Assignment : Review of the Literature
In Module 1, you learned about the literature review process, which you will employ as part of your final research proposal in M5 Assignment 2 RA 2.
In preparation for writing this literature review, in M3 Assignment 2 RA 1, you will submit an annotated bibliography of 6 peer-reviewed articles from the Argosy University online library resources and locate articles related to the topic of your research in the following categories:
• 2 quantitative studies
• 2 qualitative studies
• 1 mixed-methods study
• 1 theoretical or research design of your choice
As you work toward your discussion in this module, start searching the library databases for articles that may be a good fit for your M3
Assignment 2 RA 1 and M5 Assignment 2 RA 2.
Then, in this module's discussion, consider the following:
A strong literature review not only plays a foundational role for setting up a research proposal and/or dissertation but also plays an important role in the results and discussion section that is presented after the data has been collected and analyzed.
• Why is the literature review a needed piece of a research proposal? How can a weak literature review diminish a research proposal?
• Once the data has been collected and you are moving into the completion of the research report, how will you continue to pull from your literature review in the results and discussion section of your report?
• What search strategies did you use to locate articles from the Argosy University online library resources for your upcoming RAs?
Review the points of others and add additional examples, challenging a response or drawing conclusions from the response.
Post your response in a minimum of 300 words.
All written assignments and responses should follow APA rules for attributing sources.
Review of the Literature
When carrying out any research or study, it is important to do a thorough literature review of the topic. A literature review entails work on the same research topic that has been done previously by other researchers.
A strong literature a review hence plays a critical role in any research study because it acts as a foundation when it comes to role setting for the entire research proposal. At the same time, a strong literature review assists in the results and discussion section of the research study which is presented after the data has been collected and analyzed.
A literature review is a needed piece of a research proposal because it makes one gain an impression on the important aspects of the topic under study. It also helps a researcher identify other sources of information that have been previously used by other researchers. A literature review also guides a researcher on the identification of ideas which need to be investigated further (Robertson, 2006). Finally, a comprehensive literature review helps a researcher to avoid repeating errors which have been identified in work that has been done previously.
A weak literature review can diminish research proposal in that a researcher would not be able to establish some of the strengths and weaknesses in the previous work. This will mean that they do not have a good base before starting the research hence are bound to face similar weaknesses that have been there before.
Once data has been collected and one is moving towards completing the research report, they can pull from the literature review some of the results and discussions and use them as a base for making their own conclusions. One of the strategies that I will use to locate articles is keyword search strategy. This is done through defining the topic, picking the key words and enters these key words on the Argosy University online library resource. Some of the key words that I used when
I was looking for articles to review include: Psychologists in correctional setting, ethical issues faced by forensic psychologists, challenges psychologists face in the correctional setting, and psychologists in the correctional setting. One of the search engines that I used for the literature review was google whereby I typed the key words and got some few articles that I used as the basis for the literature review.
There are some few tips that I used when carrying out the literature review. First, before beginning the review I had the research question or the problem that the review was meant to define.
The other thing is that I kept in mind the type of review that I was conducting which was a qualitative research to establish the inability of psychologists to form meaningful relationships with their clients in the correctional setting.
Finally, I ensured that I critically analyzed the literature in that I followed a set of questions as opposed to merely listing and summarizing the content of the articles.
References
Robertson, A.T. (2006). Literature review: A literature review and its Historical importance. Review & Expositor, 23(4), 497-497.