ARAŞTIRMA YÖNTEMLERİ - Deneme Sınavı - 10

Ridley (2012, 43) expresses the purpose of a literature search as follows: 1. To identify the field and specific context in which the topic is located. 2. To decide which research and methodology will be adopted, which type of data may be collected and analyzed. 3. To deepen your knowledge related to the key concepts of the research topic 4. To avoid repeating previous studies that have ben completed before your attempt and to produce an original work. 5. To avoid the mistakes that past studies reported. 6. To discover the key people, organizations, and papers related to your research topic.

A literature review can be performed in seven steps (Fink, 2014, 3): 1. Identification of research questions. This step guides the review. 2. Selecting the databases and sources. There are numerous bibliographic or article databases, websites, and other resources that can be utilized. 3. Specifying the key terms. Key terms are the words that are used to search and get the related documents. 4. Applying practical screening criteria. Literature reviewer can set the criteria to include or exclude the documents from the review among the numerous articles. 5. Applying methodological screening criteria. Methodological criteria incorporate criteria for assessing scientific quality. 6. Doing the review. To ensure the reliability and validity of the literature review, a standardized form should be used for abstracting data from papers. Besides, reviewers should be trained for abstracting the data and pilot testing of the process should be reported. 7. Synthesizing the results. Literature review results may be synthesized expressively. An uncommon sort of synthesis-a metaanalysis involves the utilization of statistical results of two or more research.

Meta-Analysis. Meta-analysis is performed by statistical techniques combining data from multiple studies that have analyzed the same research questions. Re-analyzing different sets of data related to the same research question provides a much better understanding than that of a single study.

Internet sources that are likely to be unreliable 1. The material on the home pages of individuals. 2. The material on organization websites that is written by enthusiasts rather than experts. 3. Free-for-all post-your-views sites (unless restricted to a recognized set of academic contributors). 4. Weblogs (blogs), chatroom pontifications, etc.

Internet search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Yandex makes many sources available directly. Yet, most of the databases are not available without a pay or a subscription via institutions or universities. Google Scholar provides a practical alternative to search scholarly literature across many disciplines and sources from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities, and other websites. It also shows the alternatives to access the complete document suggesting several sources. See https://scholar.google.com.tr.

The Library of Congress Classification. This classification is especially appropriate for the research universities and is used in some of the libraries in Turkey such as Middle East Technical University, Anadolu University and Hacettepe University.

Many countries have their own national catalogs which list all the publications available in the country An example for Turkey is TO-KAT (Ulusal Toplu Katalog - National Union Catalog). It is a database that includes all the recorded details of all the books that are available in the libraries in Turkey. The website of TO-KAT is available at http://www.toplukatalog.gov.tr.

Periodicals are more widely known as journals. They are the major information source of prior research literature.

Some grey literature databases are available from the following sources (http://libguides.library.curtin.edu): • Trove • Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) • MedNar • The Grey Literature Report • OpenGrey • GreyNet International • Cochrane Handbook

Be Critical. Another common mistake is the lack of criticism. In social sciences, every study has a limitation and they should be discussed. The criticism can be performed under the sub-heading such as literature and findings. Your paper’s value will increase if you can discuss the weaknesses and strengths of the evidence you referred. As a researcher/literature reviewer your role is not that of a lawyer who seeks to prove the best case for one side of the argument. Instead, your role is to consider the evidence skeptically like a judge or jury. Another error related to this point is that, some writers fail to be consistent with what they evidenced and concluded. Your conclusions should coincide with the weaknesses and the strengths of what you discussed in the literature, methods, and findings subheadings.

Reviews. As can be understood by its name, reviews are based on the criticism of the important studies in a particular field. Reviews are very helpful to researchers in the sense that they gather a lot of specific pieces of research and cast them into frameworks and levels of generalization which may be more useful than the many other types of studies.The correct answer is E.

The following material on the Internet is considered to be very reliable :

1.Peer-reviewed journal articles that are also published in an academic journal. These should be referenced according to their paper details, rather than as an Internet resource. 2. Peer-reviewed journal articles published in genuine electronic journals. These should be referenced using their volume number and date, plus the full web address. It is possible that they will not have page numbers. 3. Already published journal articles and book chapters that have been posted, usually in PDF format, on an academic’s home page. Check, however, that it is the published version. If it says ‘submitted to’ a journal, or ‘draft’, it has yet to be peer-reviewed. You could then check if it has since been published. 4. Electronically readable books written by subject experts. 5. Official materials published on a recognized institutional website, e.g., the British Museum site, or the Institute of Linguists’ site. You can find out what site you are on by going to the homepage.

