Read this topic to find out how to write a brief review of other studies on your topic. Then check your comprehension of all Move 1 topics you have studied by now by doing self-check comprehension activities in the next tab.
Move 1 often ends with a preliminary and rather brief review of key findings from previous studies on the topic so only the most relevant information from key studies is included. The primary aim of this step is to place the present study in the context of related studies and raise the reader’s awareness of what research has been done in connection to the problem and what still has to be done. It also serves to demonstrate the author’s knowledge of key research findings in connection to the topic and add credibility to any background information, definitional clarifications, etc. A more comprehensive review of previous research is normally reserved for the subsequent section of a research proposal known as the “Literature Review” (see the Literature Review module).
Depending on specific institutional requirements, this part of an Introduction can span a few sentences to several paragraphs. The cited studies are referred to either as groups or single studies, with a focus often being placed on specific authors and their “achievements.” Evaluative statements are made to interpret the meaning of reported findings in relation to the present study’s problem, although this does not have to apply to every single study cited.
Here are two extracts from the Introduction section of a research article in the field of business.
If instead multiway clustering is nonnested, the existing approach is to specify a multiway error components model with iid errors. Moulton (1986) considered clustering due to grouping of three regressors (schooling, age, and weeks worked) in a cross-section log earnings regression. Davis (2002) modeled film attendance data clustered by film, theater, and time and provided a quite general way to implement feasible GLS even with clustering in many dimensions. These models impose strong assumptions, including homoscedasticity and errors equicorrelated within cluster (Cameron et al., 2011).
What kind of statement is made in the last sentence? What purpose does it pursue?
Controlling for clustering can be very important, as failure to do so can lead to massively under-estimated standard errors and consequent over-rejection using standard hypothesis tests. Moulton (1986, 1990) demonstrated that this problem arose in a much wider range of settings than had been appreciated by microeconometricians. More recently Bertrand, Duflo, and Mullainathan (2004) and Kezdi (2004) emphasized that with state–year panel or repeated cross-section data, clustering can be present even after including state and year effects and valid inference requires controlling for clustering within state. These articles, like most previous analyses, focus on one-way clustering (Cameron et al., 2011).
Where does the author place his/her emphasis in these two extracts: on what specific authors did in single studies or on generalizing findings to a group of studies?
Below are more extracts from research studies in the fields of economics and political science. Note that the focus is now on the studies and specific findings rather than on what specific authors did. See the bolded parts of the text.
Where is the author’s focus in these three examples: on what specific authors did in single studies or on generalizing the findings to a group of studies?
See this section in the Literature Review module to learn about the kind of language that is used to refer the reader to previous research on a topic.