Searching the literature is the starting point for developing your dissertation topic, problem statements, and literature review. You must know what research exists on your topic to be able to determine if it is a worthwhile topic to pursue. The literature surrounding your topic is the basis for developing and forming your problem statements and identifying a theory or theoretical framework. And clearly, the research that exists on your topic is how you construct and form your review of the literature. This section includes an explanation of what a literature review is and our proposed method for conducting a literature review.

What is a Literature Review

A literature review is a systematic collection, analysis, and synthesis of the research conducted on your dissertation topic. The literature review should, through the development of a sound, researched-based argument, lead to the conclusion that your topic must be studied. Machi and McEvoy (2016) provided the following definition for a literature review:

A written document that develops a case to establish a thesis. This case is based on a comprehensive understanding of the current knowledge of the topic. A literature review synthesizes current knowledge pertaining to the research question. This synthesis is the foundation that, through the use of logical argumentation, allows the researcher to build a convincing thesis case. (p. 1)

Synthesis is a key word in this definition. The literature review is not a collection and summary of the literature, but rather a critical analysis and synthesis of the relationships among studies. The goal is to identify themes across studies, to determine similarities and differences of findings, and to look for potential gaps in the literature. Privitera and Ahlgrim-Delzell (2019) identified “The ‘3 C’s’ of an Effective Literature Review” (p. 49):

1. Be Comprehensive - Include a wide variety of sources and include multiple authors, journals, and databases.

2. Be Critical – Read articles with an open mind and remain objective.

3. Be Clever – Identify flaws, contradictions, and anomalies within the research articles and look beyond the research to determine if there is something missing.

A literature review is a review of the literature on your topic. As mentioned previously in the “Dissertation Topic Selection” section, your topic must be well-grounded in research. Bryant (2004) pointed out that “it is hard to make the claim that a dissertation is adding to existing knowledge if there is no assessment of that existing knowledge” (p. 62). One of the purposes of conducting a dissertation study is to contribute to the growing body of literature on a certain topic. If your topic is not well-grounded in research, then you will have nothing to write for a literature review!

Our Proposed Method for Conducting a Literature Review

Several researchers have outlined steps for how to conduct a literature review and most have very similar elements of collecting, organizing, analyzing, and synthesizing the literature prior to writing, but our method differs in that we incorporate the problem statement as the structure to guide the overarching composition of the literature review. Creswell (2014) identified various placements and purposes of literature reviews within qualitative and quantitative dissertations, but he suggests that the literature review be placed at the beginning of the dissertation if the purpose of the review is to frame a problem. Our proposed method is to frame the problem and apply research-based background knowledge to each of the three parts of a problem statement.

The starting point for writing your literature review is to focus on building your research collection. A common dilemma experienced by students is knowing when they have collected an appropriate amount of research on their topic. How much is too little? How much is too much? How much is the right amount? Butin (2010) described one way of knowing if you have not collected enough information,

If you are still nodding your head and agreeing with every article or book you read, then you are not yet focused enough to move forward. The whole point of analytically disentangling your dissertation idea into key words, settling on a helpful theoretical framework, and doing a substantial literature review is so that you can begin to understand the multiple ways to think about your topic, and how different perspectives have different assumptions and implications. (p. 68)

Through collecting the research surrounding your topic, you are going to become the expert in this area, and you should be able to speak to the relevant, historical, and recent literature that exists on your topic. Roberts and Hyatt (2019) offered a tip for knowing when you have collected an appropriate amount of research, “You know it’s time to quit when you keep encountering the same references and can’t find important new resources” (p. 115). Creswell (2014) recommended building an initial collection of 50 resources. In order to build this research collection, key steps include locating sources, organizing and summarizing your notes on the sources, and analyzing the literature.

Locate Relevant Sources

The first step in building a research collection is to locate relevant sources related to your topic. The sources you collect should come from peer-reviewed journals and should generally be published within the past ten years. Exceptions to the ten-year rule include landmark studies, and any other studies that provide historical background for how your topic has evolved over time. Sources can be located through databases in your institution’s library and through state and national publications.

Machi and McEvoy (2016) offered some advice on locating sources, “Have a clear purpose and plan when researching. Wandering the stacks, exploring the subject catalog, or surfing Web sites is entertaining, but it is not productive” (p. 31). Be intentional and focused in your search for sources. Begin with reading abstracts and skimming articles to determine if they are potential helpful sources. Reading the abstracts will be a more efficient process of gathering a large amount of information quickly to determine the relatedness to your topic and problem statements.

Once you identify sources as being important, read those articles in more depth. Bryant (2004) noted, “When you locate relevant studies, the literature review conducted in such a study can provide you with good leads to other relevant research” (p. 68). The reference list of a relevant study is also a good place to find additional studies on your topic. Bryant (2004) also pointed out that “some of the best shortcuts for the student seeking to identify the important research about a topic are articles that do just that: these articles summarize the important work about a topic” (p. 68). The American Educational Research Association publishes a journal titled, “Review of Educational Research,” that summarizes literature on a topic, and could potentially be a very helpful resource for your topic area.

One last recommendation is to find the respected researchers in your topic area and search specifically for all of the articles they have published. For example, Linda Darling-Hammond, Richard Ingersoll, and Lisa Merrill are experts in the areas of the teacher shortage and trends in the teaching profession over time. So, if my topic related to the teacher shortage, or reasons teachers leave the teaching profession, then I should find all articles published by these authors to gain a better understand of the research they have contributed to the field.

