Doctoral students in education and selecting resources for the literature review.

摘要

Graduate students in education are often assumed to have the research skills necessary to complete a literature review. It was determined that faculty and librarians generally overestimate graduate students' skills. Bibliographic instruction at the university is not generally provided for graduate students. The introduction of electronically accessed indexes in university libraries has added to the complexity of the research process. Textbooks in educational research provide very little information regarding the review of literature or research process.The purpose of this study was to develop a handbook that could be used by graduate students in education. The handbook was designed to provide (a) research strategies (b) selected print indexes, (c) directions for using the selected print indexes, (d) selected electronic indexes and (e) directions for using electronic indexes.The need for a handbook for graduate students in education was established through a survey of 1990 graduates at two doctoral granting universities. The handbook emphasized indexes identified by graduate students. The list of indexes was verified by a panel of experts.The handbook was first examined by a panel of experts for content and understandability. Revisions were made to the handbook which was then reviewed by graduate students and 1990 graduates for understandability, language, format and worth. Further revisions were made based upon the second review and the handbook was presented in a format ready for dissemination.