Week 4--Literature Review Readings

Key Concepts in Research—Week 4

Literature Review Reading

The Writer’s Handbook

What is the purpose of a literature review?

A literature review gives the researcher the opportunity to analyze a specific published body of work on the topic of concern. The researcher can summarize, classify, an compare studies, reviews, and theory related to the topic.

What are the basic parts when writing a literature review?

A literature review begins with an introduction so that the reader understands the topic, issue, or concern and the context within which you will be reviewing the literature. The body of the review summarizes the information you have gathered. The review should end with a strong conclusion that summarizes the major reviews that you mentioned in the body, points out strong relationships or flaws in the research, and concludes with discernment of the connections between the topic, the literature, and other current studies.

The Literature Review: A few tips on conducting it

What skills can you showcase by writing a literature review?

By conducting a thorough review of the literature, you can demonstrate your skills of information seeking and critical appraisal.

What questions should I ask myself when writing a literature review?

What research question, problem, or thesis does my literature review seek to define? Is this type of literature review interested in theory, methodology, policy, quantitative research, or qualitative research? What is the scope of the review? What type of publications should I use? Have I done a thorough job in information seeking? Has my search been wide enough to find the relevant literature, yet narrow enough to include only relevant material? Do I have enough sources for the length of my paper? Did I critically analyze the literature? Did I cite and discuss studies conflicting with my opinion? Is the review pertinent, appropriate, and beneficial?

Write a Literature Review

What are the stages of developing literature review?

According this article, the four stages of developing the literature review include: problem formulation, literature search, data evaluation, and analysis and interpretation.

How should I assess the literature?

Provenance—what are the author’s credentials? Objectivity—is the article fair, objective, or prejudicial? Persuasiveness—is the author convincing in the thesis? Value—does the work contribute to an understanding of the subject and were the author’s arguments and inferences convincing?

References

The Writer’s Handbook. http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/ReviewofLiterature.html

The Literature Review: A few tips on conducting it. www.writing.utoronto.ca

Write a Literature Review. http://library.ucsc.edu/print/help/howto/write-a-literature-review

Post Script to Article Review #1

The research I plan to conduct concerns the access of library resources to online/distance students.

Week 3--Developing the Study

Key Concepts in Research—Week 3

Developing the Study

Topic 14—Patten

Strict replication—repetition of an original study with the expectation of the same results.

Modified replication—conducting a study similar to the original study while making some major modifications such as a different population or using some other type of testing instrument.

Topic 15—Patten

What are the three major sources for locating literature electronically for the purpose of a literature review of previous research? 1) Sociofile for Sociological Abstracts and Social Planning/Policy & Development Abstracts; 2) PsycLIT for Psychological Abstracts; and 3)ERIC for education related abstracts.

What are some helpful tips for conducting a search? Use a Thesaurus to find proper descriptors of your topic, and use Boolean search operators, such as, AND, OR, and NOT.

Topic16—Patten

Conceptual definitions—defining the study in terms of the discipline and the theory. Words can mean different things in different settings and need to be clearly defined in relation to the research you will be conducting.

How do you show the importance of your topic? By conducting a literature review and showing that other researchers also found the topic important and conducted research on the topic.

Appendix D—Pryczak

Stratified random sampling—a method in which the population is divided into sub-populations and then randomly sampled. The method is used to produce more exact replication of the population as a whole.

Temporal stability—in research, temporal stability refers to consistent results using a certain testing instrument over time and across multiple forms.

Chapter 2—Wildemuth

Symmetry of potential outcomes—whether the results of your study confirm or disprove your hypotheses, the study will be useful.

Problem statement—A narrowly drafted research statement or question upon which your research will be based. It should be clear, specific, answerable, connected to significant concepts and phenomena and be relevant to the field.

Chapter 3—Wildemuth

Practice-based question—(In relation to librarians)Stepping outside your own personal experience, possibly teaming up with professionals from other libraries or other fields, such as education or psychology, to expand the knowledge within the field of library and information science.

Evidence-based information practice—the current standard of most information professionals to base decision making for their institution by identifying and using the assumptions of previous studies.

