Assignment task:
Conduct a critical review of the literature based on the clinical issue you have identified in assessment 1. You will structure your critical review around the research question, aim and objectives you have previously outlined, using best available evidence to compare and contrast all literature relevant to your chosen clinical issue, identifying any gaps in knowledge you find during the process.
**Please note this assessment builds on assessment 1. You will be required to continue working on the original word document; however, only assessment 2 will be marked.
Step 1: Populate the Summary of Study Characteristics table below using the 6 - 8 articles you will include in your review. This is not assessed and not included in the word count - this will assist you with planning your critical review. Please include the Summary of Study Characteristics Table as an appendix to your assignment (as evidence of your planning).
Step 2: How to write a critical review of the literature?
You are required to synthesize the studies you have included in the review. Do not write an annotated bibliography. To describe the studies in the review you need to summarize each column in the table above.
Example:
For example, first paragraph: Of the ten studies included in this critical review of the literature, the studies were all published between the years 2016 to 2021 (add your years), of which xx were conducted in Australia (add refs), xx were conducted in America (add refs) etc. The study designs were either qualitative (add ref), cross-sectional (add refs) etc. The aims of the studies were to.....(add refs) The number of participants in the included studies varied from xx to xx. Etc.
Next paragraph(s): (this is the challenging bit) is where you need to syntheses the 'results' column. What are the common findings or themes you see amongst all the studies? What is similar, what is different amongst the results? You could begin with "Common themes amongst the results of the studies in this review include xxxx, xxxx, xxxx, and xxxx. Then your next paragraphs describe each theme in more detail and give examples from your included studies.
You need to compare and contrast, critique, identify gaps and limitations and make recommendations.
Please use the following headings to guide your review:
Research Question
- State the research question for your small research project.
Literature review
- Only include research studies published in the last 5 years. Aim to include 6 - 8 studies.
- Keep the primary focus on literature that is relevant to your research topic.
- Describe the characteristics of the included studies in your review. When were they published? Where were they conducted - what country? What were the study aims? What were the study designs? Describe the population and sample size? How did they collect their data and analyse their data?
- The results of the included studies: synthesize the common themes of the results.
- Compare the various arguments, approaches and findings expressed in the literature: what do the authors agree on?
- Contrast the various arguments, themes, approaches and findings expressed in the literature: what are the major areas of disagreement, controversy, debate?
- Connect the literature to your own area of research and investigation: how will your research draw on what has been said in the literature?
Gaps and limitations
- Identify and describe any gaps in the literature. For example, after reviewing the literature, what don't we know about your topic of interest?
- Have you found any limitations in the literature, which you can use to build on the existing body of knowledge and work of others?
Recommendations
- Having reviewed the literature, what recommendations will you make? Ultimately you will be recommending the need to conduct a small research project, which you will conduct next semester
Appendix
- Summary of Study Characteristics Table