“Unity can only
be manifested by the Binary. Unity itself and
the idea of Unity are already two.” -- Buddha (Hindu Prince Gautama
Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)
An effective literature search is a long slog. How do you know when you have reached the
end? The answer is not a simple yes/no binary.
It is more along the lines of “you’ll know it when you see it.”
Here is what Levy and Ellis* have to offer on this question …
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“By default, the literature search
process should continuously be done during the course of the study. As noted
previously, the use of backward and forward literature search techniques should
provide additional valid references as the search progresses. However, it may
appear to novice researchers that this process is a never-ending one. From a
practical perspective, one needs to stop the search and move on to the
processing and writing (output) of the literature review. Thus, the question
arises: “At what point should the process of gathering additional relevant
literature end?”
“Leedy and Ormrod (2005) noted that one common rule of thumb is that the search is near completion when one discovers that new
articles only introduce familiar arguments, methodologies, findings, authors,
and studies. Thus, when reading a new literature piece, if one “will get
the feeling that ‘I’ve seen this (or something similar to it) before’” (Leedy
& Ormrod, 2005, p. 82), it may suggest that the literature search is near
completion.”
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This is the penultimate post in this series.
The ultimate post covers Zotero, one of the best tools I have found for
organizing the massive number of references you may turn up during your
literature search.
*Levy, Y., & Ellis, T. J. (2006). A
systems approach to conduct an effective literature review in support of
information systems research. Informing Science: International Journal of an
Emerging Transdiscipline, 9(1), 181-212.
Free Full Text Source: http://mic.sgmjournals.org/content/154/8/2169.short
Visit www.JeanSteinhardtConsulting.com for more tips and tricks.
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