Once you have found literature that you want to include in your review the task of summarizing
it can be daunting.
It is helpful to use a data extraction tool while you are reviewing each article.
Then, creating a table that captures key points you need to consider for your analysis will
make your summary more accurate, effective and complete.
This step is so important that I get my students to do it for marks.
If you are working on a literature review, trust me, you don't want to skip this step.
If you do, the review will end up taking a lot longer to complete and you will be more
likely to miss important information.
Also, if you are working on a team these tables are absolutely essential for communication
and collaboration.
To set up your table, first identify the number of columns you think you will need.
I usually start with seven.
You can add more later if you need to, but I find it easier to remove information before
publication than to add it.
The headings in your table will depend on the information you need to collect, which
depends on the purpose of your review.
In this video I will go over the ones I recommend using as well as a few other helpful options.
In the first column, always list the author and the year of publication.
To make things easier, you will also want to save your articles in a folder on your
hard drive by the author and year of publication.
I will often also note the country that the study was conducted in.
That way it is easy for me to quickly identify if more research is needed in my country specific
to the topic of inquiry.
You can also note the country later in the table.
Discipline may also be useful to note either in the same column or a separate one if you
are looking at a multi-disciplinary topic such as hand hygiene practices.
It can help you identify if you need to consider looking in other areas to capture missing
disciplines or if there is a lack of evidence particular to a discipline.
However, if your literature review is focused on a particular discipline, such as nursing,
than this information would not add anything to your table and should not be used.
Remember to keep your table as concise as possible.
Include the topic or focus of the study as well as the research purpose or research question
in the next column.
The focus of the article is absolutely critical to your summary table.
Remember to be concise and specific.
I also like to quote the purpose of the article here.
Noting the conceptual or theoretical framework will help to inform you of the perspective
the researchers are taking.
You may also notice common ones that you could consider for your future research proposal.
In any review it is important to note the paradigm and methods used.
Typically, for first year students I only expect them to identify the paradigm as Qualitative
or Quantitative.
In upper years of the program and when I publish I expect a more specific identification of
the methodology.
Sometimes, depending on the purpose of the review, I use separate columns for the design,
sampling method and data collection or analysis methods.
For pragmatic reasons I still limit the total number of columns in my table to seven or
eight.
The context, setting and sample should also be noted.
This is another location that the country that the study was conducted in can be listed.
Just don't put the same information in two spots.
Be concise and consistent.
Whenever you are putting more than one type of information in a column make sure you are
also consistent in the way and order it is listed.
For example, always note the setting then the sample in this column.
Use a bulleted list or separate information by paragraphs or periods.
Key Findings need to be presented in a brief way.
Make sure you are not simply writing everything down.
What findings are of particular interest to the focus of your literature review?
The more concise you are the better.
Stay focused.
Noting the gaps in the research will help you think about what research needs to be
done.
Make note of the limitations of the study you are reading as well as areas for future
research.
This step can be particularly useful when laying the foundation for your next research
project.
Many published reviews now include all or part of these summary tables.
Go take a look at what has been published for more examples of how to construct your
table.
If you are having difficulty finding the information you need to fill in your table please click
on the video on this slide.
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Thank you for watching.