Literature Reviews

First Steps: Things to Consider Before you Start Reading

• Keep your purpose in mind when you read.
• Don't let the arguments in the text distract you.
• Before beginning to read, take a few moments to think about what it is you are expecting from the article or chapter.
• Skim-read the abstract, headings, conclusion, and the first sentence of each paragraph. Do you need to read everything with equal attention? Can you see where the arguments are headed?

Synthesis: Asking Questions as you Read

Critical questions

• Questions will help you concentrate and deal with the material in an active manner.
• Your analytical skills will be sharpened and you will keep an objective outlook on your material.

Questions can be

• general: 'Have there been any specific studies on the role of women in electoral lobbying?'

OR

• specific: 'Are these results comparable with the Japanese study using the same questionnaire?'

Sample questions aimed at eliciting a criticism of experimental methodology

• What were the authors trying to discover?
• Why is this piece of research important?
• What was measured?
• What information do you have on the sample?
• How was the data collected?
• What were the results?
• What do the authors conclude and to what do they attribute their findings?
• Can you accept the findings as true?
• How can you apply these findings to your own work?

When results are conflicting, you might find it useful to ask the following questions:

• How similar were the programs used?
• Were different measurement instruments used?
• How were the programs evaluated?

Taking Notes as you Read

Make sure

• you keep track of the difference between your ideas and those of other authors
• your notes are legible
• you remember to provide complete bibliographic references, including page numbers

There are a number of effective methods of note-taking:

• Two-columned (Cornell) method: In one column write your summary of the authors' conclusions and evidence, and in the other column write down your own assessment, critique and other comments.
• Charting method: construct a list of points/topics/subjects you want to write about, and create a column for each one. As you read, note down notes and references in the appropriate column.
• Sentence method: as you read, write down new ideas and bits of information as a sentence. Number each sentence.
• Mapping method: write down key concepts and terms, with related ideas radiating out from these.

The above is a sample of various note-taking methods. There is no prescribed method, and you need to select one that works for you. The following Academic Skills Guide gives a useful summary of a few popular methods.

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Critically Reading Web-based Material

Most material on the Internet is not peer reviewed (unlike many journal articles and most scholarly books). You therefore need to read these writings critically and objectively.

• What do you know about the authors of the piece?
• What is the perspective of the writer? (Think about the contexts of gender and culture)
• Why does the site exist?
• How old is the material?
• Is there reliable evidence to support the author's contentions?
• Is the material correctly and fully referenced or linked to other online information?
• What is the domain of the web page (eg .gov, .org, .edu)?

For further assistance, review the Choosing the right resources section of the Research essentials guide

Reviewing and Rethinking

• This gives you a chance to have another think about the reading material.
   
• Look over your notes soon after you do the reading.
   
• Add additional comments where necessary.
   
• Double check that you have all the referencing information.