Writing Papers Using Nivivo8 and Coh-Metrix

What is the Purpose of a Literature Review?

The purpose of a literature review is to highlight the discrepancy between what we know and what we need to know in order to situate a paper’s contribution in a specific domain. It will also aim to extend current theories in order to create directions for future research. However, as Webster and Watson (2002) pointed out, extending or developing theories, while a difficult task, it is, nonetheless, the most important part of a review and generally needs the most elaboration.

Di Gregario (2000) further argues that “Literature reviews are a common feature of all dissertations, regardless of discipline or subject matter. However, they are usually overlooked as a form of qualitative analysis, yet the processes involved in building an argument from a body of literature are similar to processes involved in analyzing qualitative data…only Nivivo8(to date) has a particular set of tools that is ideal for analyzing literature.” (Di Gregario, 2000, p.2). In my projects, Nivivo8was used here as a qualitative data analysis technique to synthesize and manage the volume of literature. It was also used to gain a holistic view of the current status of research in the field of education through concept formation and to provide a structured approach to writing a literature review.