In a previous blog post, I explained how, after having done all the reading, I plot the literature (yes, by hand and doing mind mapping techniques) and then, based on this map, I write full paragraphs of the literature review. In this short blog post, I reverse my approach, and instead I show how you can map the literature and discern major research themes, trends and topics based on the paragraphs coming from a literature review. I will use Nielsen et al 2019 again on the politics of plastics as an example.
My Twitter thread shows step-by-step how I go about this mapping process.
I will use the last paragraph (just before “pollution”) to illustrate. As you can see, Nielsen et al 2019 start with the main idea in a topic sentence (“behavioural strategies to deal with plastics”). This goes to the mind map as one node. Then we go to “barriers to recycling” pic.twitter.com/hh2GvZRI5D
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 25, 2019
You *could* finish up the entire mind map from Nielsen et al’s excellent review of the literature – by theme, factor, etc. as you read it. One key reason why I encourage my students and RAs to do citation tracing until they reach conceptual saturation https://t.co/hihmBsjlFZ
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 25, 2019
I find mind maps extraordinarily powerful tools to be able to plot an entire field https://t.co/lz8TcgWCVt they can also be useful when preparing for comprehensive exams, or writing a dissertation/thesis. </end micro-thread>
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 25, 2019
As anybody who reads my blog can tell, I LOVE mind maps. Mind-mapping is an extremely powerful technique to study, review the literature and write. There’s plenty of free software out there to create solid mind maps (I tried LucidChart and MindMapUp) or you can write them by hand, with colours, as I do.
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