This session was presented at the Massey University PhD thesis writing bootcamp and focuses on literature review writing

1. Writing the Literature
Review: Thesis boot camp
National Centre for Teaching & Learning
See these slides online at: tinyurl.com/masseybootcamp2018
Further info & video on lit review writing at: tinyurl.com/masseylitreview
Programme of writing workshops at: tinyurl.com/masseypostgradworkshops

2. NCTL services
CONTENTS
Writing skills
Building blocks
Confirmation

3. NCTL services

4. March 14: Writing for confirmation
April 11: Setting and achieving PhD writing goals
May 9: Presenting your PhD research
June 13: Setting up and managing your own PhD
writing groups
Albany AT4 12.00 – 1.30 pm
Sign up – and access videos of past workshops – through the
Doctoral Community tab on Stream
Monthly doctoral writing workshops

5. POSTGRAD SKILLS WORKSHOPS
SEE tinyurl.com/nctlworkshops

6. VIDEOS tinyurl.com/nctlvideos
OWLL owl.massey.ac.nz

7. DROP-IN SERVICE Just ask at the library desk
APPOINTMENTS email ctlalb@massey.ac.nz
GET FEEDBACK ON YOUR DRAFTS

8. CONFIRMATION

10. Report A Report B Report C
Pages (excl. refs)
33
35
38
Introduction
4
2
3
Lit review
16
15
17
Methodology
9
10
8
Risk analysis /
budget / ethics
2
2
1
Progress so far
1 3 2
Research schedule
1 1 7
References
130 60 180
How three Massey students structured their confirmation reports

11. Sustainability
Human sustainability
Corporate social
responsibility (CSR)
CSR in Japan
Human sustainability
issues in Japan
VEX robotics
Robot navigation
Dynamic environment
mapping
Robot control systems
Image processing
How two Massey students structured the literature review
sections of their confirmation reports

12. WRITING SKILLS

13. Situational Leadership Theory is based on the notion that
there is no single best leadership style; rather, effective
leadership is dynamic and adaptive. Leaders need to adapt
constantly both to environmental changes and the
developing needs of their diverse followers (Brown, 2014).
The starting point for situational leadership is needs
analysis. The first step of the needs analysis is to categorise
team members according to their performance readiness
levels (R1, R2, R3, R4). Within this approach, needs
analysis takes account both of individuals’ ability (relevant
knowledge, skill, and experience) and willingness
(confidence, commitment, and motivation towards the
tasks). Leaders then go on to analyse their own leadership
behaviours; in particular, how they tell their team members
their duties and responsibilities, provide guidance,
communicate (listening and explaining) and provide
supportive behaviors. This self-analysis should allow them
to identify examples of four major styles: telling, selling,
participating and delegating. The intended outcome of the
two-stage needs analysis is for leaders to purposefully select
the style which is best suited to the needs of each individual
in their team, according to their performance readiness
(Ronaldson, 2010).
A paragraph that flows
Topic
sentence
Sentences
start with
previous topic
and then add
something
new
Concluding
sentence

14. Leaders can categorise team members according
to their performance readiness levels (R1, R2, R3,
R4) to carry out a needs analysis they need to
analyse their leadership behaviours (Ronaldson,
2010). The ability (relevant knowledge, skill, and
experience) and willingness (confidence,
commitment, and motivation towards the tasks)
of team members both need to be considered.
How they tell team members their duties and
responsibilities, provide guidance, communicate
(listening and explaining) and provide supportive
behaviors. In Situational Leadership Theory there
is no single best leadership style; it is dynamic
and adaptive (Brown, 2014). The four major
leadership behaviours are telling, selling,
participating and delegating. They need to
identify the needs of team members. Leaders
should try to use a style which is best suited to
their needs. The performance readiness of team
members is the key thing leaders need to know
about team members (Ronaldson, 2010).
An information dump
Dives straight
into details
Run-on
sentences and
sentence
fragments
Vague pronouns
Most sentences are strangers
to what came before
Random ending

15. ORDER COMPARISON AND
CONTRAST
ADDITION AND
REINFORCEMENT
first
secondly
next
meanwhile
later
then
afterwards
finally
similarly
likewise
on the other hand
conversely
however
yet
furthermore
moreover
also
in addition
in fact
indeed
LINKING WORDS / PHRASES can enhance flow,
if used strategically. Here are some examples:

16. EXAMPLES EFFECT/ RESULT SUMMARY /
CONCLUSION
for example
for instance
therefore
thus
consequently
as a result
hence
in brief
overall
In conclusion
To conclude
For more examples and exercises, see:
tinyurl.com/firstlysecondly2
tinyurl.com/firstlysecondly3

