1. Information skills for dissertation research
M.A. Urban design and M.A. International
Planning and Sustainable Development
Jax Thomas (Tony Lloyd-Jones)
Wed 3rd
December 2008
2. Big Six Skills
Task definition
Eisenberg, M.B. and Berkowitz, R.E. (1990)
Information Problem Solving: The Big Skills Approach
to Library and Information Skills Instruction, Norwood,
New Jersey, Ablex Publishing
Location and access
Synthesis Evaluation
Task definition
Synthesis
Task definition
Synthesis
Location and access
Evaluation
Task definition
Synthesis
Location and access
Evaluation
Information
seeking strategies
Task definition
Use of information Synthesis
3. Big Six Skills
1. Task definition
• What are you trying to find out?
• Describe it in one sentence
• Clarify any parameters. E.g. dates
1. Information seeking strategies
• Select an appropriate set of resources
1. Location and access
• Locate the information in the source/s. (This often involves
designing a search strategy)
• Access the information. (This may involve overcoming
document format or language barriers )
1. Use of information
• Apply the information to your problem/issue/question
1. Synthesis
• Combine information and data
1. Evaluation
• Look back at the search strategies, techniques and sources
used. Consider what you might do differently next time
Source: Eisenberg and Berkowitz (1990)
3
4. Defining the research task
• Purpose
– Where are you going with this ?
• Scope
– Is the question clear and researchable?
• Design/methodology/approach
– Is the proposed method suitable for exploring your question?
– Have you the skills to analyse the data?
– Is a sample data set required?
– Can you get access to the data?
– Is the data available?
• Findings
• Research limitations/Practical implications
• Originality/value
– Have you located your research question within a context of previous study that
demonstrates that you have taken account of the background literature? – The
literature review
“Keep imagining an audience of individuals who would want to know the results of
your work. Even if you can imagine only 25 people who would care, keep that
group alive in front of your eyes.” Rudestam et al (2001) p. 21.
5. Purpose of a literature review
• Research is guided by a review of the literature already
known and published
• Prevents duplication and previous errors ensures an
original contribution
• Helps to design methodology by identifying key issues
and data collection techniques
• Forms the basis of a PhD
6. Undertaking a literature review
• Key Learning outcomes for this session
– How to complete a comprehensive and evaluative
report of information found in the literature related
to your selected area of study
– How to identify the classic, definitive or most
influential pieces of research in your area
– How to evaluate sources within the context of
your particular project
• The review should describe, summarise, evaluate
and clarify this literature
• Proper citation and inclusion of the sources in your
dissertation
The literature review is a coherent argument that leads to a description of a proposed
study. Rudestam et al. (2001). p. 57.
7. Questions
• Comprehensive
– What is already known and published on the subject?
– How has the subject developed and in what stages?
– Can any gaps in the subject knowledge be identified?
– Consensus or still an ongoing debate?
• Evaluative
– Does the literature show any useful directions for further
research?
– Is a peer review process in place for the sources you have
selected?
– Is the selected methodology sound?
– Is it up to date enough?
10. Information seeking strategies
•You can do clever things with simple
resources if you think it through
•Familiarity with the sources for your
subject area will help you to choose
where to look first
“A precisely stated research question has the benefit of containing
the words the reviewer needs to search online for applicable
studies.” Fink (2005). P. 22
11. Sources
• Books
• Journals
• Conference papers
• Dissertations
• Electronic databases
• Internet
• Government publications
Infolinx
12. Finding the literature - Books
• Dictionaries and encyclopaedias
– Provide definitions, synonyms, broad coverage
• Textbooks
– Often written by academics covering broad
subject areas. Designed to be accessible
• Monographs
– Specialised subject information, often with
statistical and tabular data. Conference
proceedings
13. Finding the literature - Journals
• General interest/current affairs
– Report research in an accessible way, broad
subject areas, e.g. New Scientist, Science
• Trade
– Trends, opinions, recent development in
professional areas, e.g. Laboratory News
• Academic/Scholarly
– Research articles
– Review and more accessible articles
14. Research/ Review articles
• Research articles
– Focus on very specific subjects. Usually peer-
reviewed/refereed. Authors submit work to an
editorial board or panel for evaluation. Author(s)
may be asked to make changes
• Review articles
– Provide summaries and critical evaluations of
research in particular fields of study giving a good
overview. Often appear in peer reviewed titles
15. Grey Literature
• Informally published material not controlled by
commercial publishing interests.
