What is a literature review?

This book is a road map for researching, arguing, and composing a literature review. It gathers into one volume the strategies, tools, and techniques of the experienced researcher, in order to help the reader build a high quality literature review.

Shows students how to synthesize literature using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. All major steps are profusely illustrated with examples. Your students will learn both the art and science of writing effective literature reviews.

Shows readers how to identify, interpret, and analyze published and unpublished research literature. Through the use of checklists, case examples, and exercises, author Arlene Fink unravels the intricacies of * Selecting questions to maximize the efficiency of the review * Identifying subject headings and key words for electronic searches * Identifying the most appropriate databases, including supplementing computer and Web-based searches * Dealing with unpublished studies * Setting inclusion and exclusion criteria * Justifying methods for reviewing only the ′highest quality′ literature * Preparing a structured literature abstraction form * Ensuring the reliability and validity of the review * Synthesizing and reporting results * Conducting and evaluating descriptive literature reviews * How to understand and evaluate the principles of meta-analysis