CMJ 402: Communication Research Methods: Home

A literature review brings together scholarly works on a topic, and is intended to:

• explore compelling questions, problems, concepts, or issues that you would like to address
• discover relationships between ideas
• demonstrate your knowledge of a topic
• demonstrate your ability to critique and synthesize various strands of the conversation taking place around your topic
• indicate your capacity to identify research gaps, areas for further consideration, and/or disagreements in the literature

Keep in mind:

• you will tweak as you learn
  • choose, explore, and adjust your discussion based on what you find in the literature
• as you select items, read through them, analyze them, evaluate their fit with your topic, identify major themes and concepts, and identify gaps and disagreements
• literature searching is a non-linear process

Use the Fogler database list to identify online databases where you might find research that addresses your topic. Several databases that will be a good place to start are:

If you find a journal article that is not available online, use URSUS to determine whether or not the print journal is housed in the library. If we don't have the journal article you need in print or electronically, you can request it through Interlibrary Loan.

Interdisciplinary Search Options

Below are examples of books in the library catalog, URSUS, that may be helpful as you explore your topics.