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Tag: Literature Search

Literature search strategy

Published 22nd April 2024 by Gillian

Literature search strategy

So, I’ve written about how to plan your search, now I’m going to tell you about how my search is going. In my previous blogpost I highlighted three basic elements to a literature search strategy:

  1. Plan your search,
  2. Search,
  3. Review and adapt your search.
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

Plan your search:

First, the plan. I’ve explored the keywords I want to use. There are going to be a variety and it’s going to change as I come across different ideas and thoughts in the project, but here they are:

Keyword table:

Photovoice “International students” “Higher Education” UK
“Participatory photography” “Foreign students” University “United Kingdom”
“Photo elicitation” undergraduate College England
“Photo novella” postgraduate Tertiary education “Great Britain”
masters “Northern Ireland”
“British Isles”
Wales
Scotland
GB

 

My focus is photovoice, so you can see how I’ve tried to prioritise the different related terms and synonyms. The other elements of the keyword table can be added into the search or used separately. You can view the keyword table with the first column as my research focus, and the other three columns providing context. The UK context isn’t essential to my research, but it is helpful if I need to focus my search or relate the student experience to the UK educational environment, not all universities around the world teach in the same way.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

I’ve also been searching separately in relation to research methods, as I plan the project, and looking ahead to writing up the project, thinking about the justifications and evidence for the decisions I’ve made. Below are some additional keywords I’ve been using and am considering using:

  • Visual research methods,
  • Visual research,
  • Qualitative research AND sample
  • Self-identification
  • Samples / sampling
  • Participant AND identity
  • Qualitative research methods

Searching:

So far I’ve searched in a few different places. I’ve used broader search terms like “visual research methods” or “qualitative research” when looking for books on the catalogue (NELSON). When searching the databases, I’ve been using the below search string. I’ve tried to focus my search in abstract or keywords, but not all databases have the same functionality.

photovoice OR “participatory photography” OR “photo elicitation” OR “photo novella”

The search terms aren’t interchangeable, but they should pick up related literature that could help me understand the recruitment and facilitation of the research. Below are the databases I have searched and will search.

  • JSTOR
  • British Education Index.
  • Education Research Complete.
  • Educational Administration Abstracts.
  • ERIC
  • Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts.

Still to do: SAGE, Web of Science, Wiley.

Photo by Philipp Mandler on Unsplash

Review and adapt your search:

This is really key, taking the time to look at the results you have and adapt your search based on what you get. I’ve noticed doing a general search just in relation to photovoice, has been fruitful. However, thinking about how to focus the search so I’ve got a manageable number to review is difficult. I don’t necessarily need to focus on peer-reviewed or published literature, but sometimes those filters (alongside date ranges) help to get manageable chunks of literature to review. I know I have to go back to the education databases to search more broadly around international students, also including a focus on transition and masters education, which aren’t currently featured in my keywords list.

I’m reviewing what I’ve done, reflecting on what worked (and didn’t) and identifying what and where I need to search next. Therefore, I’m making progress but there are more keywords to explore, more searches to do, and more literature to read!

Lessons learnt:

  • Don’t underestimate the plan – it gives you a framework to follow.
  • Do it in chunks, taking time to stop and review what you’ve done means you can take the next steps proactively rather than feeling overwhelmed.
  • As you read make a note of anything you need to find out more about and add it to your search.
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Planning a literature search (literature search strategy)

Published 5th February 2024 by Gillian

Planning a literature search (literature search strategy)Working with an open laptop on a bed

I’m in the very early days of my fellowship so I haven’t had chance to do a thorough literature search yet. For the past year or so, I’ve been doing some general reading. Enjoying serendipity when I came across a relevant paper. I kept my eyes open for literature relating to international students, postgraduates and photovoice. I’ve also welcomed recommendations for readings from colleagues which have helped me to expand my understanding of the area. Now, however, it’s time to do a more considered approach to literature searching.

