Research Methods: Doing a literature review

Eira Patterson

University of Winchester

Doing a literature review: How to find and make sense of published research

This guide is designed to help you to:

• understand how to use other people’s writing to inform your own research;
• develop a strategy for carrying out a search of the literature;
• organise the themes logically;
• evaluate the research you read;
• think about the features of a reflective literature review and explore how to achieve this in practice.

This MESHGuide draws on a range of key literature in the field of social science research. Also its design has been informed by lessons learned from personal research, which has focussed on the following areas:

• developing effective collaborative learning in science
• factors influencing learning through play in the early years
• student teachers’ engagement with research and its impact on their developing practice
• constructivist informed practice in science within initial teacher education
• creativity in learning and teaching.