Thursday 13 October 2016

Reviewing the literature


So this is starting at the very beginning. I need to unpick the keywords to search for literature. This small mindmap is just an example of how I have begun this process! Yesterday I attended a session at the university library where we were shown the most effective ways of searching for and finding the literature we need to review. I'm quite lucky that my search terms are so specific, because it narrows down the literature to that which is relevant to my study. To write an effective literature review, you need to find ALL of the articles/books etc that relate to your subject, including previously submitted PhD theses! After a search of the theses library I am happy to say that my topic has not been studied before for a PhD so I already feel like I'm gazing into a gap in the literature - although previous journal articles show studies into this topic, they do not directly consult with young children, so this is my specific niche.

There are so many more things I need to look at other than these particular terms, because at the end of my review I will be making a case for my study. This means I need to also find ethnographic case studies involving children and how much richer the data can be using this methodology. Every aspect of my study needs to be backed up by previous literature, so my search will take time and lots of effort. I hope to share my findings throughout this process so if you are interested in this topic, please do follow it.

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