Identifying a research problem and formulating a research question Literature review and research question

1. Identifying a research problem and
formulating a research question

2. Session aims
1) To consider the role of the literature review in research and what makes
a good literature review
2) Briefly discuss the systematic review as a methodological approach
3) Consider the importance of having a good research question and how to
formulate one

3. What is a literature review?
“The selection of available documents (both
published and unpublished) on the topic, which
contain information, ideas, data and evidence
written from a particular standpoint to fulfil certain
aims or express certain views on the nature of the
topic and how it is to be investigated, and the
effective evaluation of these documents in relation
to the research being proposed” (Hart 1998)

4. Why is it important to review the
literature?
 To evaluate what is already known about a topic and identify gaps in knowledge that need to be
further researched
 To understand how the topic has been conceptualised and theorised in existing work
 To obtain a picture of historical developments in the topic area
 To gain insight into how the subject has been broached by different disciplines, traditions or
standpoints
 To understand the key debates in the area
 To learn about the methodologies and methods that have been applied
 To familiarise yourself with the terminology used
 To increase your understanding as an expert in the field and keep abreast of current developments

5. What makes a good literature review?
 Does not simply present materials in a descriptive list format, but uses a more meaningful framework
 Is organised in a logical format – it tells the reader a story
 Compares and contrasts existing research and findings
 Includes a critical commentary on existing literature in the area – what are the pitfalls of current
research in the area? What, if anything, has been overlooked in how the topic has been addressed?
 Provides support and justification for the research questions you will address
 Engages with primary sources rather than relying on secondary references and interpretations

6. Locating literature and the
hierarchy of evidence

7. Types of literature and information
available to researchers
 Empirical research
 Theoretical work
 Official statistics
 Opinion pieces
 Grey literature
 Policy
 Web-based information (e.g. blog posts)
 Media (e.g. newspaper articles)
It is very important to use peer-reviewed articles in your work

8. Where to find literature
 Electronic databases (via the A-Z list of specific databases on the university
library page)
 ASSIA, CINAHL, MEDLINE, Web of Science
 Online databases of existing Systematic Reviews
 Cochrane database (available via A-Z list on Northumbria library page)
 Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE)
 Northumbria library search platform
 Books and paper journals (located via online library catalogue)
 Inter-library loan service
 Recommendations from your peers, supervisors and tutors
 Subscription to journal alerts
 Websites of relevant organisations or charities

9. Methods for literature searching
 Search strategies - “the keyword combinations that operationalise retrieval”
(Booth 2008)
 Building blocks – breaking a topic or question down into the component
concepts and their synonyms before adding these back together in a search
string (Booth 2008)
Population Population
Intervention Exposure
Comparison Outcomes
Outcomes
Study design

10. Methods for literature searching
 Boolean operators AND; OR; NOT
 Other search functions
Use of asterick * to capture all variations of word
endings
Use of quotation marks to find phrases e.g. “Traveller
Community” “public health”
 Consider where databases are searching for keywords
 Title
 Title and abstract
 Keywords
 Full text
AND
OR
NOT

11. Example of search string – a realist review of outreach
interventions for Traveller Communities
(Outreach OR community intervention OR home-visiting OR community health)
AND
(hard to reach OR social exclusion OR social capital)
AND
(nomad* OR caravan dwelling OR Roma OR Gypsies OR Gipsies OR Travel* OR Scottish Travellers OR Welsh
Travellers OR Irish Travellers OR New Travellers OR Bargees of Boat Travellers OR Showpeople OR circus
people)
AND
(behaviour change OR health promotion/improvement OR disease prevention OR engagement OR
empowering OR participation OR advocacy OR self management OR service delivery)
AND
(inequality* OR unequit* OR disparit*)
AND
(local authority OR third sector OR voluntary sector OR private)

12. Methods of searching the literature
Citation pearl growing
 A way of locating additional search terms
 Starts with a very precise search to locate key paper(s)
 Then you examine the keywords that this paper lists and/or is indexed under
 Helps to ensure that your search terms are comprehensive and exhaustive in
order to locate all relevant literature on the topic
(Booth 2008)

13. Methods of searching the literature
Citation searching (forward / backward)
 Scanning the reference lists of relevant studies to find previous papers on the topic
 Examining whether relevant papers have been cited by other more recent articles
(available through Google Scholar)
 Helps build a picture of seminal work in the area
 Citations do not necessarily signify quality of the work

14. So… to put it in practice…
Write a search string to search the evidence on mental health and poverty
The aim is to clarify:
What we know
What we don’t know (gap in knowledge)
How has it been researched before (methodological approach)

