACCELERATION BY DEFAULT

Reading more quickly is the result of Eliminating distractions where possible (or responding to them positively)

Finding focus: time, place, environment Selecting more efficiently (preview, skimming)

Making space for proper reading sessions

PREPARING TO READ

Prepare your workspaceScope the reading projectCollect materialsNo interruptions!

WHY HARDCOPY WINS

Annotations are flexible and easy Navigation by look and touch Multitasking easierEasier viewing of several documents Easier on the eye

// COMFORT BREAK \\

PART 4: PREVIEWING AND SELECTING

PREVIEWING AND SELECTING

At the moment…

How do you select what is worth reading? How is this working for you? Do you read every line?

PREVIEWING AND SELECTING

Currency?Credibility?Relevance?What is new to me?What do I already know?In which order should I read the sections/chapters?

What needs my in-depth attention?

GETTING PERSPECTIVE

Deconstructing the text through

Initial skimming - “top & tail”

Anticipation

DEALING WITH INFORMATION OVERLOAD

‘Information overload will make your head spin for a while, but once its settled down again, you will find that you are much better at sorting the good stuff from the bad, and quickly.’

(Marshall and Green, 2010: 55)

HOW DO I KNOW I’M GETTING SOMEWHERE?

‘[If you're] starting find themes and patterns in the literature ... that means you are making progress.’

(Marshall and Green, 2010: 54)

HOW DO I KNOW I’M GETTING SOMEWHERE?

‘You will also find that, after a while, the same things keep cropping up, and that means you have covered most of the intellectual ground, even if you haven't read everything written on the matter.’

(Marshall and Green, 2010: 54)

PART 5: NOTE-TAKING

TALK ABOUT

Why you take notes?What is in your

notes?

YOUR NOTES

Key wordsParaphrase with the book closed and with

citationsEnclose all quotes or near quotes in your

original notes Summarise each new substantive text in one

short paragraph

YOUR NOTES

Comparisons with other worksYour critical appraisalNotes should interrogate the text!Knowledge and information mapping

HAND-WRITING WINS

A KNOWLEDGE MAP/MIND MAP

WHAT GETS SORTED?

Meaningful thingsFamiliar or unique thingsMappable thingsThings often encounteredRemarkable thingsRadiant Hierarchy of Ideas

LATCH – PROCESSING YOUR LITERATURE

Location

Alphabet

Time

Category

Hierarchy

From: The Thesis Whisperer

‘5 Ways to Tame the Literature Dragon’

PART 6: THE WRITING PROCESS

PLANNING

Adopt a planning tool to draft and re-draft your Lit Review

MindmapsGantt chartsLists…

RD COURSES ON

Research Planning & Time Management Plan and Write your ThesisCreative Approaches to Writing your

Thesis Completing your Thesis

WRITE

‘It doesn’t matter if it is dot points, poorly thought out ideas, scribbles from paper notes… Whatever it is, start writing your chapters. Many people only give themselves 6 months to write, and it is so relieving to go back and see stuff already on paper. You will thank yourself for organising your literature, giving yourself some reminders or for thinking! Writing early may save you months of effort when you are strapped for time.’

Extracted from a blog post on www.thesiswhisperer.com

SO, WRITE EARLY, WRITE OFTEN.

DEVELOP A CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

Forms an index of referencesHelps you keep track of what you’ve readHighlights key points – for re-readingGets you to critique not just describeWriting practiceContent you could potentially use in your

thesis

DATA MANAGEMENT

QUESTIONS?

THANK YOU!

researcherdevelopment@exeter.ac.uk

www.exeter.ac.uk/as/rdp

@UofE_RD