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Questions to ask yourself about materials you are including

1. Has the author formulated a problem/issue?

 2. Is it clearly defined? Is its significance (scope, severity, relevance) clearly established?

3. Could the problem have been approached more effectively from another perspective?

4. What is the author's research orientation (e.g., interpretive, critical science, combination)?

5. What is the author's theoretical framework (e.g., psychological, developmental, feminist)?

6. What is the relationship between the theoretical and research perspectives?

7. Has the author evaluated the literature relevant to the problem/issue? Does the author include literature taking positions she or he does not agree with?

8. In a research study, how good are the basic components of the study design (e.g., population, intervention, outcome)? How accurate and valid are the measurements? Is the analysis of the data accurate and relevant to the research question? Are the conclusions validly based upon the data and analysis?

9. In material written for a popular readership, does the author use appeals to emotion, one-sided examples, or rhetorically-charged language and tone? Is there an objective basis to the reasoning, or is the author merely "proving" what he or she already believes?

10. How does the author structure the argument? Can you "deconstruct" the flow of the argument to see whether or where it breaks down logically (e.g., in establishing cause-effect relationships)?

11. In what ways does this book or article contribute to our understanding of the problem under study, and in what ways is it useful for practice? What are the strengths and limitations?

12. How does this book or article relate to the specific thesis or question I am developing?


Procter, D. M. (2002, February 28, 2002). The Literature Review: A Few Tips On Conducting It. Retrieved April16, 2003, from http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/litrev.html

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