Each database contains a different collection of sources. When you are conducting a literature review, you need to consider which sources are most likely to provide the type of information you need. For a literature review in EDUC 9300, you need to find sources that are primary research studies.
Primary Research studies detail the methods and results of a study or experiment conducted by the author of the article. A primary research study conveys new data, analysis and interpretation of the data, and the significance of the results in relation to prior research on the subject. Primary research studies offer original, first-hand information that an author generates in the process of conducting research.
Secondary Research studies use data generated by someone other than the author to report, analyze, or interpret the data. Secondary research studies are "second-hand" interpretations. A literature review is a type of secondary research study.
Primary (original) research can be in the form of an:
The key is that it generates some type of data that the researcher can then analyze and utilize to prove/disprove their research question.
Author is the researcher and conducts an original study gathering the data that results from that study.
Author will include a section that includes details about the research methods used, how data was gathered, participants, etc.
Author provides the reader with the data in the results section.
Author begins the research study with a brief overview of previous research on the topic and relates where the study they are conducting fits into that scholarly conversation.
The reader of a primary research study can use the information provided in the methodology, analysis and results sections to help judge the quality of the study.
The reader, having access to the data, can analyze and interpret that data in context with their own research question.
Secondary research is usually in the form of a review. There are different types of reviews:
Secondary studies are often used in other types of sources such as non-research based articles, books, documentaries, etc. to provide background information that ties back to primary research that the person using the source can locate if they want to see the actual primary research study.
Author gathers only research studies and data that were generated by other researchers.
Author includes little or no details about the research methodology used by the original researchers of the studies they used.
Author may generalize the collective results and/or only highlight the results they felt were important. You don't have access to the original data to determine if the generalizations are accurate and/or if results key to your research question were left out.
With a secondary research source you only have the current author's context for how the selected research studies connect into the scholarly conversation on the topic. The context may differ from that of the original researchers but you won't know this unless you track down the original studies.
The reader of a secondary resource has no way to judge the quality of the research studies selected by the author unless the reader tracks down the original study.
The further away the reader gets from the original research source, the more likely the reader will lose or misinterpret the original context of the data being used.
When you find a research-based article, read the abstract and/or methodologies section and ask yourself who conducted the actual research process to gather the data?