The Literature Review
SROP 2006
Mitzi Ramos
Maya Evans
An Example…
“Given heightened awareness of environmental and cultural
concerns relating to tourism—and more recently to casino gaming—
academic attention has focused on the concept of sustainable
development, of which tourism plays an increasingly critical role
world-wide. According to Farrell (see Martin 1998: 42), sustainable
development is a holistic system in which three interdependent
subsystems interact and influence one another: those of environment, culture
and economies. […] According to Brenda Martin, the ‘general theme’ of
research findings related to Native American tourism is that ‘local
communities do not typically benefit from tourism development unless it is
done in a cooperative and inclusive manner’… […] Van Otten and Vasquez
(1992) concur, based on their study of local planning on the Hopi reservation
in northeastern Arizona.”
Piner, Judie M. and Thomas W. Paradis. 2004.
“Beyond the Casino: Sustainable Tourism and Cultural
Development on Native American Lands.” Tourism
Geographies 6(1): p. 80-98.
Pay attention to these techniques…
“Given heightened awareness of environmental and cultural concerns
relating to tourism—and more recently to casino gaming—academic
attention has focused on the concept of sustainable development, of which
tourism plays an increasingly critical role world-wide. According to Farrell
(see Martin 1998: 42), sustainable development is a holistic system in which
three interdependent subsystems interact and influence one another: those of
environment, culture and economies. […] According to Brenda Martin, the
‘general theme’ of research findings related to Native American tourism is
that ‘local communities do not typically benefit from tourism development unless
it is done in a cooperative and inclusive manner’ […] Van Otten and
Vasquez (1992) concur, based on their study of local planning on the Hopi
reservation in northeastern Arizona.”
Piner, Judie M. and Thomas W. Paradis. 2004.
“Beyond the Casino: Sustainable Tourism and Cultural
Development on Native American Lands.” Tourism
Geographies 6(1): p. 80-98.
Purpose of the Literature Review

Locate holes in past research that you can fill with your
own original research

Demonstrate that you are knowledgeable enough about
the topic to address it

Support the theories and hypotheses that you present

Ensure that you are contributing to knowledge and not
simply replicating what has already been established
Before starting, you should be able
to:

Identify the topic of your research

Identify preliminary research questions

Identify several preliminary research areas of interest
Areas of Research Interest

There are sub-topics within your own research topic,
called areas of research interest. Identifying and
addressing these areas within your literature review
demonstrates that you can think critically about your
research.

An effective literature review requires organization at
all times. Identifying these areas will help keep you
organized.
Step One: Identify preliminary areas of
interest for your research
A Real-Life Example…
1. Topic: campaign strategies used by black candidates running against each
other
2. Research questions: On what grounds do Black voters shape their perceptions
of candidates, and thus their voting behavior, when both candidates are Black?
Accordingly, what strategies must Black candidates adopt to win these statewide
elections? Is race still the most salient factor in determining election outcomes
when it does not preliminarily serve to differentiate the candidates?
Step One: Identify preliminary areas of
interest for your research
A Real-Life Example…
3. Areas of interest
i. Black representation/racial redistricting/descriptive representation
ii. Elections of black candidates: strategies
iii. Candidate perception and evaluation
iv. Racial appeals to black voters
v. White voter evaluation/prejudice of white voters
vi. Intragroup competition
vii. Studies of other minority groups
viii. Campaign advertising
newspaper coverage
Step One: Identify preliminary areas of
interest for your research
A Real-Life Example…
3. Areas of interest
i. Black representation/racial redistricting/descriptive representation
ii. Elections of black candidates: strategies
iii. Candidate perception and evaluation
iv. Racial appeals to black voters
v. White voter evaluation/prejudice of white voters
vi. Intragroup competition
vii. Studies of other minority groups
viii. Campaign advertising
newspaper coverage
Step Two: Locate existing research on
each of these areas

Conduct article searches based on these areas of
interest

Organize articles by the area of interest

Use proper citations for your field:

http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/Documentation.html
Step Three: Read and evaluate each
article independently
“How to Read a Research Article” (Schutt 2004)
1. What is the basic research question or problem? Try to state in just one sentence.

