Literature Review and Analysis

Literature Review and Analysis (7.b) Tasks and Timeline
Literature Review and Analysis (7.b) Tasks and Timeline
The final paper for this course is a Literature Review and Analysis assignment that brings theoretical insights from the literature to bear on the empirical data (i.e. surveys, interviews, and life history) the student has collected (or interacted with, through peers) throughout the term. It will be a 1375 word exploration of a topic of the student’s choice related to experiences of race, gender, and/or class, at a particular life stage of development. The paper will draw from 7-8 scholarly sources (peer-reviewed, and published in academic journals or by academic presses) found by a student through independent research. (Students are welcome to draw from course sources but these do not count toward the minimum expectation for research for this paper.)
I suggest the following breakdown of tasks and timeline for successful completion of this project:
Week 12-13: Find more literature in addition to the three sources you found for Week 5’s Progress Report. Aim to have all literature in place (7-8 sources) by the end of Week 13.
Week 13: Shift through the data you collected throughout the term to decide what material you want to analyze using your literature. What themes from the course does the literature help you understand better? What alternate interpretations of your data might be suggested by the literature you have encountered? Which data fits in with an exploration of your topic and subtopics, as planned by your Week 5 Progress Report? Draft an outline for your paper.
Week 14-16: Keep in mind that you have other writing also due in these weeks (including prep for the Final Exam), so you want to be organized for this final paper–doing a bit at a time–so your writing process isn’t rushed. You will bring together the literature and the data to write an analytical paper that is topically focused–further instructions will be provided on the content of the paper in Week 13 so you can certainly work ahead of these deadlines. Aim to have a draft of the paper by the end of Week 15 at the latest.
Week 16-Finals Week: By the end Week 16 you should share your paper with peers and get their feedback. Further instructions on the peer review process (which will be done in Support Groups) will be provided in Week 14. Groups are invited to work ahead!
Finals Week: Proofread, revise, and submit!

Conducting academic research and citing literature using APA style
Conducting academic research and citing literature using APA style
Start your research for your final Literature Review and Analysis paper with the library databases! On the HDEV subject page (http://library.csueastbay.edu/hdev) you can “Find Articles” and see the recommended databases. PsycINFO and JSTOR are my preferred search platforms. In both, I like using the “Advanced Search” because then I can filter for only peer-reviewed/scholarly material, and delineate by language and type of publication. In PsycINFO I can also filter for age range, population group, methodology, or classification code. Once I’ve searched I can play around with the subject headings and get further ideas of search terms to use. In JSTOR, I like that I can filter by discipline/field.
Be sure to follow these principles of good research:
Use more than one database.
Keep track of your search terms and skim abstracts and keywords strategically to generate further search terms.
Play around with filters to alternatively broaden and focus your search until you get an ideal number of options to look through (50-100 is ideal).
Skim and save a variety of options before sitting down to read more carefully.
Collect (and possibly read) more than you intend to use, so you can whittle down to the best possible options.
Research isn’t meant to simply confirm what you already know but rather to expand your thinking. Be prepared to challenge yourself.
Keep a working bibliography of your sources to draw from in your writing and further research.
You should be citing in APA style in this course. The HDEV subject page on the library website has many resources for using APA style on the left. I also shared information throughout my course materials on citation practices. For example, the texts are listed in the course readings bibliography (see Course Schedule) using APA style. In the syllabus, under Course Orientation (Assignments and Grades; 3. Writing about the Readings), I have examples on how to do in-text citation. Notice I use in-text citations in my own writing such as within the prompts or musings in our Course Content folders.
Good citation etiquette requires you to use an in-text citation whenever you mention ideas that you got from a text. This includes direct quotes (reproducing the authors’ words) and paraphrasing (summarizing the text’s ideas in your own words). Students often forget to include citations when paraphrasing! You should also cite whenever mentioning the authors. Page numbers are necessary when the ideas or quote come from a specific page, but citing happens even when referring to the text overall or in general.

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