TASK ADVICE

Step 1: Select a topic from the following list. These are broad topics that you will narrow down to a specific area of interest for your literature search. Keep in mind that the topic that you choose for this assignment will also need to be the focus of your Assignment 1B: Research proposal – Methods and ethical considerations for diverse populations.

·         Wellbeing in minorities.

·         Social media and activism.

·         Mindfulness and health (for example: how to obtain a healthier work-life balance whilst working from home or stress reduction for the treatment of depression and anxiety etc).

·         Barriers to higher education (e.g: mental health challenges as a barrier to higher education)

·         Artificial intelligence and human development.

Step 2: Consider what part of your selected topic you are most interested in. It is important that you narrow your focus to make it easier to start your literature research.

Usually with any given literature review, the initial topic you have chosen might be too broad. For example, looking at the topics:

·         Wellbeing in minorities.

o   How will you define wellbeing? Are you going to choose a certain minority to focus on?

·         Social media and activism.

o   What form(s) of social media will you be exploring? What does activism look like?

·         Mindfulness and health.

o   What does mindfulness involve? Which health outcomes will you be looking at?

·         Barriers to higher education.

o   This one is a little more straightforward - there is a consistent understanding to what "higher education" is, so you will be likely finding out what specific barriers there are.

·         Artificial intelligence and human development.

o   These two terms are very broad - so you will need particular work at narrowing down a specific understanding of artificial intelligence, as well as what "human development" really means (which could be rather flexible).

Step 3: Start your literature research. You will need a minimum of five peer-reviewed journal articles. These peer-reviewed journal articles should be published within the last ten years.

Step 4: Identify a research 'gap' in your literature review.

** Assignment 1A, remember to include some mention of methodology in the body of the review, when you're discussing findings. These methodological mentions can be brief, but it's important to consider how study findings were derived. For example, was a study qualitative or quantitiative? Can it infer causality***

A research gap is a gap in the current knowledge of a research topic. Gaps are aspects, problems or questions that have not been covered or solved yet. Consider the following questions when trying to find a research gap in your literature:

·         Is there a concept or new idea that hasn't been studied yet?

·         Is there a specific population that has not been (well) studied?

Sometimes you'll find a research gap if all the existing research is outdated and in need of new or updated research. An example of this would be studies on Internet use in 2001. Perhaps a specific population has not been well studied. There are plenty of studies on teenagers and video games, but not enough studies on toddlers and video games, for example.

Identifying a gap requires a significant amount of research and reading. You must familiarise yourself with the studies that have already been done and what those studies contributed to the overall body of knowledge about that topic. Make a list of any questions you have about your topic, and then do some research to see if those questions have already been answered satisfactorily.

Search out 'suggestions for future research' and review the conclusion section of articles. Authors will often identify areas where they think a research gap exists and make recommendations of what studies they think need to be done in the future.

As you are researching, you will most likely come across citations for seminal works in your research field. These are the research studies that you see mentioned again and again in the literature. In addition to finding those and reading them, you can use a database like Google ScholarLinks to an external site. (Google, n.d.) to follow the research trail and discover all the other articles that have cited these. One way to quickly track down these seminal works is to use a database.

You should also read meta-analyses, literature reviews, and systematic reviews on your topic. These types of papers provide a thorough overview of the literature in your field, as well as examine the trends and changes over a long period of time and summarise previous research findings.

Step 5: Write your literature review using the following format:

·         Introduction: Identify your selected topic, provide a scope of your review and clearly define your key terms (approximately 200 words).

·         Body: Synthesise (combine in a coherent summary) the literature you have included, and demonstrate your knowledge on the topic. Outline the significance of the topic (approximately 600 words).

·         Conclusion: Briefly summarise your main points from the body and then finish with a clear statement of the gap you have identified which you will focus on in Assignment 1B: Research proposal – Methods and ethical considerations for diverse populations. (approximately 200 words).

Step 6: Use APA 7th referencing for your in-text citations and reference list.