“The clearest statement of the research question—actually three questions—is that ‘we
seek to determine how men and women in these [six] different situations [defined by
marital status and living arrangement] compare in the amounts of time they spend doing
housework, whether these differences can be attributed to differences in other social and
economic characteristics, and which household tasks account for these differences” (p.
328). Prior to this point, the authors focus in on this research question, distinguishing it
from the more general issue of how housework is distributed within marriages and
explaining why it is an important research question” (Schutt 2004: C-1).
2. Is the purpose of the study explanatory, evaluative, exploratory, or descriptive? Did the study
have more the than one purpose?
3. What prior literature was reviewed? Was it relevant to the research problem? To the
theoretical framework? Does the literature review appear to be adequate? Are you aware of
(or can you locate) any important studies that have been omitted?
Step Three: Read and evaluate each
article independently
4.
Was a theoretical framework presented? What was it? Did it seem appropriate for the
research question addressed? Can you think of a different theoretical perspective that
might have been used?
5.
How well did the study live up to the guidelines for science? Do you need additional
information in any areas to evaluate the study? To replicate it?
6.
Were any hypotheses stated? Were these hypotheses justified adequately in terms of the
theories presented? In terms of prior research?
7.
What were the independent and dependent variables in the hypothesis (ses)? Did these
variables reflect the theoretical concepts as intended? What direction of association was
hypothesized? Were any other variables identified as potentially important?
8.
What were the major concepts in the research? How, and how clearly, were they defined?
Were some concepts treated as unidimensional that you think might best be thought of as
multidimensional?
Step Three: Read and evaluate each
article independently
9.
Did the instruments used, the measures of the variables, seem valid and reliable? How did
the authors attempt to establish this? Could any more have been done in the study to
establish measurement validity?
10.
Was a sample or the entire population used in the study? What type of sample was
selected? Did the authors think the sample was generally representative of the population
from which it was drawn? Do you?
11.
Was the response rate or participation rate reported? Does it appear likely that those who
did not respond or participate were markedly different from those who did participate?
Why or why not? Did the author(s) adequately discuss this issue?
12.
What were the units of analysis? Were they appropriate for the research question?
13.
Was an experimental, survey, participant observation, or some other research design used?
How well was this design suited to the research question posed and the specific hypotheses
tested, if any? Why do you suppose the author(s) chose this particular design?
Step Three: Read and evaluate each
article independently
14.
Summarize the findings. How clearly were statistical and/or qualitative data
presented and discussed? Were the results substantively important?
15.
Did the author(s) adequately represent the findings in the discussion and/or
conclusion sections? Were conclusions well grounded in the findings? Are
any other interpretations possible?
16.
Compare the study to others addressing the same research question. Did the
study yield additional insights? In what ways was the study design more or
less adequate than the design of previous research?
17.
What additional research questions and hypotheses are suggested by the
study’s results? What light did the study shed on the theoretical framework
used? On social policy questions?
Step Three: Read and evaluate each
article independently

Answer questions on paper, not mentally.

Reference within your answers: write quotes, put page
numbers, star (*) important information

Write personal notes: Is something confusing? Does it
support your hypotheses? Does it remind you of an
article you just read? Does it contradict what you are
saying? If so, then write, “This contradicts me
because…”
Final Tips…
1.
Make sure you have more than enough literature to work with (I originally
read 50 articles and books)
2.
Stay organized.
3.
Take notes—remember to write down everything that you are thinking.
4.
Read the articles!
5.
Don’t feel the need to include an article just because you printed it out or
read it (I only include 32 of the 50 original works in my final paper).
6.
Each article is not supposed to address every aspect of your research
7.
Reading will bring more areas of research interest to light, so be prepared
to search for articles several times.
8.
Literature reviews describe relationships between articles. They do not
explain articles paragraph by paragraph. Look for these relationships as
you are reading.
Racial Appeals to Black Voters
Vetta L. Sanders Thompson (2001)
Reeves, Keith. 1997. Voting Hopes or Fears?
suggests that racial group identity is not an
White Voters, Black Candidates, and Racial
Politics in America. New York: Oxford
all-or-none endeavor and defining
University Press.
“authentic blackness” is both complex
Conover, Pamela Johnston. 1984. “The
Influence of Group Identifications on
Political Perception and Evaluation.” The
Journal of Politics 46(3): 760-785.
and subjective. “[O]rganizing around
Thompson, Vetta L. Sanders. 2001. “The
Complexity of African American Racial
Identification.” Journal of Black Studies
32(2): 155-165.
contributes to a fragmented sense of
Allen, Richard L., Michael C. Dawson, and
Ronald E. Brown. 1989. “A Schema-Based
Approach to Modeling and African-American
Racial Belief System.” The American Political
Science Review 83(2): 421-441.
to unify around, and the consequences of
Bledsoe, Timothy, Susan Welch, Lee
Sigelman, and Michael Combs. 1995.
“Residential Context and Racial Solidarity
among African Americans.” American
Journal of Political Science 39(2): 434-458.
commonalities [of racial identification] is
difficult… and leads to divided loyalty and
peoplehood. […] African
Americans/Blacks will find no easy issues
the competing models of what it is or
means to be African American or Black
will increase the political and economic
crisis within the African American
community” (p. 163-64). Additional
obstacles to racial group identity include
Gandy Jr., Oscar H. “Racial Identity, Media
Use, and the Social Construction of Risk
among African Americans.” Journal of Black
Studies 31(5): 600-618.
status in society and religious beliefs
Shelby, Tommie. “Foundations of Black
Solidarity: Collective Identity or Common
Oppression.” Ethics (112): 231-266.
class and gender differences and
McIlwain, Charlton D. and Stephen Maynard
Caliendo. “Who’s Really Black? A Theory of
African American Authentic Appeals.” Paper
Presented at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the
Midwest Political Science Association in
Chicago, IL.
McIlwain, Charlton D. and Stephen Maynard
Caliendo. “Frames of Authenticity: News
Coverage of Black Candidates and Their
Campaigns.” Paper presented at the 2004
Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political
Science Association in Chicago, IL.
(Allen, Dawson, and Brown 1989); racial
residential patterns (Bledsoe et al. 1995);
disagreements over “authentic” black
identity (Shelby 2002). Nevertheless, the
implications of group solidarity affect
levels of political participation and voting
behavior, even in contests between two
black candidates (Bledsoe et al. 1995).
Side by side
Writing an effective Literature Review
By the end of your Literature Review, the reader should be able to answer
the following questions:
1.
What specific previously compiled or published studies, articles, or
other documents provide the best available information on the
selected topic?
2.
What do these studies conclude about the topic?
3.
What are the apparent methodological strengths and weaknesses of
these studies?
4.
What remains to be discovered about the topic?
5.
What appear to be, according to these studies, the most effective
methods for developing new information on the topic?