Chapter 5—Wildemuth

Null hypothesis—when in a hypothesis(… there is no relationship between the variables or no difference between one thing or another” (34).

Information foraging theory—suggests that people will use the nearest point of reference to decide whether to pursue the information they are seeking.

Chapter 3—Williamson

Research hypothesis—a more specific statement of the problem, but still too general for an operational hypothesis.

Operational hypothesis—a concise statement of the research hypothesis, developed to specifically guide the research study.

References

Patten, (2000). Topics in Educational Research. Pyczak Publishing.

Pryczak, F. (2008). Title Unknown. 4th ed. CA: Pyrczak Publishing.

Wildemuth, B. M. (2009) Applications of Social Methods to Question in Information and Library Science. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Williamson, K. (2000). Research methods for students and professionals: Information management and systems. Wagga Wagga, NSW.

Article Review #1

Diane Mick

LIS 7996-Research

September 20, 2011

Mclean, E. & Dew, S. H. (2004). Assessing the library needs and preferences of off-campus students. Journal of Library Administration, 41 (1-2), 265-302. doi: 10.1300/J111v41n01_20

Evadne McLean from the Mona Campus at the University of the West Indies teams up with Stephen H. Dew from the University of Iowa to study the library wants and needs of distance education students. The team will review the literature on user surveys, compare their surveys to one conducted by Dew at the University of Iowa in 1998-1999, run self-administered questionnaires (SAQ)tailored to the two distinct universities, compile and compare results.

The study lacks a clear hypothesis, relying rather on the results to help formulate plans for improving the services of the respective university library services. For Dew it is an opportunity to access improvements in services made after the previous survey in 1998-1999. At the University of Iowa only 11% of over 1600 distance learners responded to the SAQ. At the University of the West Indies, the study was returned by 52% of the sample population of 148 students who had completed at least one year of distance education classes.

The independent variables include: age, gender, ethnicity, student status, library availability, instruction in library use, and major. Dependent variables include: satisfaction with library services, satisfaction of the collections, opinion of website, satisfaction with document delivery, and accessibility of internet services.

The study was designed using self-administered questionnaires. This enabled students to complete the questionnaires at their convenience. In the West Indies though, the study was often handed to students as they entered the off-campus learning center, early for their classes. The surveyor then gathered the SAQ before the student left class. With questionnaires there is often a lack of interest in participation which may skew the results towards only the people who have complaints, or towards only the people who already use the services.

The results of the studies were compiled separately and then compared in the summary. The two universities are so different in their operations that it seems to compare apples to oranges.

The 2003 University of Iowa study included students enrolled in the Guided Independent Studies (GIS) Program. The 1998-1999 study did not include these students as they did not have library privileges at that time. The study results showed that the library needs to be promoted to encourage use by GIS students. The Distance Education Library Services website was rated to be good or excellent, as were the handouts describing the services. Most thought the toll-free reference desk hotline was good or excellent; however, eight percent rated it as below average. E-mail reference services were rated mostly good or excellent, but rated below average or poor by ten percent of respondents. Over ninety percent of respondents graded the document delivery as good or excellent. The researcher was happy with the overall response to the services, noting that email and telephone references need to respond quicker to the needs of students.

The University of the West Indies (UWI) researcher used a survey tailored to the unique structure of the university. UWI has three campus libraries and the researcher is located at the library on the Mona, Jamaica Campus which is responsible for the Northern Caribbean and ten intra-Jamaica sites. Other campus libraries are located in St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago and at Cave Hill in Barbados. The university is unique as it serves the three counties where campuses are located, as well as

the Easter Caribbean States (OECS)—Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts/Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent, and the Grenadines—and those in the Northern Caribbean—Belize, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. (p.273)

The SAQ included twenty-one questions, most were partially close-ended and one was fully open-ended to allow respondents to make suggestion for improving library services. Three of the questions used a five point Likert-type scale. The resources most used at the sites were: textbooks, 72%; photocopies of articles and chapter books, 63%; and book on loan, 53%. The students used reference services, 49%; collection, 37% and interlibrary loan, 8%. The researcher makes many inferences as to the cause of the reported statistics. This may be helpful in designing another survey, but could be problematic if major changes are made without conducting a causal comparative study.