17. A LITTLE spice, carefully
matched to the dish, will
enhance the flavour.
TOO MUCH will overwhelm the
flavour and make the dish
uneatable.
But make sure you use linking words selectively and
purposefully, in the same way you add spice to food

18. As Mundell (2002, p. 4) argued, “If it’s right for Europe to scrap
its national currencies, why is it wrong for other countries to do
the same thing?”
Only quote definitions:
And, as in the above examples, copy as few words as
possible and put these inside “…..” after your own
introductory phrase.
In APA, quotations need full citations, including page
numbers
..... or really memorable phrases:
The principle of comparative advantage is based on the belief
that “everyone does best when each concentrates on the activity
for which he or she is relatively most productive” (Frank &
Bernanke, 2001, p. 23).

19. On the next slide is an extract from an article about how leaders
communicate with team members.
This four-step process is the most effective way to summarise:
a) highlight the relevant information
b) turn this into brief notes
c) close the original text
d) expand your notes into one or more linked sentences
Most of a literature review consists of summary and comment
on theories and research studies and / or findings.

20. A strengths-based model can be a suitable approach to social work
practice with migrants, families and communities (Sisnerous et al.,
2008). This approach is focused on the strengths, possibility and
resilience of individuals and their families, rather than addressing
their deficits and weaknesses (Saleebey, 2006). For Korean
migrants, the transnational community is a vital source of strength,
opportunities, resilience and belonging. To meet the needs of
migrants and their families, it is important for practitioners to work
with groups, organisations and other institutions at the community
level (Berg-Weger, 2010). This community-level social work
practice, based on the strengths-based approach, can be extended
to macro practice in the transnational context within which Korean
clients are positioned. The roles of social work practitioners with
migrant communities can range from empowering clients and their
families, to utilising the community’s own resources, and to
promoting the participation and inclusion of migrant clients in their
host society. (p. 38)
Original text
Hong-Jae, P., & Anglem, J. (2012). The 'transnationality' of Koreans, Korean families and
Korean communities in Aotearoa New Zealand--implications for social work
practice. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work Review, 24(1), 31-40.

21. A strengths-based model can be a suitable approach to social work
practice with migrants, families and communities (Sisnerous et al.,
2008). This approach is focused on the strengths, possibility and
resilience of individuals and their families, rather than addressing
their deficits and weaknesses (Saleebey, 2006). For Korean
migrants, the transnational community is a vital source of strength,
opportunities, resilience and belonging. To meet the needs of
migrants and their families, it is important for practitioners to work
with groups, organisations and other institutions at the community
level (Berg-Weger, 2010). This community-level social work
practice, based on the strengths-based approach, can be extended
to macro practice in the transnational context within which Korean
clients are positioned. The roles of social work practitioners with
migrant communities can range from empowering clients and their
families, to utilising the community’s own resources, and to
promoting the participation and inclusion of migrant clients in their
host society. (p. 38)
1. Highlight relevant points

22. • One application of the strengths-based approach is
in SW with Korean migrants
• Focus on resilience, ops, belonging
• Work with groups + insts at comm level
• empower clients, use comm res, promote incl +
part.
2. Make brief notes

23. Within social work practice in New Zealand /
Aotearoa, the strengths-based model has been used
to inform services for Korean migrants. This has
resulted in an approach comprising close
collaboration with community organisations in order
to build on migrants’ existing strengths, such as
resilience and a sense of belonging. It has been
argued that by drawing upon these community
resources, social workers can both empower
individual clients and promote broader social
inclusion and participation (Hong-Jae, & Anglem, 2012).
4. Expand these notes into linked sentences
3. Close the original text

24. BUILDING BLOCKS

25. However, numerous studies have found that students rarely
receive formative feedback from tertiary teachers during the
process of writing, and that summative feedback on completed
work is of limited benefit for student learning (e.g. Australian
Council for Educational Research [ACER], 2010, May;
Bartholomae & Matway, 2010; Bean, 2002; Brinkworth, McCann,
Mathews, & Nordstrom, 2009; Carless, 2006; Hattie, Biggs, &
Purdie, 1996; C. Taylor & Burke da Silva, 2014). Students
complain that feedback is frequently minimal and generic - even
illegible (Patton & Taylor, 2013), or difficult to comprehend
(Higgins, Hartley, & Skelton, 2002; Sadler, 2010). Indeed, it has
been claimed that “the research literature abounds with the
ineffectiveness of assignment feedback” (Deepwell & Benfield,
2012, p. 61). Ineffective feedback practices, combined with few
opportunities for students to redraft their writing efforts, have
been seen as a strong indication of an underlying lack of
institutional commitment to writing development (Patton &
Taylor, 2013).
General overview of research findings on a
relevant topic

