Read: Thomas (2025): Chapters 9? 11 Read: Synthesizing source ideas for your research paper. https://www.liberty.edu/casas/academic-success-c
https://www.liberty.edu/casas/academic-success-center/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/Writing-Aid-Synthesizing-Research.pdf
https://www.emerald.com/bjm/article-abstract/17/2/206/66877/Ambidextrous-leadership-a-narrative-literature?redirectedFrom=fulltext
- Read: Chapter 9 for Htdylr.pptx
- Read: Chapter 10 for Htdylr.pptx
- Read: Chapter 11 for Htdylr.pptx
- Watch: Literature Synthesis 101: How to Synthesise In Your Literature Review – 5 Key Questions (+Examples)
https://canvas.liberty.edu/courses/869079/pages/watch-literature-synthesis-101-how-to-synthesise-in-your-literature-review-5-key-questions-+examples?module_item_id=91982864
https://canvas.liberty.edu/courses/869079/pages/watch-the-role-of-theory-in-your-research?module_item_id=91982866
https://canvas.liberty.edu/courses/869079/pages/watch-top-10-free-ai-studying-and-research-tools?module_item_id=91982868
https://canvas.liberty.edu/courses/869079/pages/watch-what-is-thick-description?module_item_id=91982870
To review the assignment information, click on the document name.
BUSI 830
Literature Review Fusion and Examining Assignment Instructions
Overview
Now that you have done some literature review research and decided on a structure and approach, it is time to put some real ‘meat on the bone’ – synthesis and analysis (or examination and fusion) of your research. This is where you ‘develop’ the story through a literature review’s introduction, main body, and conclusion. This includes connecting the ideas, theory-building, constant comparison, and developing an argument. Biblical integration IS required in this assignment.
Instructions
After reviewing the required material stated in this week’s module, address the following in a written paper using the current APA format:
· Within literature review development, explain the concept of ‘connecting ideas’ (how do you make links between different areas of work)
· Describe how one goes about building a theory from the researched data
· Discuss how Constant Comparison permeates your literature synthesis and analysis
· Explain ‘developing an argument’ and how it is different from an empirical research project
· As opposed to mutual exclusion, discuss how ‘Thick Description’ is a result of better integration of analysis and synthesis
Required Format
Cover page
Abstract
Introduction (remember, we don’t use this word, but the intro is the text after the title up to the first L1 heading)
Connecting Ideas
Theory-Building
Constant Comparison
Developing an Argument
Thick Description
Conclusion
References
Additional Requirements
Use the provided Literature Review Fusion and Examining Assignment Template .
This 1,000 minimum, 1,500 maximum word paper needs to be written to include these guidelines:
· The required cover page, abstract, and reference pages are not included in the required assignment word count but are required as part of your paper (meaning the word count is all material from after the abstract keywords up to the References).
· Materials submitted to fulfill requirements in one course may not be submitted in another course. Concerns about the propriety of obtaining outside assistance and acknowledging sources should be addressed to the instructor of the course before the work commences and as necessary as the work proceeds.
· In addition to the course texts and the Bible, this paper must include at least 6 references from peer-reviewed scholarly articles that have publication dates no older than 5 years. Do not use any books other than the Bible and the books.
· All parts of the assignment must be based on peer-reviewed scholarly sources, Biblical literature, and course texts.
· There should be at least one instance of Biblical integration (at least one scripture reference) within the body of the paper, not in the abstract, introduction, or conclusion.
· In-text citations are required to support your (a) statements, (b) points, (c) assertions, (d) issues, (e) arguments, (f) concerns, (g) paragraph topic sentences, and (h) statements of fact and opinion. Refer to Section 8.1, Appropriate Level of Citation on pages 253 and 254 in the APA Manual (7th ed.).
· Do not provide any personal opinions.
· Since the assignment is short in word count, the introduction and conclusion sections should not be longer than ½ page each.
· Refrain from using phrases such as, “in this paper.”
· Sources of information from Wikipedia, dictionaries, websites, blogs, and encyclopedias will not be accepted.
· A paragraph is defined in this course as being at least 4 sentences in length and structured in a cohesive manner. Consider using the MEAL approach for writing paragraphs:
· M – Main topic using peer-reviewed scholarly sources.
· E – Evidence to support the main topic using peer-reviewed scholarly sources.
· A – Analysis (e.g., for and against) of the evidence using peer-reviewed scholarly sources.
· L – Lead back to the main topic or to the main topic in the next paragraph using peer-reviewed scholarly sources.
· Avoid (a) clichés, (b) slang, (c) jargon, (d) exaggerations, (e) abbreviations, (f) figurative language, and (g) language that is too informal and too subjective.
· Submit your final document for grading with file name syntax: LastNameFirstInitial Assignment Name #. For example: SmithJ_Assignment Name.doc (no .pdfs)
Grading Metrics
Consult the accompanying rubric for how this assignment will be graded. Also, any form of plagiarism, including copying and pasting, will result in zero points for the entire assignment. All quoted materials must be properly cited in the current APA format.
Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via Turnitin plagiarism tool.
