Moving Beyond the Grocery List: Application of a Constant Comparative Framework in the Writing of Literature Reviews

• In Event: Roundtable Session 60
  In Roundtable Session: Developing Writers, Researchers, and Critical Scholars

Abstract

Regardless of field or focus the literature review is a fundamental component of dissertation writing and research preparation. There is consensus among senior scholars that most literature reviews are poorly written, typically approached as a grocery list simply reciting summaries of what others have said. Both students and new scholars openly share frustrations faced with what the unwieldy task of the literature review should involve – that is, reading, reflecting, analyzing and synthesizing research literature. The authors of this paper present an inductive methodology for conducting a literature review by showing how the application of a constant comparative conceptual framework provides an effective way to review literature across different disciplines to resolve a rationalized and valued justification for a study.

Authors

• Ramona Parkash Arora, McGill University

• Lynn Butler-Kisber, McGill University

• Mary Stewart, LEARN