Presentation on Literature Review chapter in dissertations, part of 18 days FDP on Research Methods in Behavioural Sciences, conducted by ASCENT

1. Literature Review in Behavioural
Sciences:
Dos and Don’ts
10.01.2022
Dr. Chinchu C.

2. Objectives
• Why and What of Literature Review
• Places to look for literature
• Approaches to literature review
• Reading literature
• Constructing the review
• Examples: Good and Bad

3. What does it do?
• Provides an overview of the
status of research/knowledge on
a topic, the sources we have
explored while researching the
topic, and demonstrates how our
research fits within the larger
scheme of things

4. Where can it help?
• Understand the relationship between prior works
• Understand apparent contradictions that exist in evidence
• Avoid duplication and facilitate replication
• Understand the importance of our own work
• ….

5. Purposes
• For a Systematic Review paper
• For Introduction/Literature Review (and discussion) section(s) of a
manuscript
• To start working on a new area
• For a research proposal

6. How to conceptualize it?
• As a synthesis, not a mere summary
• A synthesis is like a story, with the important variables as its
characters.
• We can report, interpret, and evaluate the existing theories, findings,
and debates
• The approach will define the actual structure and flow of the review

7. What is ‘literature’?
• Journal articles, books, book chapters, conference proceedings,
presentation, newspaper article, magazine article, podcast, video,
report, letter, manuscript, thesis, email, film, webpage, blog, software
etc.

8. Where to find literature?
• Better avoid generic search engines
• Use academic search engines and services
• Use multiple services and reference management software

9. Basic and Advanced tools
• Semantic Scholar
• Microsoft Academic
• Connected Papers
• Publish or Perish
• Pen and Paper (Or Keep notes)

10. Semantic Scholar - https://www.semanticscholar.org/

11. Results from predatory journals may also get included in search

12. MS Academic - https://academic.microsoft.com/home
• YYY

14. Connected Papers - https://www.connectedpapers.com/

15. Publish or Perish - publish-or-perish.en.softonic.com/

16. Generic Search Engines

19. The reading (and note taking) process
• A well-defined research problem is a prerequisite
• Without a good research problem, all sources may seem relevant
• Nowadays, quality of the journal is another factor
• Literature may help us refine the research problem
• What to ignore is an important decision
• Use tables if they are useful
• Once you have gone through some literature, patterns can be
identified

20. Reading articles
• Abstract: Helps decide whether to be explored or discarded
• Introduction: The importance of the study
• Method: Critically look at Participants, Tools, Procedure…
• Results: Logical conclusions, possible bias, blind spots etc.
• Discussion/Conclusion: Again, critical analysis, See limitations, future
research suggestions.

21. Constructing the review
• Prepare an introduction (without that title) – describe the content
and boundaries
• Decide on the approach and the structure/basis of organization of the
main body of the review
• Do not just report, but be a critical observer
• Use flowing text, not bullet points
• Include a summary/conclusion – most relevant outcomes, need for
our study, relationship with the proposed design/methodology
• Use APA style citations; Use a software such as Zotero/Mendeley if
needed

22. The Approach
• Argumentative: Trying to support or refute an assumption or argument
• Integrative: Synthesizing existing knowledge to propose a framework for
study and/or new perspectives
• Historical: Tracing the emergence, evolution, and debates on a topic
• Methodological: The use of different methods to study a topic
• Systematic: Provides an overview of existing evidence on a research
question. Can make substantive claims. Follows guidelines such as
PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-
Analyses)
• Theoretical: Reporting the status of theories on a topic; what they are,
the relationships, the evidence, and new possible hypotheses

23. Organizing the main body
• By Chronology/Year of Publication: Establishing the emergence of a
concept
• Thematic/Conceptual: Organized around topics/themes. Chronology
may be a secondary concern
• Methodological: Focusing on the methods employed. Used for
methodological approach

24. Some examples

25. • YYY
Bareket, O., & Shnabel, N. (2020). Domination and Objectification: Men’s Motivation for Dominance Over Women
Affects Their Tendency to Sexually Objectify Women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 44(1), 28–49.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684319871913

26. • YYY

27. • YYY

28. • YYY

29. Methodological Review

30. How NOT
TO Write
Literature
Review

31. From a PhD
thesis
submitted to a
State
University’s
Psychology
Department