– Often issued by government, academia, business or
industry.
– May be available in both print and electronic formats.
• Reports and other publications from professional and
other bodies
16. Other types of sources
• Statistics
• Patents/Standards
• Legal information
• Theses and dissertations
18. Searching effectively 1:
Broad search terms
– very general
- will retrieve a large number of ‘hits’Language
Linguistics
Sociolinguistics
Narrower search terms
– very focused search
- will retrieve even fewer, but more relevant ‘hits’
Narrow search terms
– more focused search
- will retrieve fewer ‘hits’
19. Searching effectively 2:
• Truncation is useful way of retrieving maximum results
where a variety of endings are possible for a keyword.
Example:-
vaccin* - retrieves words which start with this stem
- Vaccine
- Vaccines
- Vaccinate
- Vaccination
• Resources may use different symbols for truncation
Usually *, ?, #
24. Summary: Big Six Skills steps 123
1. Describe the research task in one sentence
2. Select appropriate resources
• InfoLinX and library catalogue
1. Locate and access the information in the sources
• Prepare a search strategy (linking keywords)
• Select keywords, broad/narrow (using dictionaries/encyclopaedias)
• Undertake a systematic search
• Access the information using access technologies or translation or file
downloads
25. Use of information
• Apply the information to your problem/issue/question
• Apply practical screening –
• Content
• Timeliness
• Language
• Setting
• Sample size
• Interventions
• Outcomes studies
• Research design
• Apply methodological quality screen
• Research design
• Sampling
• Data collection
• Interventions
• Data analysis
• Results
• Conclusions
Fink, (2005). P. 4
26. Synthesis
• Sections in the report
• Abstract
• Keywords
• Paper type
• Author/institution contact
• Introduction
• Background
• Main topic
• Sub topic
• Sub topic
• Conclusion
• References
Your department tutor may have specific requirements.
Check before you start writing
27. Avoid plagiarism
• Avoid paraphrasing other people’s facts or
arguments without citation
• Separate an author's evaluation of research from
your own.
• Be organised and take scrupulous notes and
references. Understand what needs to be referenced
28. Evaluation
• Evaluating the process
• Time management
• For review points
• For timing
• Data management
• RefWorks
• EndNote
• 5x3 index cards
• My Basket
• Using folders
• Project management
• For decisions
• For critical control points
• Evaluating the data
• Effectiveness of research strategies
29. 5. Use of information
• Apply the information to your problem or question
5. Synthesis of information
• Combining information and data and insights
5. Evaluation
• The data
• The process
Summary: Big Six Skills steps 456
30. Sources
How to download IHMC Cmaptools http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6sBYnqInCpk
Allison, Brian, (1993). A guide to dissertation preparation. 4th edition. Leicester: ARIAD
Davidson, J. and Gascho Rempel, H. (2008) Providing Information Literacy Instruction to Graduate Students through Literature Review Workshops
Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship Winter 2008.
Fink, Arlene (2005) Conducting research literature reviews: from the Internet to paper. Second edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Hart, C., (2005). Doing your masters dissertation. London: Sage.
Luck, M., (1999) Your research project. London: Gower.
Novak, J.D. and Cañas, A. J. (2008) The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them. Florida Institute for Human and
Machine Cognition Pensacola FL. Technical Report IHMC CmapTools 2006-01 Rev 2008 http://www.ihmc.us Accessed on 4-11-2008.
BS 5605:1990 Recommendations for citing and referencing published material
Editor's Notes
Developing search strategies
Choosing appropriate research topics
Choosing appropriate search tools
Evaluating sources
Bibliographic management software
Copyright
Existing research in the collection
If you are in charge and you have chosen some unresearchable topic – whose fault is that?