One large difference in the two universities is the number of students who had internet access at home. Respondents of the University of Iowa survey reported ninety percent have internet access at home; over half with access at their office, and over forty percent used their public library’s access. On the hand, respondents of the University of the West Indies reported less convenient access to the internet. Thirty-seven percent of University of West Indies respondents reported home access to the internet, twenty-five percent have access at work, and twenty-one percent have access at the distant education site they attend. The studies are eight years old and much has changed in the world of internet access and it would be interesting to know the change in access of these two universities.

The study is useful to each library to help improve the services extended to distance students. However, the libraries, universities, and students are so diverse from the Iowa location to the West Indies location that there is little point in comparing the two university library services side-by-side. On the collaboration side, it is helpful to find another librarian who contends with many daily adversities in providing excellent library service to students and faculty. In that sense, the study results may help spur new ideas for each in developing new and enhanced services. The study would be helpful to another researcher who desires to survey students. By following the article’s ideas on how to conduct a study, examples of questions, and explanations on how the design was decided, a researcher would have a starting point in mind.

Week 2--Research Traditions

Week 2—Research Traditions

Chapter 2—Williamson

Nomothetic—according to Williamson nomothetic literally means ‘pertaining to the search for general laws’ (28).

Idiographic—refers to an in-depth study of a distinct case.

Chapter 2—Connaway & Powell

Scientific method—A method often used by scientists to resolve unanswered questions and solve problems. The method is broken down into four or more steps which include: identifying the problem, idea or interest to be researched; create a theory to guide the research; gather data to help resolve the problem; hypothesize the solution; and finally test the hypothesis.

Validity of Research Design—Connaway and Powell identify three forms of validity in relation to the design of research. Construct validity identifies the variable being investigated as properly identified and labeled. Internal validity refers to correct identification of casual relationships and rules out rival explanations of relationships. External validity also referred to as generalizability occurs when conclusions of a research design are true beyond one particular study.

Eldredge

Cohort design—study of a group of people with common characteristics before exposure to a phenomenon and then changes after the exposure. Study may be prospective (before), retrospective (after), or longitudinal (at multiple intervals during).

Delphi method—a method which seeks to keep the anonymity of participants as to avoid the phenomenon of groupthink. Individuals in these studies are generally experts in the particular interest of the study.

Topic 1—Patten

Empirical Research—is based on the observation of subjects. To avoid misinterpretation of information a study must take care in why they want to observe, whom they observe, how they observe, and when to observe.

Hypothesis—an explanation of the results a researcher expects to find at the conclusion of a study.

Topic 2—Patten

Experimental studies—researchers treat participants and then observe to identify changes in behavior.

Nonexperimental studies—researchers do not treat participants, they only observe participants to identify how they naturally behave without an experimental treatment.

Topic 3—Patten

Causal-comparative study—a nonexperimental sudy that seeks to explain the cause of given condition through the study of data. These studies provide valuable data upon which many decisions are made.

Ex post factor study—same as causal-comparative study. See above definition.

Topic 4—Patten

Field research aka ethnographic research—an intensive case study of a group of people such as all people who work for an agency or an ethnic group. The research may observe from outside the group or be one of the group.

Longitudinal research—a study carried out over a period of time with samples taken at specified intervals.

Topic 5—Patten

Variable—a trait or characteristic that has two or more categories.

Category—all variables must be mutually exclusive categories. A subject can only belong to one category. The categories of variables must be all inclusive which makes them exhaustive.

Topic 6—Patten

Independent variable—is the input or stimulus that causes changes in a nonexperimental study.

Dependent variable—is the effect caused by the independent variable. This is the purpose of experiments to determine the extent to which an independent variable effects changes in a dependent variable.

Topic 7—Patten

Research purpose—a statement explaining why a study is being conducted.

Research question—a question that researchers want answered by conducting a study. Both research purpose statements and questions are considered nondirectional hypothesis where no prediction of outcome is made other than to say that there will be a difference in outcomes among the groups.

