Dealing with literature to support your project

When people read your work they will look for two main things:

* that you make contribution to the knowledge of your field. Your research makes it possible for you to make an knowledge claim which could help other people to the understanding of the field.

* that you demonstrate critical engagement. You simply do not accept other people's ideas but engage with them critically. You may be asking questions on how things could be improved and why they are as they are?

Engaging critically with ideas is one of the most important parts of action research. Reading also supports our studies. We read every time when we enrol in any course or study. We grow our mindset when reading. Reading is core part of learning.

Action research is creative and innovative as we always come up with new ideas. We must be, however, selective in what we read.

Through reading we get new ideas from other people and find new ways of putting ideas together. We develop reasons to back our views. We also learn new ways of doing things and new ways of thinking.

It might be helpful, when reading, to put yourself in the shoes of the author. We also need to understand what type of reading we usually do. We know that novels and fiction take narrative form. Academic reading requires analytical for persuading the reader to adopt particular position. It requires full cognitive engagement.

Academic research also generally needs more time to read with more concentration. It is normal to read something few times to understand what author is trying to say. Reading becomes creative and, therefore, it requires intellectual and emotional effort.

When reading academic text the environment needs to be in the way so that you can concentrate and take notes. You need to allow reflection time. It might be helpful to read something and return to it in a day or so.

Some people can read anywhere but some need quiet and solitude. No one should disturb your own reading time. Reading should not be "when we have time", but be planned and intentional.

It is helpful to set clearly on why we are reading something. We need to read actively. We must engage with the text and take notes. Always write the authors name and publication in your notes. Use the reading to guide your reflection. Keep a record on what you are discovering, recording it might be a good idea and save a lot of time. record ideas as you read.

Literature review

Doing a literature review is generally compulsory in social science research where you need to explain the relevance. In action research, it makes common sense to show that we have read around the topic and explain how literature provides context to your study. Through research:

1. You find out what people have said about the topic, and

2. Check your ideas and findings against other people's and develop arguments. It is important to test your ideas with those of other people. This will allow you to assess on whether you are on the right track in your thinking.

If you are doing any kind of accredited programme, you need to show that you have done your research. We need to demonstrate that we have read widely and appropriately. We then can claim with confidence that we know the subject area. Most importantly, we can claim that our research contributes to the field.

Literature review should address the following questions:

1. What is the current state of knowledge and who are the key writers, experts and researches in the field?

2. What different definitions and concepts are relevant to the topic?

3. How has thinking about the topic changed over years?

4. What are the key points of disagreements in the literature?

5. What are the problems associated with the topic and what does the literature say on how to tackle them?

The literature review should give the overview of big issues and select some of these issues for your studies. It also needs to summarise other people's work, evaluate it and provide context for your own. It will be possible to identify gaps and understanding the theory better.

A literature review should be a critique of concepts that are relevant to your own study. It might be useful to access first secondary sources of a philosophers work. It is good to find out current stances and arguments. We need to challenge out thinking which enables us to construct our own theory. As mentioned, we might use secondary sources initially, such as edited books before reading original text. This also involves references in journals.

It might be helpful to create table in order to cross reference main ideas from the reading.Take extensive notes as you read.

This might present a valuable strategy for linking text with current practices.

Getting the most of your reading

Any investigation will involve reading to support your ideas and gather findings. Here are some most useful things to do:

1. Read actively

Keep a notebook with you and write the main ideas. Read a passage and write summary in your notes. Try and use your own words which you can later include in your report, but acknowledge the authors in your references. Try to divide your notes into columns and jot down relevance and reflections.

2. Read critically

Reading critically means incorporating your own thinking as well as the thinking of the author.

3. Read creatively

Creativity and intelligence are closely related. Intelligence is defined as a capacity to understand complex ideas and work out problems. Creativity is where we see opportunities and links between two seemingly separate ideas. We engage both when we read. We should aim to develop creative mindset. We need to think the way so that one idea jumps into another so that we can develop multiple perspectives. We need to be able to suspend judgement while considering different ideas. This might lead to permanent change in perspective.

4. Work with others

When reading it is helpful to share resources and ideas. Developing a team of readers is often a good plan. It is important do have group discussions and set up informal meetings. This is a way to develop learning organisations.

5. Develop resource bank

It might be useful setting up a register with core readings and references. Sharing ideas is important to develop knowledge together.

Summary

Reading often plays an important part of our daily lives. Whatever the field, we might need to seek understanding from books or academic journals. Learning how to read effectively is critical to our projects. We are allowing ourselves to learn, back our arguments and develop new ideas.

Bibliography:

McNiff J 2016 You and your action research project. London ; New York : Routledge; Fourth edition.

Collis J & Hussey R 2014 Business Research A practical guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Hampshire UK; Palgrave Macmillan;

Fourth Edition