How to Write a Literature Review Assignment

Assignment Task

Goals 

1. To learn how to locate Psychology sources on a topic of interest from the College Database.

2. To be exposed to the scientific writing style used in psychological research.

3. To learn to read and make sense of journal articles.

Introduction

This section is not a summary of your main article (do not use your article to write this section)-rather it is an introduction to the topic that you have selected. It should explain the importance of the topic you have selected to the field of psychology or health. For example, if you were reviewing an article on insomnia-explain the importance of this field of study to people’s health. You will find your textbook most helpful for writing your introduction. Be sure to cite your textbook correctly if you use ideas from it.

Research Questions:

Now you are ready to start summarizing your main article. Identify the question (or hypothesis) that the article is addressing. The introduction of your article likely includes a review of literature on the topic and ends with a statement or hypothesis regarding what the article is addressing. State the hypothesis in your own words or use a quote to state the hypothesis. This section may be very short.

Method

Identify the methods (from the article’s Method section) that the authors used to test their hypothesis or answer their research question. Did they use a questionnaire, interview, or a medical procedure? Who were their subjects? What were the independent and dependent variables? Be careful that you understand what acronyms mean-don’t just copy them mindlessly. If the authors used a psychological test-do a little research so that you understand that psychological test. This is the hardest section to summarize!

Results

Describe the results of the experiments or observations made. You do not have to focus on the statistics or other technical data-instead look to summarize the main findings. You can often find a good summary of the results in the article abstract-this is a good starting point. Also read over the Discussion section of your article as it will make the results more clear than the numerical information you will find in the Results

Current Research: 

Discuss the connection between the information in your textbook and the information you have gained from reading this article. Also connect the study you are reviewing with the two other journal articles you have found on the same topic.

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