Why is the literature review a needed piece of a research proposal? How can a weak literature review diminish a research proposal?
Literature review is necessary for a research proposal because it provides the researcher with information relating to his or her topic. It is important to conduct a literature review to see what has already been researcher on a specified topic. This will keep the researcher from providing repetitive research on the topic. A literature review is also needed because it puts the chosen topic in perspective and provides a logical understanding of the topic for the researcher. A literature review also provides the researcher with the various perspectives that the topic has been studied. It is needed because then the researcher can determine what gaps exist in the current literature on the topic. Finally, the literature review is needed and is very critical in a research proposal because it helps the research locate his or her own research. A literature review that is weak could lead the researcher in a direction that he or she did not intend to go with the research proposal or in fact, it could create a more difficult project than need be.
Once the data has been collected and you are moving into the completion of the research project, how will you continue to pull from your literature review in the results and discussion section of your report?
The literature review will be significant throughout the entire research proposal project. During the results and discussion sections of the research proposal, the literature review can be used to support data that the researcher found or it can be used to explain data discovered by the researcher during his project. Also in the discussion section of the research proposal, I will discuss limitation of my study and unanswered questions both from my study and from the studies I surveyed in the literature review. My literature review will assist me in understanding what the actual limitations are also.
What search strategies did you use to locate articles from the Argosy University online library resources for your upcoming RA’s ?
I used several research strategies to locate articles. After coming up with my topic, I began an initial search by topic. I reviewed the topics to see what different approaches the topic has been researched. I also took notes of the common authors on the topic. I then conducted a more detailed search, and a search by various authors that had seemed to be common on the topic. Basically, I started my research off generally and I worked to specifics in order to obtain all possible information and to determine which direction I wanted to go with my proposal and to determine which direction others had gone. My review of the literature at this point was only a quick view of the abstract to determine its applicability. In addition to a topic and author research, I conducted a research in various data bases relating to my topic. This included online journals specific to the topic. I then looked at the internet to see other available material on the subject including magazine or newspaper articles on current issues within the topic area. After this was achieved, I was able to narrow my topic and refocus on the articles, authors and magazines that were on point. I will use these articles for my literature review to assist with my research proposal.
References
Gay, L., Mills, G., & Airasian, P. (2006). Educational Research: Competencies for analysis and applications. Merrill Prentice Hall. Retrieved from Cortland University: http://web.cortland.edu/shis/651/LitRevOverview.pdf