At this point they will have already submitted a research proposal.
Literature Review is a summary of previous research on a topic, the review of a collection of publication information relevant to the research question. All good research is guided by what has already been written on a subject.
Regardless of the research methodology used, the purpose of the literature review remains the same – to test the research question against what is known.
LITERATURE REVIEW FORMS PART OF THE PROCESS OF WRITING YOUR PHD
Can a chronology be identified in the development of the subject?
May be useful to look for indications of any gaps in the knowledge that other researchers have identified as this may lead to a useful direction in your research
It may be that the literature helps to pinpoint gaps in knowledge that could usefully be explored.
Is there agreement on the subject, is it controversial, is there an ongoing debate? eg stem cell research. What are the debates? What are the issues?
Useful directions and gaps help to ensure that the research will be unique and add to what is already known
Note: gives editorial contact details
Information is available in a number of different formats. It is important to understand the significance of differing formats and choose those which best suit your purpose. Obviously some formats are more applicable to certain subjects.
In order to carry out a systematic review it is necessary to start looking in the more general resources that are available, leading to the more specialised information.
Books can be printed or online. USE LIBRARY CATALOGUE TO FIND THESE.
Dictionaries/Encyclopaedias are ideal to use when setting out on a new piece of research. Help to clarify subjects and identify synonyms, (eg wikipedia) alternative descriptions of topics, keywords for searching the more detailed and specialised resources such as indexes.
USE INFOLINX TO FIND THESE – very important as this is where you find up to date information. Different types of journal
General interest/current affairs report new developments in research in a way which is accessible to those without specialised knowledge. Very newsy in style. Eg FACTIVA
Trade – aimed at members of trades and professions to keep them up to date with trends and developments
Academic/scholarly articles will be vital to your research. There are different types of articles, the main ones being Research Articles and Review Articles. SEE NEXT SLIDE.
Explain what a peer reviewed journal is.
Peer reviewed journals have a lot of academic credibility and this has been the traditional way of publishing. Pattern changing now, with schemes such as BioMEd Central where the science is checked for accuracy and soundness rather than an actual peer review process. HOW TO TELL IF A JNL IS peer reviewed – articles will often have a submission and acceptance date. Also the home page of the journal should tell you.
Review articles summarise a piece of research, so instead of reporting on a recent discovery or something specific they give a good overview. Would normally contain extensive bibliography leading to articles that would be relevant.
EXAMPLE OF PEER REVIEWED ARTICLE. Ian and Stephens article.
Need to use appropriate indexes in infoLinX to search for articles. Can sometimes specify “Review” articles.
Some subject indexes or other databases cover some of the grey literature, but not all. Need to check to see if the resources you search do cover this area. Booklets from think tanks ; some institutions eg Inst for public policy and research publish only online so info may be lost forever.
May have to contact organisations or check their websites and get on mailing lists of current awareness services.
Example: GrayLIT Network – technical reports from US Dept of Energy; Education-Line
From here go to Infolinx to show how to select sources
CSA guidance
http://www.csa.com/e_products/databases-collections.php?SID=geaooc28mt8hr20q0tm97ikfo1
Broad terms generally produce a large number of results.
Narrow terms are more specific and should give you fewer results.
It’s a good idea to make a list of broader and narrower terms before you start searching.\thesaurus
Helps with plurals – drug(s)
THESE ARE THE KEYWORDS YOU IDENTIFIED USING DICTIONARIES, ENCS. ETC.
Brundtland Report in 1987
Earth Summit in Río de Janeiro in 1992
Sustainable development
ecological
Green Consumerism
Credo reference
Don’t forget to keep bibliographic details of the sources you use
Even if it’s just in word or excel or a database
Plagiarism. Because a literature review is based on the work of other authors, you must be very careful to separate an author's evaluation of research from your own. Organisation and scrupulous note taking and referencing are the best ways to ensure that your work is correctly referenced. Make sure that you understand what needs to be referenced:
Plagiarism of ideas occurs when you paraphrase facts or arguments without citation. Anything you get from a book such as an idea, even if you write it in your own words, needs to have a citation or footnote.