Organize and Summarize Your Sources

In working with students throughout the dissertation process, one of the common comments we hear is that they wished they had kept a record of the research that had been collected throughout all of their coursework. Many of their sources are located on different platforms, google/dropbox folders, or printed in binders. In learning from these comments and suggestions, we recommend creating a Google Sheets document to organize and summarize all of your research in one place throughout your entire doctoral program. This allows for all of your information to be easily accessible on an easy-to-use platform that can quickly be shared with your Dissertation Chair/Advisor, committee member, and other colleagues as necessary.

Analyze Research Collected

Our proposed method for conducting a literature review applies the three parts of the problem statement to frame and provide structure to the literature review. Refer to the “Constructing Problem Statements” section of this google site for more detailed information on constructing the principal proposition, the interacting proposition, and the speculative proposition. The purpose of including the problem statements in the literature review section, is to show how they fit into the overall process of conducting a literature review.

Develop Problem Statement Draft

The initial draft of your problem statements should be developed at the same time as collecting research and organizing your literature review. As you learn what literature exists on your topic, you will start to have a better idea of the problem that needs to be explored for your dissertation study. Also, through collecting research, you will start to have a better idea of the theory or theoretical framework that will be used in your study, which will help as you develop your speculative proposition.

Align Research to Problem Statements

After you have collected enough information to form your problem statement draft, you can use the Google Sheets Research Collection document to align the research you have collected so far. The goal is to align the research you have collected to your principal proposition statement, interacting proposition statement, or your speculative proposition statement. It is okay if you do not align all of your resources. Using the Google Sheets Research Collection document, you will copy an entire entry, and then click on the appropriate tab for the principal, interacting, or speculative proposition and paste it accordingly. Through this process, you will see where you have gaps in your research collection. So, following this step, continue collecting more research in the needed areas.

Finalize Problem Statements

When you reach the “Synthesize Research” step in our proposed method for conducting a literature review, the research collection phase is mostly finished. Rallis (2006) said, “Although you can always find more articles on your topic, you have to decide at what point you are finished with collecting new resources so that you can focus on writing up your findings” (p. 4). You may go back to the literature for clarification or to find an additional piece of information, but your main focus at this point is on developing your literature review organizational structure and creating your outline.

Roberts and Hyatt (2019) defined the term as the following: “Synthesizing involves comparing, contrasting, and merging disparate pieces of information into one coherent whole that provides a new perspective” (p. 126). They said that you know you have effectively synthesized the literature when you do the following:

· Identify relationships among studies (such as which ones were landmark studies leading to subsequent studies)

· Compare (show commonalities) and contrast (show differences) the works, ideas, theories, or concepts from various authors

· Comment on the major themes and patterns you discovered

· Show evidence of common results using data from multiple sources

· Discuss the pros and cons of the issues

· Explain a conflict or contradiction among different sources

· Point out gaps in the literature, reflecting on why these exist based on the understandings you gained in reading in your study area

· Note inconsistencies across studies over time

· Make generalizations across studies

· Discuss how and why ideas about your topic have changed over time

· Make connections between the sources cited

· Discuss literature that has a direct bearing on your area of study. (p. 126)

Strategies for Synthesizing Research

The very last step in conducting a literature review is to write. Writing a literature review is a very complex and demanding task, but it is possible with a solid outline with a good organizational format. It is easy and common to get in a rush and to try to just get the review written, without putting in the necessary work to frame, structure, and organize the writing. Bryant (2004) identified frequent mistakes made when conducting a literature review, and first on the list was attempting to quickly write a literature review. He commented, “Has makes waste and produced inaccuracies” (p. 79). White (2017) agreed with this statement and added, “The one that ignores the ‘process’ part of writing process, often stew in ABD [all-but-dissertation] agony for years” (p. 181). Do not skip ahead and try to get your review written without developing a strong outline.

WRITE!

Begin the literature review with a succinct introductory paragraph that presents and spells out very clearly what is to be expected and accomplished within your literature review. Describe how you categorized your themes and topics. Describe what goals you hope to accomplish through presenting your review of the literature, which should include establishing the need for your study. The next three major sections of the review follow the problem statements. You will write approximately eight to ten pages on each of the three problem statements, some will have more pages written than others, but generally aim for this amount. Be sure that each section follows your outline and has a specific and well-defined purpose. End the literature review with a succinct summary of what was just presented, and also state what is to come in the next chapter.

Encouragement

The number of pages written does not equate to progress! This is easier said than believed, because you are trying to accomplish a goal that results in a final written product of approximately 30 pages. You likely have many different responsibilities occupying your time outside of developing your dissertation proposal, so the goal, especially when setting aside time to work, is to get the maximum amount accomplished. Some days you will get more written than others, and some days you will get very little written, but keep in mind a quote by Dr. Seuss, “Progress is progress, no matter how small.” White (2017) also provided some words of encouragement:

Great things come from many small things. Often, we can become so enamored of (and overwhelmed by) the gravity of our goals that we lose the perspective of the day-to-day and, often, moment-to-moment actions that truly make up the effort that will ensure our aspirations come to fruition. (p. 161)

Do a little bit every day, and eventually you will get there!