The correct answer is A.

Anderson and Arsenault defines six types of knowledge (2005, 50):

Historical knowledge. In different fields, researchers use particular lenses considered appropriate for the

time, and their research is dominated by this perspective. Besides, numerous topics keep their popularity within a specific period of date until another era starts with different frameworks and understandings. When considering the literature, it is important to keep its history in mind in case it evolves over time. Such an approach can keep you from engaging in a route that has been rejected in some past era.

Axiological knowledge. It can also be called a “theory of experience”. This kind of knowledge is created by practitioners who share their long-term experiences. Axiological knowledge may include important conclusions and generalizations. This kind of literature knowledge does not mean technicalities but the world of practice. So, the literature reviewer should notice the potential use of the axiological knowledge and avoid using it as a theory or prior research.

Theoretical and conceptual knowledge. Theoretical and conceptual knowledge is mostly based on the critical analysis of past research. They serve as a construct for further research questions. In other words, theoretical and conceptual knowledge lead and guide wresearchers to generate contemporary construct based on these early investigations and their formulations. Research “not supported with a theory” is generally suspected in academic circles. Thus, researchers should explore the theoretical ground and conceptual framework of the problem they focus on.

Prior research studies. Past research findings are essential starting points for any kind of investigation. Prior research studies have the potential to understand the historical evolution of your research problem.

Reviews. As can be understood by its name, reviews are based on the criticism of the important studies in a particular field. Reviews are very helpful to researchers in the sense that they gather a lot of specific pieces of research and cast them into frameworks and levels of generalization which may be more useful than the many other types of studies.

Academic debate. New lines of research attempts initiate academic debates in the literature. The academic debates may help a researcher to avoid the directions that have been discussed and rejected in scholarly circles. Familiarizing yourself with these six type of knowledge may help you have a good position to start and move forward with your research topic and problem.

Axiological knowledge. It can also be called a “theory of experience”. This kind of knowledge is created by practitioners who share their long-term experiences. Axiological knowledge may include important conclusions and generalizations. This kind of literature knowledge does not mean technicalities but the world of practice. So, the literature reviewer should notice the potential use of the axiological knowledge and avoid using it as a theory or prior research.

Historical knowledge. In different fields, researchers use particular lenses considered appropriate for the

time, and their research is dominated by this perspective. Besides, numerous topics keep their popularity within a specific period of date until another era starts with different frameworks and understandings. When considering the literature, it is important to keep its history in mind in case it evolves over time. Such an approach can keep you from engaging in a route that has been rejected in some past era.

Theoretical and conceptual knowledge. Theoretical and conceptual knowledge is mostly based on the critical analysis of past research. They serve as a construct for further research questions. In other words, theoretical and conceptual knowledge lead and guide wresearchers to generate contemporary construct based on these early investigations and their formulations. Research “not supported with a theory” is generally suspected in academic circles. Thus, researchers should explore the theoretical ground and conceptual framework of the problem they focus on.

New lines of research attempts initiate academic debates in the literature. The academic debates may help a researcher to avoid the directions that have been discussed and rejected in scholarly circles.

Literature review is the selection of available documents (both published and unpublished) on the topic, which contains information, ideas, data an evidence written from a particular standpoint to fulfil certain aims or express certain views on the nature of the topic and how it is to be investigated, and the effective evaluation of these documents in relation to the research being proposed.

A literature review is also considered to be a research methodology in its own right when it is carried out systematically. In other words, if a literature review (Feak and Swales, 2009, 2):

Is commenced with a well-defined research question,

Follows a systematic approach to answering that question,

Clearly documents the steps that are taken to write up,

Presents the results and discussion section, it can be taken as a research methodology as well.

A literature review is also considered to be a research methodology in its own right when it is carried out systematically. In other words, if a literature review (Feak and Swales, 2009, 2):

Is commenced with a well-defined research question,

Follows a systematic approach to answering that question,

Clearly documents the steps that are taken to write up,

Presents the results and discussion section, it can be taken as a research methodology as well.