Mini Literature Review (MLR) Directions
EDPS 667
Introduction to the Assignment
You will write a short literature review based on a topic of your choice. Your topic should be relevant to your professional responsibilities. The topic must be approved by the instructor.
A literature review is…
• a critical analysis of a body of research on a specific problem.
• used to critically analyze some part of a body of knowledge (see https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/ReviewofLiterature.html )
• is used by researchers to share major research findings on the research problem. It supports the theory and arguments presented by a researcher to justify a research project
• is used to propose a new research question…it is one of the first steps in proposing research
A literature review is NOT…
• an annotated bibliography or simple summary
• briefly summarizing each study individually, piece-by-piece, in a laundry list fashion
• a summary of opinion pieces or theoretical articles by themselves
The directions for this assignment are adapted from Dr. Helen Mongan-Rallis’ literature review guide at http://www.duluth.umn.edu/~hrallis/guides/researching/litreview.html. Dr. Mongan-Rallis is a faculty member in the College of Education and Human Services Professions at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
Step 1: Topic Identification and Search for Research Literature
Your research problem should be relevant to your professional life. Additionally, you need a problem that has extant empirical research. You do not want to pick a topic that no one has studied yet…at least not for this assignment. You must use existing empirical studies (i.e. research that uses data and some form of formal inquiry to make conclusions or inferences based on those data). For this assignment, you must include at least seven empirical articles/studies. You are welcome to have as many source as you want, but your works cited must include at least seven empirical studies.
You are welcome to use any search strategies you like in order to find empirical studies on your problem though I highly recommend the following: ERIC, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar. In order to have a successful search, you need to use a search strategy that will yield the specific results you seek. There are resource pages in Module 2 and Course Home in Canvas to help you in the search process, including instructional videos. If you need help with your literature search, you can contact Kate Pittsley-Sousa at Halle Library. I can also help with searches too.
Your empirical studies need published 2004 or later. You are welcome to include one international study. You may not use multiple international studies in this literature review.
Step 2: Summarize and Analyze the Research Literature
Create a Matrix
The matrix below allows you to quickly summarize the research studies on your topic. You will have one entry for each research study in your review. The matrix should make the writing process easier than if you didn’t have this information otherwise summarized in one place. Following are the fields that you should complete for each study in order to create the matrix. A separate Word document template will be provided to you, though you are welcome to create your own matrix.
APA Reference for study/article:
Research Question/Design Participants and Sampling Findings Strengths Issues and Questions
Notes:
Step 3: Synthesize the Research Literature
Once your matrix is complete, and you have the seven articles you need, proceed with the analysis and writing. Your analysis should have the following attributes.
1. Identify majors trends and patterns across the literature
2. Use headings to organize your writing by major themes, ideas or findings
3. Identify gaps across the literature
4. Note strengths and weaknesses
Step 4: Writing the Literature Review
• Create a title page using APA style 7th edition of the Publication Manual. Use APA 7th edition of the Publication Manual as your style guide for writing the entire paper.
• A descriptive abstract that is appropriate for a literature review paper. This is a brief statement about the reason for your review, the problem itself, the method (i.e. a review of empirical literature), general results, and general implications. Please see the guidance on the last page of these directions.
• Your paper should have the following (Level 1) APA style headings and as many subheadings (Level 2) as you need to help the reader understand major issues and/or steps in your argument.
o Abstract – Please see the directions in the last page of these directions.
o Introduction – Explain the relevance of the problem and sufficiently describe the topic. Let the reader know how you will structure your literature review. When you are establishing the importance of your topic, please cite appropriate sources, especially if you are suggesting that this problem impacts a lot of people. You need to use APA for all such citations/sources.
o Analysis – Summarize and analyze the studies. Evaluate the research in terms of biases, flaws in method, logical flaws, and inconsistencies, if appropriate. The reader is not interested in whether or not you “like” the research because this is a critical analysis.
o Conclusions – Acknowledge that your review is limited in scope – both your topic and your search for literature are much narrower than a real literature review would be. Please include this limitation at the beginning of this section. Explain your findings/conclusions about the problem area. What are the cumulative findings? What are the limitations and gaps in this research? And what specific opportunities exist for future research on this topic/problem area? What are reasonable next steps for research in this area?
o References – Document all of the articles/studies in your review. Do not include articles/studies unless they are cited within the text of the paper. Caution: If you use the cite tool from a database to cut and paste your sources into a References section, please edit the References section afterward. I have found that some of the Cite tools do not follow APA style for capitalization, use of italics, and other formatting issues.
As a writer, you should…
• have appropriate transitions throughout your paper.
• write without using anthropomorphism. “Researchers found…” instead of “The literature suggests…” Avoid personification.
• use first person very sparingly if at all.
• write in paragraph form. This is an exercise in expository and persuasive writing. You need to present a clear analysis of empirical research on a specific topic. Your paper should not read like a laundry list, nor should you write a persuasive paper where you proffer endless opinions.
• reference studies in-text using author(s) and publication year (as per APA style) and not by title of the article/study.
• not include bulleted lists
• not quote sources.
• not have footnotes
• not include interrogative sentences unless you are reporting specific research questions
Scoring Rubric
The scoring rubric for the assignment is found within the Assignment document in Canvas. Please take time to read the rubric so that you know how your assignment is scored.