This is something I discuss with my students every day in work. Adapting ideas from numerous sources (I’ll put some recommendations later) I tend to work through a broad three stage process:

  1. Plan your search,
  2. Search,
  3. Review and adapt your search.

For most projects, this works well, especially when you’re on a close timeframe. The important part is to plan before you dive into searching.

1. Planning your search:

This is where you need to think about a few different elements – what topic are you looking for information on? There may be a couple of elements that you need to search separately. If you have an essay question you can pick out the main concepts from the question and then explore related terms and synonyms to give you flexibility when you search. Some keywords will work better in different places. When you’re looking for books on a topic, try to keep things quite broad, but when you’re looking for case studies, research and examples in databases you can be more specific.

What type of information do you need? Sometimes, especially when we’re thinking about finding information for an assessment, we have quite clear ideas. For example, when I’m looking for an introduction to a subject, I need to refer to books and I’m going to find those on NELSON (our library catalogue and discovery tool). Within health subject areas, you may be asked to refer to guidelines and care pathways (in which case you’re going to be searching for those specifically on a website like NICE) or research (in which case I recommend you search the databases). Thinking about what you need helps you to work out some of your strategy – where do I need to look and what for?

You also might want to consider any limits to your search. Does it matter how old the literature is (if you’re looking at historical context then no, but if you’re looking at current practice you may want to have a date range in mind)? Do you want information relating to a specific population group? Or for a specific country or region? Often the databases might have filters to help you narrow down your search by age or gender, or you might have to add something into your search. For example, you might add a country such as ‘England’ to your search to narrow it down to information relating to England.

At this point you have some keywords (this could be in a list, mind map or table) and a note of the type of information you need and where to find it. This is an outline search strategy that you can use to guide your search.

2. Search:

Once you’ve planned your search, you then need to give yourself time to search. We’re all used to Google and getting results instantly, but when it comes to academic literature it takes a little more time. We need to search in more than one place (NELSON, databases, websites for specific information like clinical guidelines or statistics) and we might have to do a few different searches. Try one search and then adapt it by changing your keywords or the filters you use, depending on the results you’re getting.

3. Review and adapt your search:

It’s really important to give yourself time to review and adapt your search. We all hope that the first results are going to be the most useful. However, often we might find we’re getting too many results, so we need to consider ways to narrow it down. Or, the results aren’t relevant, it’s bringing up loads of information you don’t need – so you need to change your search term. You don’t have to take the first results as the best, having planned your search and having a few keywords to hand, means that you can change and adapt your search to get better results.

When you get some good information, have a look at the language they’re using. What terms or keywords are they using? Can you use those to add to your search? When you read it, you may also find it interesting to follow up on the sources of information (references) that they have used. They can help you build your understanding of the topic.

Remember, you’re going to have to do more than one search in more than one place. You won’t find everything in one place. Think of it as a bit like shopping, although the big supermarkets sell everything from milk to hair dryers, not everything you need is covered. Sometimes you have to go to a specialist shop for an ingredient. Although they sell shoes, they may not sell the walking boots you need if you’re going hiking. So, keep your eyes open and look in more than one place.

Once you’ve got your literature, you then need to read it. I’ll update you on my search strategy in my next post. Otherwise, this will be a REALLY long blog post.

Lessons learnt:

  • Plan your search.
  • Give yourself time to explore the topic.
  • Be prepared to adapt your search and search in more than one place!

Useful links:

Useful books available in our library:

Really straightforward a great place to start:

  • Aveyard, H. (2019). Doing a literature review in health and social care: a practical guide (Fourth edition.). McGraw Hill Education/Open University Press.

This one is very detailed and great for postgraduate and doctoral research students:

  • Booth, A., Sutton, A., Clowes, M., Martyn-St James, M., & Booth, A. (2022). Systematic approaches to a successful literature review. (Third edition / Andrew Booth, Anthea Sutton, Mark Clowes, Marrissa Martyn-St James.). SAGE.
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