Midterm Literature Review
The Assignment
Ideally, you have already completed much of the work for this project as part of you study (article) review and critique assignment. You may (and are encouraged!) to use the same research topic (maybe further refining/modifying it based upon your reading) and you may also use the article you previously read and evaluated for the study (article) review and critique assignment. The goal of your literature review and this assignment is to build upon your literature search and article review skills, and to teach you to synthesize individual research into cogent analysis. You will develop research skills which include: selecting an appropriately narrow/broad research topic, conducting an effective search for original research articles in library databases, reading research articles and evaluating their strengths, weaknesses, and conclusions, organizing your thinking about a topic and this process, synthesizing the knowledge in your mind and critically thinking about the topic, forming an understanding of the literature base then communicating your findings in written format utilizing APA style.
You are expected to work alone. Do not use the same topic or articles as someone else.
Feedback from Grading
Use the feedback and grading I provide you to learn from. You are encouraged to use this literature review as part of your final project research proposal. The feedback I provide may be valuable in improving your literature review and how you are thinking about and approaching your research topic.
The rubric I will grade this assignment on is at the end of this document.
Your literature review should:
1) Clearly indicate in the FIRST PARAGRAPH the research topic/question you are investigating (Define and clarify the problem).
2) Summarize previous investigations to inform the reader of the state of the research.
3) Identify relations, contradictions, gaps, and inconsistencies in the research literature (Review what has been found, has not been found (“gaps in the literature”), implications of the research among certain groups, etc…).
4) Suggest the next step or steps in solving the problem
5) Reference key concepts taught in this course! Evaluate the research based on your knowledge so far.
There is not a standard way to write a literature review. What I would attempt to model this after would be the title page, abstract, and introduction section of a published research article from a journal you found in an academic database search. Note that those are professional examples – as you are just learning these skills you are not expected to produce a similar product. I want to see your process and attempts to learn about and how to do literature reviews as much as anything else.
Length
Your paper must be a minimum of 500 words, not including the title page or reference section
Articles
You must reference at least five primary source articles in your paper and include all articles in your reference section.
Tip!
The key to writing this paper is being very familiar with your body of literature. This means you should read, read, read!! Read broadly, but also read some articles closely numerous times to gain mastery over their details. Essentially, you read to learn, which allows your brain to then make new connections, which allows you to then write an original analysis by synthesizing old ideas into new ones.
Writing Tips
1) Overall, your goal is to organize ideas and research on your topic into a cogent analysis. Think carefully about what information/research/topics should be included and the sequence in which you should arrange your ideas. In general, you will try to emulate the organization and style of the introductions sections of the primary source articles you read.
2) AVOID QUOTES. I am looking for you to summarize research and ideas in your own words.
3) When citing previous research, you can include brief descriptions of study methods when it makes sense to do so. Use this type of explanation at your discretion, as it is not always needed.
4) Overall, I suggest organizing your paper around ideas, rather than just explaining studies in a sequence. The goal is to synthesize a body of previous research into a cogent essay. Thus, be integrative with your ideas (and citations) rather than only summarizing each citation sequentially. See below.
Recommended Organization Not Recommended Organization
Idea 1 (citation 1, 2, 3) Citation 1 explained
Idea 2 (citation 1, 4) Citation 2 explained
Idea 3 (citation 5, 6) Citation 3 explained
Idea 4 (citation 2, 7) Citation 4, explained, etc.
Content of Your Literature Review
You may use the following as a guide. How you do this and the amount of text within each section will vary from person to person and research topic to research topic.
Remember, write according to APA Manual 7th edition formatting guidelines – you will be graded on this (see the Word document in Week 2 on Canvas – “APA 7th edition formatting – the basics” as well as other resources I have posted for help in addition to your APA manual).
Title Page
Every page must have a page number flush on the right side of the page
Running heads are no longer required in the 7th edition. You do not need to use a running head.
• Title
o Concise and specific statement that describes your study as accurately and as completely as possible
• You may use either the professional or student title page format. I recommend the student format for this course (see page 30 of the APA manual).
o The title of your paper will be in the center of the page. Below the title include:
o Student Name(s)
o Name of College, University, or Institution
o Course number and name
o Instructor name (Justin Gauthier, PhD)
o Assignment due date written in month, date, year format (e.g., November 4, 2020)
Abstract
A brief comprehensive summary of the contents of the paper.
New page after the Title Page.
“Abstract” centered and at the top.
Typically no more than 250 words.
Written as a single paragraph without indentation on the first line.
• Brief, comprehensive summary of paper contents including:
o The research topic/question investigated
o Brief information about the methods and procedures
o Expected findings
o Any expected implications of the findings (why will they be important?)
• Keywords are words, phrases, or acronyms that describe the most important aspects of your paper. They help a reader find your work during a database search (for research papers that get published).
• Up to 5 lowercase keywords at the bottom of the abstract after the label “Keywords:” (in italics)
• Do not include keywords in your assignments in this course – APA 7th edition no longer requires them for student papers, only published research.
Introduction/Body of Paper
Start on a new page after the title page and abstract pages.
Title again centered at the top, with level 1 formatting (see below).
Indent each new paragraph after, double space after each line and paragraph.
General Guidelines For Organizing Your Introduction
1) Introduction of topic
(a) Provide a description of your general topic area, what you are investigating, and why it is important
(b) Overall, organize your introduction section by going from general to specific
(i) Fully explain general topic areas – explain all your constructs
(ii) Then give specific examples of studies as appropriate
2) Literature review
(a) Build your argument/idea!
(b) Report the ideas, findings, and results of articles related to your topic
(c) Be integrative! How do the studies you’ve researched relate to each other?
(d) Don’t just report the studies in sequential order – synthesize the information (especially when explaining your general topic area)
(e) Avoid nonessential details
APA Format
• This paper must follow strict APA formatting, including title page, references, etc…
• 12-point Times New Roman or 11-point Georgia fonts are recommended, and same font is to be used throughout the body of the paper. Use double-spacing throughout including title page and references, 1-inch margins on all sides of the page (top, bottom, left, and right – this may not be your default in Word). Do not play with margins, font, line spacing, etc. I have seen many tricks and do not appreciate them. Just do the work the correct way. You are here to learn this stuff
• Use numbers (123) for any double digit number, precede a unit of measurement, represent statistical or mathematical functions or quantitates, or represent dates, times, ages, scores on a scale (other specific situations apply – see page 178 of APA manual).
• Write out for single digit numbers (nine) or if a number starts a sentence (one-hundred-twenty-three).