A few more notes on issues which came up during conferences today:
(1) You will notice that, in the Introduction section of the Project IVB Checklist, you are asked to define key terms. In the introduction, the key terms which you should define are those terms which can be interpreted in several ways or which have vague definitions. (For example, the term "adolescent" is generally understood to mean a teenager. However, in various contexts, "adolescent" can refer to anyone between the ages of 11 and 19, or within the specific range of 13 to 16.) Defining key terms in the introduction allows you to specify how you are using those terms in your literature review and indicates that you know they can be defined differently. This is usually done by adding a phrase such as "within this context" or "for this study."
More specific key terms (usually related to discipline specific vocabulary) should be addressed as they appear in the body paragraphs.
(2) In class we have previously discussed how your body paragraphs should be divided according to the main topics in your synthesis matrix. For example, you may look at the physical effects, the mental effects, and the behavioral effects of violent video games on children. These will be your headings, and should be centered and bolded within your text.
However, if you choose to further divide your headings, these will be considered "sub-headings." If you decide to use sub-headings, please note that they should be bolded as well, but that they should be flush with the left margin. This indicates that they are headings-within-headings and are not themselves a separate main idea.
(3) Lastly, please note that in the sample literature review, particularly #4, the body paragraphs provide a very superficial level of analysis. While the information is synthesized (and synthesized correctly), there is not a lot of detail about the relationships being commented on. Remember that a literature review should be a combination of synthesis and summary (although priority should be given to synthesis). In some cases, you will need to expand your synthesis by summarizing some of the author's main points to reinforce the statement you have made. This is where the Annotated Bibliography comes in: that assignment asked you to summarize the main ideas which were relevant to your study and should prove useful in this instance.
(1) You will notice that, in the Introduction section of the Project IVB Checklist, you are asked to define key terms. In the introduction, the key terms which you should define are those terms which can be interpreted in several ways or which have vague definitions. (For example, the term "adolescent" is generally understood to mean a teenager. However, in various contexts, "adolescent" can refer to anyone between the ages of 11 and 19, or within the specific range of 13 to 16.) Defining key terms in the introduction allows you to specify how you are using those terms in your literature review and indicates that you know they can be defined differently. This is usually done by adding a phrase such as "within this context" or "for this study."
More specific key terms (usually related to discipline specific vocabulary) should be addressed as they appear in the body paragraphs.
(2) In class we have previously discussed how your body paragraphs should be divided according to the main topics in your synthesis matrix. For example, you may look at the physical effects, the mental effects, and the behavioral effects of violent video games on children. These will be your headings, and should be centered and bolded within your text.
However, if you choose to further divide your headings, these will be considered "sub-headings." If you decide to use sub-headings, please note that they should be bolded as well, but that they should be flush with the left margin. This indicates that they are headings-within-headings and are not themselves a separate main idea.
(3) Lastly, please note that in the sample literature review, particularly #4, the body paragraphs provide a very superficial level of analysis. While the information is synthesized (and synthesized correctly), there is not a lot of detail about the relationships being commented on. Remember that a literature review should be a combination of synthesis and summary (although priority should be given to synthesis). In some cases, you will need to expand your synthesis by summarizing some of the author's main points to reinforce the statement you have made. This is where the Annotated Bibliography comes in: that assignment asked you to summarize the main ideas which were relevant to your study and should prove useful in this instance.