15. Managing literature
 Remember to keep a record of where you have searched and the numbers of studies you have found
 It is a good idea to create a working bibliography of the sources that you have located
 This could include:
 Referencing details
 Notes on where you found the source
 A summary of the key arguments of the text
 A description of how/why this is helpful for your work
 Comments on any limitations of the piece
 Keywords
 Reference management software can aid the management of literature you locate, citation of articles in text,
and the production of a final reference list
 Endnote
 Mendeley

16. Hierarchy of evidence
 Weighs the credibility of research designs
 Positions systematic reviews and RCTs as the ‘gold
standard’ in generating evidence and observational
studies as weakest, based on their ability to control
for bias
 Criticisms
 Absence of qualitative studies
 The best study design depends on the question
 Does not take into consideration the quality of
studies in terms of their application

17. Critically appraising the quality of
studies
 Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) provide a number of checklists in
order to help you evaluate the quality of evidence for a number of study
designs
http://www.casp-uk.net/casp-tools-checklists
 Be sure to choose the correct checklist for the design of the study that you
are evaluating

18. Systematic reviews

19. What is a systematic review?
 A piece of secondary research which reviews and collates evidence from existing research studies
 “a method of making sense of large bodies of information, and a means of contributing to the answers to
questions about what works and what does not – and many other types of question too” (Petticrew 2006)
 Uses a scientific and systematic approach in order to minimise bias or error and increase the reliability of
findings
 Key characteristics:
 “a clearly stated set of objectives with pre-defined eligibility criteria for studies;
 an explicit, reproducible methodology;
 a systematic search that attempts to identify all studies that would meet the eligibility criteria;
 an assessment of the validity of the findings of the included studies, for example through the assessment of risk of bias;
and
 a systematic presentation, and synthesis, of the characteristics and findings of the included studies”
(Higgins and Green 2011)

20. Underpinning philosophy of systematic
reviews (1)
You are
here

21. The systematic review process
4) Assess the relevance of studies
1) Set your research question
2) Set inclusion and exclusion criteria
3) Search for literature
5) Quality assess studies
6) Extract data
7) Synthesise studies
8) Present and disseminate results

22. When are systematic reviews suitable?
 Where single studies have already been undertaken in the area
 When there is uncertainty about the answer to a question e.g. whether a particular intervention is
effective?
 Where research findings are contradictory
 To update evidence on questions after research on new interventions or policy initiatives has been
undertaken

23. Definitions
Review term Definition
Literature review Provides an overview of the literature in a given area. Does not follow a systematic approach, may not include
all studies pertaining to a particular area. Often written by an expert in the subject area and may be
constructed to present a particular line of argument.
Systematic review A scientific and systematic approach which follows pre-determined methods. Like other methodologies, used
to answer a specific research question or test hypotheses.
Realist review/synthesis A theory driven approach which aims to find out not only whether or not interventions work, but how, for
whom and in what circumstances they do so. Pays particular attention to the contextual influences on
interventions and explores the underpinning mechanisms that generate their outcomes
Meta-analysis Statistical technique to combine the results of several studies into a single quantitative result. Only possible
for very narrow interventions e.g. drug trials in which common measure(s) are used across studies
Narrative review Method of synthesising the results of different studies through narrative description
Meta- ethnography A method for synthesising qualitative findings using techniques similar to those used in the interpretation of
qualitative primary data and which explores how ideas or concepts can be translated across different studies
Economic evaluation An assessment of the cost-effectiveness of health interventions

24. The research question
?

25. Useful questions to help formulate the
question…
 What topic (idea) of study are you interested in?
 What has already been done in this area (the literature)?
 What philosophical lens will you adopt (e.g. are you looking for differences, relationships or
experiences)?
 What outcome(s) are you interested in?
 What intervention are you interested in?
 What population group / geographical area do you wish to focus on and why?
… taking all of this into account….
 What is your specific research question?
 Why is this question important today (relevance)?

26. A good research question is…
 Relevant
 Manageable
 Ethical
 Substantial and (within reason) original
 Consistent with the requirements for your Masters
 Clear and simple (but not easy to answer!)
 Interesting
If you can google it …. don’t research it!

27. Good … bad… or ugly?
 How many people became homeless following Hurricane Dorian?
 What are the circumstances which led to the increase rate of homelessness in the
Bahamas following Hurricane Dorian, compared to other areas?
 What type of intervention might helps survivors of Hurricane Dorian who suffer from
PTSD?
 What is the prevalence of mould growth in houses following a natural disaster?
 Do children react better to believing they have lost a cat or a dog in a hurricane?
 Have a go!