LITERATURE REVIEW 50 POINTS

DUE_______________

For specifics, such as due date and number of and type of articles required, see your instructor.

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The purpose of a literature review is to give you the opportunity to read several articles related to your research topic and to integrate them into a concise, but informative review of relevant research (this may turn into part of your research report's introduction section). To complete this assignment, you need to find ___ RECENT articles (2 must be from the last 15 years) that are related to your topic, read them, and write a 5-7 page paper that summarizes and integrates the articles. I would suggest that you obtain the articles quickly, so that you have plenty of time to read and digest them. THIS IS NOT AN ASSIGNMENT THAT YOU CAN DO AT THE LAST MINUTE!

This assignment will help you learn to apply critical thinking skills to understanding a question in psychology. First, you need to focus on a specific question. Secondly, you need to obtain and organize relevant information and summarize it. Finally, you will write a paper that ties all of the articles together and addresses your initial question. A good literature review will also propose future research directions based on a review of the existing evidence.

The following guidelines should help in this process:

1. Once you have identified a general topic, you need to develop a question about that area of psychology. The question must be specific. For example, asking how do dreams differ from other states of consciousness is too broad. A more specific question might be do the causes of dreams differ from nightmares in children. This may seem difficult at first. However, the more you read about your topic, the more you will become focused.

2. Review several articles before settling on the ones that you will concentrate on. Read the articles and take notes on them. Although you need to obtain empirical articles, finding a published literature review on your topic might help identify the questions in your area.

3. Organize the evidence that you have. For instance, you might want to separate your article summaries into evidence for and against the claim.

4. Create an outline for your paper in which you identify the major points of your topic/articles.

5. Start to write your paper. Once you have a few pages, put it aside for a couple of days. When you come back to it, your head should be clear and you will be able to critique what you have written so far. Analyze your writing for clarity and thoroughness.

6. Revise and rewrite.

7. Revise and rewrite.

8. Your final draft should include the following (taken from Bensley, 1998):

1. Introduction to the basic problem or question

a. Purpose in writing the paper

b. How the problem is to be discussed in the paper

c. Definition of relevant terms

2. Development of the discussion of the problem

a. Evidence for an idea, position, or claim

1. Specific evidence

2. Other specific evidence

b. Evidence against an idea, position, or claim

1. Specific evidence

2. Other specific evidence

3. Conclusion

a. Review and summary of main points of the discussion

b. Evaluation of the evidence or main points of the discussion and conclusion about the question

c. Proposal of future directions this research could take (directly related to your research project)

A literature review is prepared in a different manner from a research report. However, all APA guidelines must be adhered to. What this means is that there will be a title page, abstract, and reference section and headings, running head, and citation style are all the same. As always, please see me if you need help or if you would like to go over your draft before turning it in. PLEASE NOTE HOWEVER, YOU MUST SEE THE INSTRUCTOR DURING REGULAR OFFICE HOURS OR AT A TIME THAT WE HAVE SCHEDULED TOGETHER. DO NOT RANDOMLY STOP BY AND EXPECT ME TO BE AVAILABLE OR SEE ME THE DAY THE PAPER IS DUE, AS I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO WORK WITH YOU WITH SUCH SHORT NOTICE......PLAN AHEAD!