Literature review is done at the beginning of the research project to enable the researcher to identify what is already known about the chosen area of interest so they do not replicate the work that has already been done by other researchers. This required the researcher to read around the immediate topic of the research to broaden their knowledge and understanding of what is missing. It also narrows down the topic and highlights the important parts that should be focused on new research. Literature review has four different stages which are extraction of information, interpretation, analysis and synthesis.
Extracting information requires the researcher to skim and scan for preliminary judgement on the relevance of the information. It also identifies key words to look out for or to use during new research. Interpretation helps the researcher understand what the source is talking about and it also questions the reasons of publication of the presented interpretation. This stage also helps the researcher to identify links between the research topic and the researcher’s purpose.
Analysis
At this stage of literature review, the researchers scrutinise the text to look for any arguments proposed by the authors and they look for valid and reliable evidence that back up those arguments. They also look at their own work and compare it to the one they are analysing to see the differences and similarities . During analysis, the researcher looks at the participants group, the methods used and the objectivity of the data.
Synthesis
Synthesis is a method of developing a different argument or point of view based on the gaps highlighted by the preceding analysis. Once each source in the literature search has been critically analysed, the researcher will have a different perspective on the research topic and will be able to identify more clearly how much more research can bring new knowledge and understanding. This will then give the researcher the opportunity to formulate a hypothesis and allow them to plan their project. A researcher might want to do further research in the Ebola outbreak- there is research that has been done already so it is essential to do literature review to have a deeper understanding of what he or she really want to find out in their research and what has been found already.
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Websites allow researchers to access important reports as well as government documents that you wouldn’t normally just find anywhere in libraries or book shops. There is a lot of different useful information on the internet and websites which makes it easy to get a hold of it.
Journals are specialist publications published at regular intervals for specialist groups such as professionals, scientists and other researchers. The publication of research is an important aspect of the research project. Some online journals have to be subscribed to in order to access the information, however, the government funds most of the journals needed for research. There are also E-resources such as online newspapers and eBooks which provide information useful for research.
Social science research uses books, mostly to get information whereas scientific research depends on published journals. Recent textbooks have greater credibility than books published a few years ago as they contain older information. For example, books that have information on policies, they regularly change which means more new books are needed with the updated information. However, when referring to theories, older books have more credibility as they were written by the actual theorist who experienced it at first hand - which means they have more validity and authentic.
Data
In research, the data is almost always presented in the form of graphs, tables and statistics. Tables enable data to be viewed systematically without having to read a lot of text. They are frequently used to present quantitative data but can also be used to conclude qualitative information which makes it easier to check for clarity in responses. graphs and charts are another form of visually representing qualitative data; they make the interpretation of the data easier as it enables large quantities of data to be presented in a manageable format.
Demographic statistics
Demographic statistics gathered by government agencies, local authorities and health trusts are useful for comparison with data collected in the researcher’s project. The Ofice for National Statistics also known as ONS publishes different demographic statistics which are grouped under health, social care and education. They also present comparisons with similar data from earlier researches. Statistical information may be presented in various formats such as tables, graphs and charts. This is easier to see and interpret it. This research method is useful when looking where the money in health and social care is spent, also it can help with identifying how many people are living with undiagnosed illnesses.
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