26. Three-step overview: topic; problem; gap
Catechins, derived from both green tea (Mukhtar & Ahmad 2000)
and red wine (Waterhouse, 2002), are a family of flavonoid
polyphenols associated with chemopreventive effects on colon,
skin, lung, prostate, and breast cancers (Butt & Sultan, 2009).
They are also associated with numerous cardiovascular benefits,
such as decreased inflammation and platelet adhesion, increased
endothelial nitric oxide activity, and improved blood lipid profile
(Babu & Liu, 2008). Although the addition of catechins and
other polyphenols can increase the functionality of a
product, they can also elicit significant levels of bitterness and
astringency (Peleg et al., 1999) — attributes generally associated
with lower consumer acceptance (Lesschaeve & Noble, 2005) —
which may reduce the uptake of these products in the market and
place limits on the concentration of polyphenolic compounds that
can be used in their formulation. These considerations have led
to renewed interest in strategies to moderate the perception of
bitterness and astringency elicited by these and related functional
ingredients (Guadette, N.J., & Pickering, G.J., 2012).
Linking phrase
signalling
transition to
problem
(sub-area of
topic)
Link to writer’s
own topic area
Broad topic
area:
attributes of X

27. Concise three-step summary of a study
(research foucs; method; findings)
The primacy of listening over the other
communicative skills was borne out by a seminal
study by Rosenblatt, Cheatham and Watt
(1982). The researchers carefully measured use
of the four skills in typical social and professional
contexts. They found that a remarkable 45% of
all communicative activities involved the
listening skill. People listened one and a half
times as much as they spoke and five times as
much as they wrote.

28. Sharp et al. (2013) conducted an observational case study of
eating behaviours of children with ASC. The participants were a
convenience sample of 30 children with ASD aged 3-8 (23
males; 7 females). Their caregivers completed the BAMBI
questionnaire and FPI and were observed with children during
mealtime. The children were offered items from each food group
in puree and table textures and, if necessary, prompted or
helped to eat. Data was collected on acceptance of food,
disruptions (such as pushing away the spoon) and negative
vocalizations. Reliability was enhanced by a detailed protocol
and inclusionary criteria. 80% of parents reported concerns with
their child’s eating and that 40% of the foods on the FPI were
rejected by their children, with vegetables the most common
food avoided. During observation, children accepted less than
half of bites, 43% demonstrated disruptive behaviours and 33%
negative vocalizations. However, the lack of a control group,
reduced comparability with behaviours of typically developing
children towards non-preferred foods.
More detailed three-step summary of a study followed
by an evaluation

29. Another limitation of this study, given its ethnographic approach, is the
relatively short period of observation and interview on which the
analysis was based. It has been argued that ethnography “requires
intensive immersion in the data” (van Lier, 2000). It is such rich data
that forms the basis of ethnography’s defence against the criticism that
its findings are limited by “the tyranny of the single case” (Erickson,
1981, p. 27). Other studies, such as Woods (1998) have followed
groups of teachers over extended periods of time, and thereby produced
multiple transcriptions of various types which underpin the
interpretations. In Woods’ study, moreover, teachers’ behaviour is
categorised into three levels – from general to particular – whereas in
Borg’s ‘list approach’, the interaction of the different elements is left
relatively unexplored. An additional related limitation, already noted
above, is the lack of exploration of the specific culture in which this
teacher has developed his pedagogic system. From an ethnographic
perspective, he might have been considered key informant for this
broader culture of TEFL teachers.
Whole paragraph critique of a study

30. CONCLUSION

31. These & similar quotations can be found at: tinyurl.com/rewritingquotes
"Writing a first draft is like groping one's way into a dark
room .....one writes mainly to rewrite, for rewriting and
revising are how one's mind comes to inhabit the
material fully." Ted Solotaroff
"There are days when the result is so bad that no
fewer than five revisions are required. In contrast,
when I'm greatly inspired, only four revisions are
needed." John Galbreath

32. • Academic writing for graduate students (3rd
ed.).
• English in today’s research world: A writing guide.
• Telling a research story: Writing a literature review
• Abstracts and the writing of abstracts.
• Creating contexts: Writing introductions across genres.
• Navigating academia: Writing supporting genres. (this includes a number of
different kinds of texts that academics have to write, including letters of
recommendation, responses to journal reviews etc)
For further information, see:
https://www.press.umich.edu/script/press/elt/special/swalesfeak
At the moment, Massey University library has the first three; the others are
available through ‘Bonus’ from other libraries.
Recommended writing guides by John Swales and Christine Feak
Hart, C. (1998). Doing a literature review. London: Sage Publications.
See also: