Research Literature Review
Literature review constitutes any research paper. Reading, analyzing, and summarizing past research in a study subject is involved. The main reason for a literature review is to identify what currently exists in the knowledge base, what is not yet known, and why current research available is important. In this section, we will outline different research studies, what they found out, and analyze how they connect with our research.
Understanding the Subject under Study
Let us initially familiarize ourselves with the broader context of our study before proceeding to outline specific studies. A literature review helps us understand the basic concepts, theories, definitions, and even the background of the subject. It also provides us with an idea about how researchers have tackled the subject in the past and what approaches proved helpful to them. For example, if we are doing research on social media and their impact on student performance, we should be able to define what social media are, how social media are used by students, and how student performance is typically assessed. Various researchers will define or explain these differently, so a read of their research takes our definitions into account.
Previous Studies and Their Findings
Some researchers have conducted research studies in the topic areas. Some of the findings of different research studies are provided below:
Study 1: Social Media and Education
According to the study by Smith and Anderson (2018), the researchers examined the effect of social media on college students' life. They discovered that while social media is a diversion, it is also providing a platform to students to exchange study notes, form study groups, and learn from study materials. According to the study, the effect of social media depends on usage by the students.
Study 2: Time Spent on Social Media and Academic Achievement
Johnson et al. (2019) computed the amount of time the students spent on social media and correlated it with their GPAs. The researchers discovered that individuals who spent more than 4 hours per day on social media possessed lower GPAs compared to the others. However, those who utilized it for studying were not negative.
Study 3: Parental Guidance
Kim and Lee (2020) also emphasized the need for parental supervision in the use of social media by children. Through their find-out, they established that students under parental control of using social media used social media responsibly and had good performance academically.
They have various sides of the same. One with work put into it and one with use in mind, and one another with parental input. Together, they give us a bigger picture of the subject.
Common Themes in Literature
There are quite a few themes which are encountered again and again in the literature on most topics for study:
Technology and Learning:
With technology evolving digital through media, scientists have been curious to learn about the effect of the technology on learning. Some reviews appreciate the advantages of learning technology, while others are cautioning us regarding distractions.
Behavioral Changes:
There are studies that explain how certain influences (e.g., environment, habit, or mass media) alter behavior in people. Such studies prove useful when conducting research on issues that concern mental health, learning behavior, or lifestyle.
Socioeconomic Factors:
Among the factors that are habitually cited is the influence of economic standing, domestic composition, and properties to transmit over the topic under investigation. For instance, research will struggle to compare the city people with rural towns, or affluent with underprivileged districts.
Cultural Differences
Culture is also a widespread theme of much research. There may be a substantial difference in some attitude or behavior between countries, among generations, or within groups. Literature reviews will indeed comment upon the impact of country of or region of origin upon study results.
Research Gaps Identified
Amongst one of the key reasons for conducting a literature review would be to establish what is still yet to be explored. These are so-called "research gaps." These gaps can then be utilized in the pursuit of reasoning why new research is to be undertaken.
Some of those gaps that can be extrapolated from the literature presented above might be:
Few studies have been undertaken to explore the impact of social media use on rural students.
Fewer researchers have examined the long-term impact of social media on school grades.
More current research involves college students, and fewer research studies are conducted among younger students.
Research is mostly statistical and does not address deep individual student experiences.
Our research will attempt to complete one or more of the aforementioned gaps. For example, we can conduct a qualitative study through student interviews to hear for themselves what they have to say, something perhaps which earlier researchers might not have considered. Methodologies Used in Previous Research
The second reason for carrying out the literature review is to learn about the previous research methods used by others. That will help us choose a suitable method for our research too.
The most common research methods are:
Surveys and Questionnaires:
Most researchers make use of surveys in order to gather data from multitudes. It is inexpensive and a quick method but not in-depth.
Interviews:
Interviews allow the researcher to get full answers but are time-consuming and labor intensive.
Observations:
There is some research where observation comes with the tracking of objects over a period of time to record behavior or results.
Experiments:
Science research comes with scientists controlling variable variables to explore cause-and-effect relationships.
Mixed Methods:
There are some studies which combine qualitative and quantitative methods to gain more knowledge.
By performing this exercise, we would be able to see what did work and choose a method appropriate to our research question.
Criticism of Previous Research
While previous research is the most helpful, no research is perfect. We have to criticize previous research and mention their strengths and weaknesses.
Some of the possible criticisms are:
Sample Size:
Some research is conducted on a limited sample size, so it will not be possible to make the finding generalizable.
Bias:
If the researcher himself is biased or selects only a particular type of participants, the result will be unreliable.
Ancient Information:
Research conducted years back may reveal old trends and technology.
No Diversity:
Other research includes only a particular group, i.e., students of a metropolitan city or a particular gender, limiting it.
Referring to these limitations tells readers that previous studies are useful but can be enhanced.
Tentative Frameworks in Literature
Most scholars utilize theories to justify research. Theory is what provides a context or screen through which the subject is examined.
Examples of the most widely used theories are:
Behavioral Theory:
Focused on how individuals change or acquire new behaviors as a function of the outside world.
Cognitive Theory:
Investigates the way people think, process, and remember information.
Social Learning Theory
Implies individuals learn by observing, used predominantly in educational research and media research
Constructivist Theory:
Assumed students built their own experience-based learning
Based on what we have read, we acknowledge the most commonly used theory and can utilize the most suitable one for our study.
Contribution of the Literature Review to This Study
Having weighed the literature, we now understand:
What has already been researched in this area?
What are the outcomes?
What were the theories and approaches employed?
What needs to be researched now?
This is useful in the way that it doesn't allow us to repeat research that has already been done, but rather do something new with it. Our own research can improve on past work that was flawed, correct past mistakes, or research where there wasn't any research. For example, if previous studies have concluded that social media affects college students' performance as opposed to high school students', we can start there. Or, if surveying is the only thing that has ever been attempted, we can attempt interviews to break in deeper.
Conclusion
Finally, the literature review has established that the research topic we are currently pursuing is not only researched but also relevant. Different scholars have witnessed promising findings, but there is much to be researched yet. We know where we are with our research from their findings. We also know what works and how our research can help advance it. Reading journal articles is not literature reviewing—a culmination of thoughts, experiencing the research environment, and finding our own place for it. We are better off with a good foundation from literature to have a stronger step towards proceeding with our own research.