Page 1 of 1
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Literature Review Fusion and Examining
Your Name
School of Business, Liberty University
Author Note
By submitting this assignment, I attest this submission represents my own work, and not that of another student, scholar, or internet source. I understand I am responsible for knowing and correctly utilizing referencing and bibliographical guidelines. I have not submitted this work for any other class.
1
LITERATURE REVIEW FUSION AND EXAMINING 1
Abstract
(abstract content)
Keywords: (3-5 keywords – all lower case)
Literature Review Fusion and Examining
Provide an introductory paragraph to the paper (Biblical Integration is included somewhere in the main body (not the abstract, introduction, or conclusion)).
Remove all guidance verbiage in this document (i.e., do not repeat the instructions prompt). Add/adjust sub-headings if required; otherwise, keep all other headings.
Connecting Ideas
Within literature review development, explain the concept of ‘connecting ideas’ (how do you make links between different areas of work)
Theory-Building
Describe how one goes about building a theory from the researched data
Constant Comparison
Discuss how Constant Comparison permeates your literature synthesis and analysis
Developing an Argument
Explain ‘developing an argument’ and how it is different from an empirical research project
Thick Description
As opposed to mutual exclusion, discuss how ‘Thick Description’ is a result of better integration of analysis and synthesis
Conclusion
Provide a concluding/summarizing paragraph to the paper highlighting key information (i.e., main L1 topics) (do not begin this section with ‘In conclusion…’ – your paper’s heading already says that).
References
LITERATURE REVIEW FUSION AND EXAMINING 20
Format references using the current APA style. Ensure all DOIs or journal URLs are active hyperlinks. (Note the hanging indent)
,
PowerPoint 9 Synthesising: storyline and theory
Chapter 9 from
How to do your literature review
This is PowerPoint 9 for Chapter 9 …
We will look at
The importance of narrative to constructing a good literature review
The importance of using words that connect different ideas in a narrative
The nature of theory and its significance in writing up a literature review
All of this is discussed in much more detail in Chapter 9 of How to Do Your Literature Review
All reviews need narrative
Narrative – in other words, providing a coherent account that makes sense – is an essential ingredient in any literature review, whatever its type.
A narrative is not a list. It is more than that: it’s an account of linked findings, events and characters and the strands of interconnection between and among them.
Bruner’s elements of narrative
| Bruner’s label | What Bruner meant (without the jargon) |
| Composability | How does it all fit together? What appears to depend on what? What contradicts? Where are there paradoxes? |
| Diachronicity | ‘Diachronic’ means changing over time. So, narrative diachronicity means ‘a story that changes over time’. |
| Intentional state entailment | Bruner notes that we should observe not just what people do (ie in our case, researchers and writers), but what they think and feel. It is their beliefs, intentions, hopes, desires and values that are important. |
| Breaching the canon | The ‘canon’ is the usual state of affairs, and by breaching it, Bruner means asking ‘What if?’ |
| Context sensitivity and negotiability | Interpretation of a text is embedded in the inquirer’s (in other words, the reader’s) own experiences. |
All of these can be thought about when constructing a discussion and writing up
Connecting ideas
Do authors concentrate on a particular theme?
Do they disagree?
Are there areas of controversy?
Are there surprising areas of agreement or similar findings?
Are there gaps that no one seems to be looking at?
Use words that connect ideas
| When there is a difference | When there is agreement | When one idea leads to another |
| however; but; notwithstanding this; although; yet; conversely; in spite of this; nevertheless; on the other hand; despite; then again; besides | moreover; indeed; further; furthermore; additionally; likewise; also; similarly; equally; and; what is more; again | hence; because of this; thus; for example; as a result; consequently; therefore; accordingly; so; for this reason; this is why; otherwise; then; finally |
Connecting words to use in different chapters
| Place in the review | Purpose | Typical words and phrases |
| Introduction | Tell the reader what you are trying to do | explore, investigate, examine, illuminate, look at, research into |
| Main body | Questions and arguments: your own and others’ | ask, posit, argue, aver, suggest, assume, put forward, note, highlight, draw attention to, believe, assess |
| Main body | What have you found? | disclose, reveal, uncover, suggest that, point to |
| Main body | Has it affirmed? | affirm, agree, verify, legitimate, validate, support, confirm, establish, uphold, sustain, corroborate, endorse |
| Main body | Has it contradicted? | contradict, disagree with, oppose, deny, challenge, conflict with |
| Conclusion | Remind the reader of the issues, briefly | recap, summarise, revisit, reiterate |
| Conclusion | How have your ideas developed or changed? | develop, redevelop, formulate, reformulate, deduce, speculate, construe, conclude, conjecture, guess, hypothesise |
Try to develop theory in your write up
Theory has different meanings
| Theory can mean … | |
| A generalising or explanatory model | Theory tries to distil a range of specific findings or observations into general propositions that explain these findings. |
| The ‘thinking side’ of practice | Especially in the applied side of the social sciences (such as teaching, nursing and social work), theory or ‘theorising’ means thinking and reflecting on practice. |
| A developing body of explanation | This is often the meaning used in published literature reviews. Here theory means the broadening bodies of knowledge developing in particular field. |
| A thinking tool | Here, theory is seen as a way of helping to explain something that you are currently researching. It is created with the goal of explaining or illuminating a particular phenomenon. |
Theory is about
seeing links;
generalising;
abstracting ideas from your data (i.e. from the sources you have identified) and offering explanations;
connecting your own thoughts with those of others;
having insights.
