Literature Review

Hello all,

Here is my take on my Literature Review project. Literature Reviews are a great way of doing some really essential ground work for any research project. Reading a large amount of articles really helps put everything into perspective as far as what current researchers are examining. What is important is that you start broadly and work your way down to a couple of specific variables of interest. If that means going to the library and reading a couple of chapters on theory and methodology, then that is exactly what you should do; just be sure to leave yourself enough time to read and absorb everything. Or at the very least, look it up on Wiki so that you have an idea about what people are talking about.

The most helpful source for me included a textbook on the specific field I was interested in (developmental psychopathology). From that book I was able to follow up on a couple of foundational articles which helped point me in the right direction as far as the deciding on the research question I wanted to ask. Just be smart and narrow focus down really early. It is tempting to examine many different variables, but it just isn't feasible. You are just one person and you only have a few weeks to complete the project. If I could do this over again I would find the most contemporary literature review article on the subject of interest and choose one of the suggestions for future research. I did this with a much older article and the data collected since then just did not support the suggested path of study. So, I had to start over and this cost me precious time.

The literature review option should really only be attempted by students who have a little bit of a background on methodology. Don't put yourself through the stress unless there is really something you feel passionate about, otherwise it might turn you off to the whole experience. Especially if you do not have good organization skills.

Happy Researching!
Glasseschick (Belen Oceguera)