THE SYNTHESIS MATRIX:
A GRID OF COMMON POINTS TO
SYNTHESIZE RESEARCH
California State University, Dominguez Hills
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1. I understand what it means to “synthesize”
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2. I have tools to synthesize literature.
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3. I understand the purpose, use, and creation
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Purpose of the Synthesis Matrix
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Academic assignments like literature reviews, theses,
and dissertations require a thorough synthesis of the
relevant literature of a topic.
This means that one must locate the different
research sources regarding a topic, compare the
research, and identify where there may be
similarities, gaps, or inconsistencies of themes.
A synthesis matrix is a useful tool for synthesizing
sources to compare studies.
 It is also commonly used to find areas of research
that require additional study.
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Use of the Synthesis Matrix
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The synthesis matrix can be used to compare and
contrast components of a research study (i.e.,
methodology, research participants, results, etc.)
Or it can be used to compare and contrast themes
across studies.
Oftentimes, it useful to create two separate
synthesis matrices during the research process: one
for comparing components of studies, and one for
comparing themes.
Creating a Synthesis Matrix
Theme A
Author #1
Author #2
Author #3
Author #4
Author #5
Author #6
Theme B
Theme C
Theme D
Research question: What roles does capital punishment play in American society?
Possible answers: Capital punishment plays the role of deterrence, revenge, oppression, and
political leverage.
Deterrence
Stenhouse, B.
(1969)
Revenge
Oppression
“The death penalty does not
discriminate” p. 2
“Capital punishment strongly
deters crime” p. 16
Patterson, J.
(2010)
“Many offenders are not
even aware of the capital
punishment laws in their
states” p. 45
“Using capital punishment
only sanctions revenge” p. 8
Zaman, H.
(2010)
“Research indicates that
capital punishment is not a
statistically significant
deterrent of crime” p. 12
“It is illogical to kill others to
prove killing is wrong” p. 30
Fryckenberg, A.
(2013)
“Capital punishment only
serves to provide a model
for murder” p. 56
“Capital punishment is not
justice: it is revenge” p. 17
“Death penalty critics question
whether racial discrimination
exists since 80 percent of those
who are put to death had white
victims” p. 1
Lystne, N.
(2013)
“States without the death
penalty have consistently
lower murder rates” p. 4
“New research shows that
grieving families would
prefer that offenders suffer
in jail” p. 56
Ochoa, O.
(2013)
“The death penalty does not
add any significant deterrent
effect above that of longterm imprisonment” p. 1
“Children as young as 16 can
be put to death. Some
lawmakers are working to
bring the age down to just
11 years old” p. 44
“Capital punishment is just
one more method of
oppression in disguise” p. 23
Political Leverage
“Local politicians support
capital punishment” p. 7
“All too many politicians will
agree to kill another man in
order to remain in power” p.
44
“The death penalty is used
against the poor, oppressed,
mentally ill, juveniles, foreign
nationals, and mentally
retarded.” p. 5
“Politicians are unconcerned
with the lives lost so long as
their job is not” p. 55
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2. I have tools to synthesize literature.
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3. I understand the purpose, use, and creation of a synthesis
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