The methods section of a literature review example is like a map for your research journey. By explaining the methods used to identify sources and analyze data, it helps readers understand why and how you arrived at your conclusions. This section is critical for establishing the credibility and reliability of your work. In this blog post, we will provide you with an example of how to structure the methods section by using literature review tools. Let’s dive in!
What Is A Literature Review
I specialize in the area of literature review tools, as literature reviews can be a powerful way to support your arguments for your research paper or thesis. A literature review is essentially a summary of the current academic research on a specific topic, including the most important journals and articles. It should give an overview of the different theories and the research done so far, citing the most important publications. By doing so, your readers can understand your arguments better and will see you as a more credible author.
The abstract is a brief summary of your literature review, encompassing multiple parts. First, I provide a contextual sentence that explains my motivation behind selecting my research topic. The second part is my thesis statement. Following that, I offer a descriptive statement about the types of literature utilized in the review. Summarize my findings and present conclusions based on them.
Introduction: Providing Context and Establishing Purpose
The introduction serves to furnish readers with a cursory idea of the literature review topic. It defines the general topic, issue, or subject of concern, setting the stage by providing necessary context for the reader to engage with the review.
This segment is also where related trends within the published literature are identified, such as conflicts in theory, methodology, evidence, and conclusions, or even gaps in past research and scholarship. I establish my viewpoint on the topic and explain the criteria for the review, including the organizing sequence and rationale for literature inclusion or exclusion.
Body: Delving into a Review of the Literature
The body of a literature review is where you discuss your sources, and this can be organized in several ways. One option is a chronological organization, which can be based on publication dates or trends. Another choice is to organize thematically, centering the discussion around a specific topic or issue.
A methodical organization emphasizes the methods and approaches of the researchers or writers reviewed rather than the content of the material. In addition to these formats, it's crucial to consider including a segment that poses questions for further research. These questions can explore what the review has inspired in terms of further investigations, helping to steer future studies and examinations that expand upon the current findings.
Conclusion: Wrapping Up Your Literature Review
Conclusions are crucial for providing readers with a broader perspective regarding how the literature review's specific topic relates to its parent discipline, scientific field, or profession.
Bibliography: Citing Your Sources Properly
Since literature reviews are composed of research findings, it is essential to accurately cite the literature being reviewed. Citations are necessary both within the body of the review and in a bibliography or works cited section. Proper citation styles are crucial to maintain academic integrity and provide proper credit to the original authors. To explore the various citation styles available, visit the "Citing Your Sources" section for more information.
How To Write The Methods Section Of Literature Review
Explaining the research design, subjects, and sample details in a literature review are important components under the methodology section. Mentioning elements such as inclusion and exclusion criteria, ethical permissions required for the study, and details on materials, experimental setup, tools, and software used are crucial contributions to the methodology section.
Importance of Data Collection and Analysis Methods
Including data collection and analysis methods is vital to understand the approach used in conducting the study. Addressing how research biases were avoided or how confounding variables were controlled provides insight into the reliability of the study. Authors should evaluate and justify the experimental procedure selected to address the research question, allowing readers to understand the rationality behind the chosen methodology.
Clear Presentation of Experimental Details
The format of the methodology section must regard precise and clear details concerning each experiment. Utilization of flowcharts, infographics, or tables can help in presenting complex information for the audience to grasp easily. Using the past tense is essential to indicate that the experiments have been conducted, giving readers clarity on the point of the study.
Adhering to Academic Writing Standards
Following academic style guides, such as APA or MLA, to structure the content is necessary to comply with the standard norms of academic writing. Citations should be included based on standard protocols in the field. By carefully structuring the methodology section, authors can add credibility to their literature reviews.
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When you upload a document, Unriddle generates an AI assistant on top of this data.
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Use this assistant to answer specific questions about the text, summarize content and simplify jargon.
The trick is to be super clear about what you want.
If you're summarizing a research paper, for example, instead of saying “Summarize” or “Summarize this research paper”, say something like “Explain this research paper to me in simple terms. What method did the researchers use? What did they find? Why does it matter?”.
The second prompt will produce a much better overview of the paper because we're giving the AI more hints about what we want.
Automatic relations
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Let's say you have a collection of nuclear physics papers in your library.
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Citing your sources
Writing is hard when you have a ton of sources to track.
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Highlight some text, click ‘Cite’ and you’ll see items from your library that contain information related to the selection of text you just highlighted as determined by our AI.
When you select an item Unriddle inserts a link into highlighted text that, when clicked, takes you to the referenced item.
Writing with AI
Click ‘New’ in the sidebar and hit ‘Note’ to open up a new note.
Here you’ll find all the text formatting options you’re used to and more.
Type ‘++’ to generate text based on the context of what’s already written.
Highlight text and click ‘Ask AI’ to open up the AI menu where you’ll find options to improve, expand, summarize and explain.
You can type custom prompts too!
Finally, you can open any note in a pane on the right side of the screen while interacting with documents. Just click the orange pencil icon at the top of the chat window.
Chat Settings
Adjust the model, temperature and response length in the Setting sidebar.
Click the cog icon in the top right corner of the screen and look for "Chat Settings".
These apply across all documents but you can easily flip between them regardless of settings at the time of upload.
Model: the machine learning model used to generate responses.
Temperature: the amount of creative license you give to the AI.
Max length: the maximum number of words generated in a response.
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Methods Section Of Literature Review Example
Quantitative Methods in Literature Review Tools
In a quantitative study method of a literature review, the survey design consisted of five multiple-choice questions and ten questions measured on a 7-point Likert scale to gather responses from 350 customers at a fitness apparel company's physical location in Boston.
Customers were defined as individuals who made a purchase on the survey day. They were given 5 minutes to complete the survey anonymously, with 408 responses gathered, although not all surveys were fully completed. The analysis included 371 survey results.
Qualitative Methods in Literature Review Tools
For a qualitative literature review approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 returning customers of a fitness store to gain insights into potential improvements in the product range. Returning customers were defined as those who usually made purchases at least twice weekly.
Participants were selected through surveys, and the interviews took place in a small office near the cash register, lasting around 20 minutes each. Responses were recorded through note-taking, with seven interviews also filmed with consent obtained. One participant opted not to be filmed.
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Unriddle is the tool that makes writing your literature review a lot easier. Unriddle helps you read documents faster, find information quickly, and simplify complex topics. Imagine you’re writing your literature review, and you come across a paper that seems to have the perfect information you need. Skimming through it can take a lot of time, especially if it’s a lengthy piece of writing.
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Unriddle uses AI to understand the context of your writing and provide you with relevant sources from your library. This means you can easily link to other articles or books you’ve read before.
Unriddle can generate text suggestions based on what you’re working on, so you can improve your writing and expand your ideas.
Another great thing about Unriddle is that it provides a collaborative workspace where everyone can contribute and chat in real-time while working on the same document. This feature allows you to get feedback from peers and make your literature review even better.
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