Topic 8—Patten

Conceptional definitions of variables—definitions such as one might find in the dictionary that do not adequately describe the steps taken to concretely see the variable.

Operational definition of a variable—redefines a variable in order to make it more concrete by giving the steps necessary to replicate in subsequent studies.

Topic 9—Patten

Deductive approach—planning research by reviewing research literature and developing a hypothesis based on the literature.

Inductive approach—planning research by gathering data and very early on in the process, use the preliminary findings to form a hypothesis.

Topic 10—Patten

When is it best to use a quantitative approach? When things can be measured in numbers, when subjects are not available for interaction or observation, when time and funds are limited, and when hard numbers are needed .

When is it best to use a qualitative approach? When a question focuses on emotional impact, little is known about a topic, and when subjects belong to a closed or secretive culture.

Appendix A—Pyrczak

What are the steps to conducting quantitative research? 1) Narrow your topic to a very specific hypothesis, purpose, or question. A researcher may include more than one hypothesis, topic or question. 2) Select a random sample that is representative of the population. 3) Use a reasonably large sample of participants. 4) Make observations with testing instruments that can be scored accurately. 5) Define the results using statistics and make inferences from the results.

What are the steps to conducting qualitative research? 1) Begin with a general question or problem to research. 2) Select a purposive sample instead of a random sample. 3) The sample used should be relatively small. 4) Observe the participants with unstructured instruments. 5) Intensively observe the participants. 6) Present the results primarily in words concentrated on the purposive sample, avoiding generalizations to the population at large.

Standards for Reporting—American Educational Research Association (AERA)

The seven standards for humanities research in an AERA publication—“1) significance, 2) methods, 3) conceptualization, 4)substantiation, 5)coherence, 6) quality of communication, and 7) ethics” (481). These standards are given to provide researchers and writers a framework of expectations for any humanities related research that they would like to publish.

Humanities-oriented research—seeks to explore and understand human existence, education, relationships, emotions, ethics, and behavior.

References

American Educational Research Association (2009) Standards for Reporting on Humanities-Oriented Research in AERA Publications. Educational Researcher, 38 (6), 481-486. Doi: 10.3102/0013189X09341833

Connaway, L. & Powell, R. (2010). Basic research methods for librarians. 5th ed. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.

Eldredge, J.D. (2004). Inventory of research methods for librarianship and informatics. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 92 (1), 83-90.

Patten, (2000). Topics in Educational Research. Pyczak Publishing.

Pryczak, F. (2008). Title Unknown. 4th ed. CA: Pyrczak Publishing.

Williamson, K. (2000). Research methods for students and professionals: Information management and systems. Wagga Wagga, NSW.

Key Concepts-Week 1

Key Concepts in Research—LIS 7996—Fall 2011

Week 1—Introductory Readings

Chapter 1: Connaway, L. & Powell, R. (2010). Basic research methods for librarians. 5th ed. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.

Basic research—Conducted for the sake of gaining knowledge, basic research is usually quantitative and very general. It normally does not seek to solve technical or practical problems.

Applied research—Conducted to find solutions to problems; applied research is used extensively in the field of library and information science. Many methods may be used to conduct applied research, including both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Chapter 1: Williamson, K. (2000). Research methods for students and professionals: Information management and systems. Wagga Wagga, NSW.

Positivist—A positivist tradition of research focuses on quantitative data to solve problems using traditional techniques to gather data.

Interpretivist—A interpretivist tradition of research emphasizes the use of words (qualitative approach) to collect data. The data is often collected through interviews and observation.

Chapter 1: Wildemuth, B. (2009). Applications of social research methods to questions in information and library Science. ABC-CLIO, Incorporated.

Evidence-based practice—When a study is conducted to guide the practices of a service. This would include conducting research to improve practices with a library.

Research methods—There are a multitude of various methods that can be used for researching particular topics and ideas. A method is the means one chooses to conduct a study and analyze the data gathered. Methods may include such things as a survey, transaction log, observation, interview, experiment, etc.