Action Research at TCC: Getting Started

Purpose of the literature review:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the field
2. Inform and shape the research project
3. Prepare future readers of the study to understand the context of the project

May include:

• Rationale or why the study is important
• Historical perspectives and seminal research
• Key concepts
• Current research
• Theoretical perspectives
• Key debates
• Human development

Summarized from Alber, Sandra M., A Toolkit for Action Research. Lanham, US: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2010. 

Marianne Myers and James Dodd presented this PowerPoint on Literature Review and Metadata at the Undergraduate Research Retreat. 

• Choose a relatively focused topic or question
  • Create a list of keywords, including synonyms, to use in your search
• Search for current relevant literature
  • Look for books, journal articles, newspapers, magazine articles, or websites
  • Pay attention to how the literature you read approaches your topic or question
  • Group research based on similar concepts, theories, and study methodologies
• Create a working outline for your literature review, remember that you are wanting to:
  • Define and clarify the issue
  • Summarize previous research into the subject
  • Identify relations, contradictions, gaps, and inconsistencies in the literature
  • Suggest the next steps in resolving the issue
• Group notes from your references into the appropriate sections of your outline
• Use a citation management tool, such as Zotero to assemble a bibliography of research cited in your Literature Review