How to Write a Literature Review free essay sample

HOW CAN I WRITE A GOOD LITERATURE REVIEW? You should use the literature to explain your research after all, you are not writing a literature review just to show what other researchers have done. You aim should be to: ? Show why your research needs to be carried out, ? How you came to choose certain methodologies or theories to work with, ? How your work adds to the research already carried out, etc. What is the purpose of a Literature Review? The purpose of a literature review is to convey to the reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic and what are the strengths and weaknesses. The literature review allows the reader to be brought up to date regarding the state of research in the field and familiarizes the reader with any contrasting perspectives and viewpoints on the topic. There are good reasons for beginning a literature review before starting a research paper. These reasons include: ? To see what has and has not been investigated. ? To develop general explanation for observed variations in a behavior or phenomenon. ? To identify potential relationships between concepts and to identify researchable hypotheses. To learn how others have defined and measured key concepts. ? To identify data sources that other researches have used. ? To develop alternative research projects. ? To discover how a research project is related to the work of others. What is a conceptual framework? There are many ways to explain a conceptual framework. It can be any or all of the following: †¢ A set of coherent ideas or concepts organized in a manner that makes them  easy to communicate to others. An organized way of thinking about how and why a project takes place, and about how we understand its activities. †¢ The basis for thinking about what we do and about what it means, influenced by the ideas and research of others. †¢ An overview of ideas an d practices that shape the way work is done   in a project. †¢ A set of assumptions, values, and definitions under which we all work together. Why do we need a framework when doing research? A framework can help us to explain why we are doing a project in a particular way. It can also help us to understand and use the ideas of others who have done similar things. We can use a framework like a travel map. We can read a map, because others before us have come up with common symbols to mark streets, lakes, highways, cities, mountains, rivers, etc The scale on a map tells us how far apart different places are, so we will get an idea how long it might take us to get from one point to the next. A map also shows us that there may be many different paths that can be taken to get to the same place. A framework can help us decide and explain the route we are taking: why would we use certain methods and not others to get to a certain point. People might have tried a similar path before and have had different experiences using one road versus another. Or, there may be paths that have never been explored. With a conceptual framework, we can explain why we would try this or that path, based on the experiences of others, and on what we ourselves would like to explore or discover. A dependent variable is a  variable  whose value depends upon  independent variable  s. The dependent variable is what is being measured in an experiment or evaluated in a mathematical equation. The dependent variable is sometimes called the outcome variable. The dependent variable is the variable that is being measured in an experiment. For example, in a study on the effects of tutoring on test scores, the dependent variable would be the participants test scores. The terms dependent variable and independent variable are used in similar but subtly different ways in mathematics and statistics as part of the standard terminology in those subjects. They are used to distinguish between two types of quantities being considered, separating them into those available at the start of a process and those being created by it, where the latter (dependent variables) are dependent on the former (independent variables). [ A dependent variable is what you measure in the experiment and what is affected during the experiment. The dependent variable responds to the independent variable. It is called dependent because it depends on the independent variable. In a scientific experiment, you cannot have a dependent variable without an independent variable. Independent Variable Definition What is an independent variable? The independent variable is the variable that is  manipulated  by the researcher. The independent variable is something that is hypothesized to influence the dependent variable. The researcher determines for the participant what level or condition of the independent variable that the participant in the experiment receives. For example, each participant in the experiment may be randomly assigned to either an experimental condition or the control condition. Dependent Variable Definition What is a dependent variable? The dependent variable is the variable that is simply  measured  by the researcher. It is the variable that reflects the influence of the independent variable. For example, the dependent variable would be the variable that is influenced by being randomly assigned to either an experimental condition or a control condition. A  hypothesis  is an explanation for a phenomenon which can be tested in some way which ideally either proves or disproves the  hypothesis. For the duration of testing, the hypothesis  is taken to be true, and the goal of the researcher is to rigorously test the terms of the  hypothesis. The concept of the  hypothesis  is a very important part of the scientific method, and it also holds true in other disciplines as well. For example, some historians have put forward the  hypothesis  that the Salem Witch Trials were brought about by the consumption of grains contaminated with ergot, resulting in a mass hysteria. When someone formulates a  hypothesis, he or she does so with the intention of testing it, and he or she should not know the outcome of potential tests before the  hypothesisis made. When formulating a  hypothesis, the ideals of the scientific method are often kept in mind, so the  hypothesis  is designed to be testable in a way which could be replicated by other people. It is also kept clear and simple, and the  hypothesis  relies on known information and reasoning. Hypothesis helps the researcher in designing the study such as the methods, research instruments, and sampling  design to be used as well as the data to be gathered. It also use as bases for determining assumptions and for the explanation about the data gathered.