Writing a good literature review for psychology research is challenging, but students can learn to effectively present their information in an easy-to-understand manner once they have the tools for it.
It was for this purpose that WOU’s School of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences (SEHS) organised an online public talk on ‘Writing Literature Review for Psychology Research’ today. The talk by SEHS lecturer Dr Chong Chew Wuei was streamed live on Microsoft Teams and attended by about 40 participants, including students and lecturers of WOU and other institutions.
THE ONLINE PUBLIC TALK PRESENTATION BY DR CHONG.
In his introductory remarks on how to write a good literature review for psychology research, Dr Chong said that learners must read, summarise and integrate information from extensive published works so that they can justify how their ideas concur with the larger conversation of a particular topic.
ADDRESSING SOME CONCERNS ON WRITING A GOOD LITERATURE REVIEW.
He shared from his own vast experience of writing literature review as a student and an academic, before briefing the participants on the purpose and functions of a literature review. He focused his talk was on the two main components of literature review writing – content and writing style.
In regards to content, Dr Chong highlighted the benefits of conducting an effective online research, and showed how to select and summarise relevant and essential literature. He demonstrated the process he used for online research and engaged the participants in the exercise as well. He also invited participants to share the challenges faced when doing literature survey and then discussed ways to resolve the issues.
As for writing style, he pointed out the contrast between an ineffective, but more common, writing style and an effective style, using the same information. He offered tips for good academic writing, especially on how to plan the outline of a literature review before engaging in the writing. He told the students how they can create a smooth flow in their writing by applying the guidelines provided.
DR CHONG GAVE USEFUL SUGGESTIONS TO THE PARTICIPANTS.
Dr Chong also discussed with the participants on what constitutes a good research rationale and gave suggestions on generating one.
