Chapter 6: Literature Review
Susan Vernon Gerstenfeld
What are the Potential Sources?
Undoubtedly, it will be necessary to use a variety of sources for information.
The most obvious are books and journals, but there are some loose rules about their uses. Books are very helpful for finding historical material. However, reviewers should always ask themselves if the material in the book is outdated. Is the situation different now, or possibly is it different? For example, to discuss the history of forest preservation, one might want to use both older and newer sources in order to contrast and discuss the perspectives of people in the 1920's versus people later, but to discuss procedures for carbon dating, newer sources must be used in order to be sure of having up to date information on the latest scientific advances. A danger in using books too heavily is that books often contain the considered opinion of researchers but not necessarily hard data to back up considered opinions. Books are, however, a good source of theories.
Journals are particularly helpful for many projects because articles found in them normally pass through a review process and are targeted for an academic audience that is looking for refereed information. Journals are an excellent source for studies pertaining to IQP topics. It is in them that students will find the variety of perspectives and conclusions based on analysis of data. They should use journals to answer the questions, "What's the evidence?" or "Who says?" As mentioned before, they should not discount views they don't like. Such views are essential to putting the story together.
Papers delivered at conferences and published as conference proceedings can be used in literature reviews. Usually, but not always, those papers have passed through a review process that attests to their academic merit. Use their conclusions with caution.
Trade magazines are not the same as journals; the former usually contain material prepared to explain about a new technology or process, but they are not targeted necessarily for an audience of academics. Students should check with their advisor to see if trade magazines are acceptable in their literature review. Newspapers can be a source of unsubstantiated information. One should be careful in using them.
Written material collected from companies or organizations sometimes are appropriate for use in literature reviews. Such information includes annual statement or internally produced materials.
During the PQP phase of a project, some advisors allow students to use the information obtained through interviews as cited background material; interview material gained during the data gathering phase of the project itself will always be treated as data.
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