Preparing Literature Reviews: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

by M. Ling Pan

• Illustrates all the steps in preparing qualitative and quantitative literature reviews. • Emphasizes topic selection, locating literature, and avoiding major pitfalls in evaluating and synthesizing literature. • Shows how to improve literature reviews through the judicious inclusion of statistical results found in the literature. • Provides easy-to-follow advice on how to avoid misrepresenting the results of published research in literature reviews. • The numerous examples throughout the text and the nine model literature reviews clarify the process of following the guidelines for writing solid, state-of-the-art literature reviews. • Shows students how to blend qualitative and quantitative approaches to preparing literature reviews without being overly mathematical. • Two chapters present clear explanations of how to conduct meta-analyses. • All examples have been updated to ensure consistency with the sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association and the fourth edition of the American Sociological Association’s Style Guide.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction

175 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Burt · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a professor, I’m always looking for ways to “sharpen my saw.” I read M. Ling Pan’s Preparing Literature Reviews to try to improve my scholarly manuscripts. Almost any scholar can learn something from this book.

This is a very-basic introduction to literature reviews with two chapters on meta analysis. I learned the most from the meta-analysis material. Author Pan is very opinionated about the right way to do things and his strong viewpoints increased my interest in his book.

In short, Preparing Literature Reviews is a great place for scholarly writers seeking to “up their games.” At the same time, it’s not the best book for those who have already mastered the basics of literature reviews.

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had potential as a handy resource, but I ended up finding better options elsewhere online.

[Rachel D’Onofrio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super easy to read and very helpful for grad school!

[Marcus Goncalves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in a very simple and easy to follow narrative. The chapters are short and to the point providing with just enough information and practical examples.