ED 626: Classroom Research: Databases

Tips from the University of Toronto

University of Wisconsin guide to writing a review of literature

When conducting database searches in education, there are generally 4 main types of articles you will come across:

1. Empirical Research study (an article that describes the research that the author conducted on the topic).  You will know it is an empirical study you are reading if it includes a Methods and Results section.

2. Literature Review (some articles are all about reviewing the work of other authors on a topic).  This type of article can be valuable for understanding the history or scholarly dialogue on an issue.

3. Theoretical Work (some articles describe a theoretical viewpoint, for example feminist theory, constructivist theory, or other) and discuss a topic through the lens of the theory, citing other sources into the discussion. Theoretical works may be appropriate for citing in this phenomenological self-study project if they rely on scholarly sources (other theoretical works or empirical studies or literature reviews published in respected peer-reviewed journals).

4. Opinion Pieces (articles based on the opinion or classroom practices of the author without any supporting citations of theory or research).  This type of article is not appropriate for using as one of your 8-10 sources