Summary
‘Storyness’ is central to any kind of literature review.
That storyness is about connection between one part and another.
To have integrity and meaning, the parts of a literature review – the words, sentences, paragraphs and sections – have to connect with each other: they have to tell a story, to offer a narrative.
There are various ways that narrative is constructed to be meaningful. All are in some way about connecting ideas.
One of the features of a literature review that gives it coherence is theory.
‘Theory’ has different meanings in academic literature, but the essence of the idea is that links are being sought and made, explanations offered and connections drawn between different pieces of work.
Drawing out theory enables insights to be made and explanations to be offered about a topic.
Activity
Using connecting words and phrases, try to convert the following passage from a list to a narrative.
Brown (2022) found that most nurses believed that nursing research is important for advancing clinical care. Patel (2021) found that few nurses applied research findings to practice. Jones (2022) discovered that most nurses felt that understanding research was important to developing clinical practice. Smith (2023) found that there were no differences attributable to educational background to account for the importance assigned by nurses to keeping up with research.
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PowerPoint 11 Scribing, concluding and stopping
Chapter 11 from
How to do your literature review
This is PowerPoint 10 for Chapter 10 …
We will look at
The Conclusion to a literature review
The structure of a write-up
Writing
Flow and transitioning in the write-up
Referencing
Writing an abstract
Avoiding plagiarism
All of this is discussed in much more detail in Chapter 10 of How to Do Your Literature Review
The conclusion
The Conclusion is a reflection – a self-critical reflection – on your work.
It is not principally a summary.
The Abstract is the place for the summary.
What should be in a conclusion?
Summarise the main findings briefly.
Relate back to the introduction, where you set out the purpose of your literature review.
Chart the progress of any change in your questions as the project has progressed.
Acknowledge your literature review’s limitations.
Outline any recommendations.
Outline points for further review or research.
The structure of a write-up
| Introduction | Methods i.e. your methods: scoping, searching, structuring. Methods used for synthesis (if any) such as grounded theory | Body chapters (in a freestanding review) or Headings (in a review that is contributing to a wider research project), including discussion of methods used by researchers | Conclusion |
| probably around 5% of the total wordage | around 10% of total wordage | around 80% of total wordage | probably around 5% of the total wordage |
The structure of a write-up
An example of a literature review write-up based on house price inflation …
| Chapter headings | Subheadings | Secondary subheadings | |
| Introduction | Including prima facie research question | ||
| Methods used in the review | Keywords, databases and AI tools used. Changes made to the prima facie research question after brainstorming and/or mindmapping. Possible structures for the study (thematic, funnelled, chronological, comparison-based, mixed). | Mixed was chosen – reasons why | |
| Main substantive chapters | Causes | Supply and demand factors Interest rates General levels of income Speculation | Population growth; smaller households |
| Consequences | Wealth inequality Financial instability from excess borrowing | Intergenerational unfairness Non-affordability of housing for lower incomes | |
| Policy implications | Central banks’ interest rates Housing supply Macroprudential policies Affordable housing initiatives | Zoning reform; construction incentives | |
| Methodology adopted by researchers across the topic | Different data sources and what they can tell us Forms of research | Sales records; demographic data Econometric models; time series analysis; qualitative research | |
| Conclusion |
The structure of a write-up
Proportions of words in the write-up example
Introduction Methods used in the review Causes of house price inflation Consequences Policy implications Methodology adopted by researchers Conclusion 5 10 20 20 20 20 5
Writing
Writing is about communicating; it is not about trying to sound clever
Remember the reader
Hear it in your head
George Orwell’s advice:
Never use a long word where a short one will do.
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Never use the passive where you can use the active.
Flow and transitioning when writing
Flow is really important to the meaningfulness of writing. It’s important in showing that you understand how ideas are connected. Help your writing flow with transitioning words.
Transitioning words and phrases
| Function | Transitioning words and phrases |
| Adding | again, also, and, another, as a result, as well as, at the same time, both, further, furthermore, in addition, in the same way, likewise, moreover, not only but also, similarly, too |
| Contrasting | although, at least, but, even though, in spite of, of course, still, contrarily, conversely, however, by contrast, in spite of, nevertheless, nor, notwithstanding this, on one hand- on the other hand, on the contrary, or, rather, whereas, while, yet |
| Detailing | in fact, in other words, especially, including, in particular, namely, specifically, to enumerate |
| Exemplifying | for example, for instance, in other words, to illustrate |
| Likening | analogous to, likewise, similarly |
| Resulting | accordingly, as a result, because, consequently, due to, for this reason, hence, resultingly, since, so, then, therefore, thus |
| Stressing | above all, again, also, certainly, indeed, in fact, of course, surely |
| Subtracting | besides, however, otherwise, notwithstanding |
| Suggesting | therefore, to this end, with this in mind |
