Step 2 Developing the Search
Developing the Search
A systematic mapping literature review
collates, describes and catalogues available evidence (e.g. primary, secondary, theoretical, economic) relating to a topic or question of interest. The included studies can be used to identify evidence for policy-relevant questions, knowledge gaps (to help direct future primary research) and knowledge clusters (sub-sets of evidence that may be suitable for secondary research, for example systematic review). (James, Randall, & Haddaway, 2016, p. x)
Therefore, methodologists recommend using two specialization (Academic Search Premier and Computers and Applied Sciences Complete or Proquest’s Library and Information Sciences Collection) as well as two indexing databases (Scopus and Science Direct) (Petersen, et al, 2015). Having a large number of returns in your search is not necessarily better than having fewer; rather, it depends on whether the articles found are a good representation of the whole body of literature and accurate in accordance with your topic.
PICO
The PICO process (Stone, 2002) is a common technique used to develop an answerable question to guide your literature search toward evidence-based research and encompass different types of studies. PICO can be used to focus a search on either quantitative or qualitative types of studies. We want to find all applicable studies regardless of methodology, so Table 1 offers an explanation of PICO elements regardless of study methodology. The charts below offer guidance in developing your research question.
| Quantitative Studies | Qualitative Studies | Explanation |
| P – Population | P – Population | How would you describe your population? Demographics? Setting? |
| I – Intervention | I – phenomenon of Interest | What do you plan to do or examine?
What is the experience, event, or process under study?
|
| C – Comparison | Co – Context | What is the main alternative to compare to what you plan to do or examine?
What factors such as geographic location, interests, setting, theoretical frame, etc. make up the context of the study? |
| O – Outcome measures | What do you hope to accomplish, measure, improve, or affect? |
Table 1. PICO process of search development
ACTIVITY HERE
Try your hand at fitting your key concepts into the PICO model:
| Quantitative Studies | Qualitative Studies | |
| P – Population | P – Population | adolescents rural |
| I – Intervention | I – phenomenon of Interest | how demographics are represented in lit |
| C – Comparison | Co – Context | young adult |
| O – Outcome measures |
Inclusion and Exclusion
Before you begin searching and reviewing returns, you need to establish what you will include and exclude, or set the boundaries of your study. These lists are dependent upon the study methodology – Systematic Mapping Literature Review – so your inclusion list will definitely contain scholarly journal articles/peer-reviewed articles and conference proceedings, but you will exclude books and “grey literature,” which includes information produced outside of traditional publishing and distribution channels, and can include reports, policy literature, working papers, newsletters, government documents, speeches, white papers, blog posts, etc.
Your inclusion list is strongly tied to your PICO chart as well. For example, if you are wanting to find all scholarly research that has ever been published on the impact of 1:1 computing on P12 students’ standardized test scores, you will need to exclude any article you find that measures student achievement in some way other than student test scores. You would also exclude articles that address the impact of 1:1 computing on university students or applications of 1:1 computing in informal learning settings.
Think specifically about the boundaries around what you are studying, and create your Inclusion and Exclusion Criterion Lists:
Inclusion:
- journal articles
- Peer-reviewed
- Topic
- intervention
- Population representation
Exclusion:
- Studies mentioning your selected topic but not actually studying it in a meaningful way
- Studies presenting non-peer-reviewed material
- Trade publications
- Books and gray literature
- Studies that are duplicates of other studies
