TASK: Literature Review
TOPIC: Social Media
DATE DUE: 29 July, 2019
LENGTH: Minimum of 800 words – Maximum of 1200 words (quality is better than quantity)
Literature Review
A literature Review is a scholarly paper that includes the current knowledge on a particular topic. The purpose of a literature review is to produce a paper which explores and evaluates the literature of a particular subject by synthesising the contributions from a variety of different authors, commenting on the strengths and/or weaknesses of those contributions. In this case your overall topic is social media. The aim of a Literature Review is to determine what is known about the topic, how well that knowledge is established and agreed upon, and where future research might be directed. The more extensive your review of the Literature is, the deeper your understanding of the research into your topic should become.
Your literature review will serve as your background in writing the final assessment task – the Argumentative Essay, which will be on the same topic as your Literature Review. It is in your essay that you will create an argument, reflecting on agreeing or disagreeing with the conclusions made by contributors whose work you have read, analysed and synthesised (in your Literature Review). Furthermore, your essay will also suggest what else can be done in the particular field you are researching to improve the situation.
the topic listed below (on social media’s effect on society) and formulate a research question based on your topic:
Social media is having a positive effect on teenagers
How to approach a Literature Review?
…A Step by Step approach:
• Conduct some research of the key terms.
• Collect names of resources - copy and paste online resources into a word document. Your resources should:
o Include minimum of 5 resources and a maximum of 9 resources.
o Must include at least 4 peer reviewed academic journal articles.
o Can include other internet sources as long as they are from a reputable and trustworthy source (acknowledged as such in the area of expertise).
• Take notes as you read (feel free to use the matrix available to you to assist with noting relevant detail and/or you can use the Cornell Note-taking system to help process information). You will need to create notes for understanding and recall, and notes for analysis so you can synthesise into your themes.
…Considerations:
Choose your sources carefully. Some suggestions on how you can sift through them is to:
• Judge whether or not the source is useful by reading the title and abstract (& the introduction/first paragraph is you are still unsure).
• Locate the main idea (contention) and skim the rest of the article noting headings and organisation of the text. Can you easily locate and understand the supporting points for this contention?
• Does the article contain graphics that aid you as the reader?
• Ask yourself how relevant the article is to your topic and whether or not it provides new information to what you have already gathered on the topic, or if it supports and negates what you have already gathered.
• Consider asking these questions of each source:
o Who is the author and what is their background? Is s/he an expert in the field?
o Who is the intended audience?
o Is there enough supporting evidence within the text that shows the author has read widely enough on the topic to suggest s/he is an expert?
o Is the source credible/believable? Why or why not?
o What is the background behind why this study was conducted?
o Is there any possible bias in the source (for example: was the source sponsored by facebook?)
o Is the study current and relevant? When was it published and what does this mean for its validity?
o Is the source well-constructed, use formal language to express ideas, use various persuasive techniques?
o Does the author provide some summary and conclusion that pulls together their entire review?
o Does the author make suggestions for research that needs to be conducted in the future?
o What question does this source raise for you?
o What are the themes (trends) emerging from the literature about your topic?
o What conclusions can you draw about your topic to formulate your own viewpoint?
…Organisation:
Helpful ways to organise your Literature Review
• Use headings to group the literature according to themes (paragraph format is appropriate, dot points is not).
• Include an Introduction to introduce your topic and research question and the reason why this is an important issue worthy of examination.
• Include a conclusion summarising the main themes drawn out of the literature as a collective and whether there are any gaps, problems or issues unresolved by the literature.
• Ensure your paper is logically ordered and this is clear to the reader.
• Have you included all resources that were used as in-text citations within your paper?
• Have you paraphrased more and avoided quoting as much as possible?
Assessment Task Conditions:
• See Marking Rubric for mark allocation.
• You will need to use correct inclusions and formatting of in-text citations and a reference list in accordance with the VU Harvard Australia guidelines.
• Your assignment should include (at the top of your essay or on a front page: your Name, Student ID, Assessment Title, RESEARCH QUESTION, Unit Name and Code).
• Submit via Collaborate (Assessment Dropbox – relevant dropbox folder) in either word (Microsoft Office) or pdf.
• Late penalties will apply if work is submitted after the due time/date: 5% per day will be enforced up to 10 days, after which time you will achieve 0 for the task in accordance with VU policy.