APA style and citations for dummies - Joe Giampalmi 2021

Studying samples: introduction, body, and conclusion
Mastering advanced writing: APA review of literature
Perfecting presentation: beginnings, endings, and other writings

As part of the process of achieving success as a student, you learned the value of studying models. As a professor, I learned the value of using models to help college students because so many students asked for a model every time an assignment was introduced. To use the wording of a famous commercial, good student models are priceless.

Similar to the structure of almost all academic writing, a literature review must be organized into a beginning (introduction), middle (body), and ending (conclusion). The following sections focus more on that organization.

Starting with the thesis: the introduction

The introduction includes a description of the research question and its purpose. It ends with the thesis statement.

The introduction model in Figure 16-1 begins with a statement emphasizing the importance of the topic and progresses to background on the topic, including research from Winegarner and Sheetz and Brookover. The second paragraph introduces social media habits of the four generational populations (Generation Z, millennials, Generation X, and boomers) and their uses of technological devices to access social media. The second paragraph ends by explaining how the term social media is applied in the review. The third paragraph (“This review …”) further explains the purpose of the review, and the paragraph ends with the thesis statement: “The influence of social media …”

Figure 16-1 follows APA page formatting that includes running heads (SOCIAL MEDIA AND FOUR GENERATIONS), page numbering located in the upper-right corner, one-inch margins on all four sides (use your imagination on the margins), indented paragraphs, and double-spaced text. Note: APA requires that research be reported in the past tense. More information on formatting appears in the section, “Laying Out Pages and the Title Page of the APA Literature Review,” later in this chapter.

Developing the thesis: the body

The body of a literature review houses the engine of the review, and it’s a three-part engine, which the following three sections examine.

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FIGURE 16-1: An example introduction of a literature review.

Highlighting sources and identifying patterns

The body of the paper develops the thesis by analyzing ideas in the sources. Part 1 of the body model identifies sources and patterns of all the literature (refer to Figure 16-2).

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FIGURE 16-2: Part 1 of the body section highlighting sources and identifying patterns.

For example, the author references Gladville’s quotation (“Humans’ desire to communicate electronically …”) that provides historical perspective of humans’ need to communicate. The first paragraph also offers statistical data that supports different generations’ use of Facebook.

The second paragraph (“In the United States …”) further explains statistical use of social media internationally. The last paragraph (“YouTube use by …”) continues with data supporting generational uses of social media.

Engaging the source

The strength of the body of your paper is your discussion of sources, such as identifying your agreement, disagreement, or position on the source. Figure 16-3 shows the body of a literature review with source engagement. The first paragraph exemplifies multiple source engagement.

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FIGURE 16-3: Part 2 of the body section showing source engagement.

The paragraph begins with Lee agreeing with previously referenced sources (“In most previously referenced studies…”) that “generations owning the fewest technology devices” are the “most infrequent users of all social media.” In the second sentence, Penwell challenges Lee and reports that Zandell found “high ownership of smart watches among boomers” (as medical devices), and explains that boomers own technology devices, but don’t necessarily use them to connect to social media.

In the last sentence of the first paragraph, the Gulf Coast Research Report also disagreed with previous studies arguing that “millennials owned the highest number of technology devices,” but their social media access declined.

In the second paragraph, Marks challenged the correlation of high levels of education and high levels of technology use, saying that “Generation X was the highest-educated generation” in the study, but not “the largest consumers of technology.” Source engagement continues with Lemon disagreeing with previous studies. The paragraph ends with Brewster supporting Lemon.

The first two paragraphs exemplify engagement among multiple sources that agree and disagree. The multiple engagement also showed inconsistencies in the review of literature.

Synthesizing sources

Figure 16-4 shows an example of the last part of the body section. In this case, it synthesizes the findings of Covich, Simmons, Kimmell, and Cavis. The four researchers integrated popularity of social media, financial success of Facebook and Twitter, financial growth of Generation X, and the extended definition of social media. The second and third paragraphs support that integration with research by Phillips, Reilly, and Levy.

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FIGURE 16-4: Part 3 of the body section showing synthesis of sources.

Ending with significant findings: the conclusion

The conclusion summarizes major findings in the review and explains their importance. The summary also includes recommendations for new research.

The conclusion example in Figure 16-5 opens with a summary paragraph restating the importance of the topic (“Social media is used by billions …”) and the goal of the review (“compare and contrast four social media venues …”).

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FIGURE 16-5: An example of a conclusion.

The second, third, and fourth paragraphs summarize findings: “generations vary in their reasons for visiting social media sites …” and “all four generational groups occasionally find comfort …”

The conclusion section also contains the recommendation section (see Figure 16-6), which lists topics recommended for additional research. These recommendations represent the author’s effort to move the research topic forward.

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FIGURE 16-6: An example of recommendations for new research and its importance.

Determining other major sections

Within the organizational structure of the review of literature, APA designates the following major sections, some of which are identified as optional for undergraduates:

· Title page: A literature review requires the professional-document title page with a running head. A sample title page appears later, in the section, “Laying Out Pages and the Title Page of the APA Literature Review.”

· Abstract: An abstract, a short highlight of the review (see Figure 16-7), is optional for an undergraduate review, but is frequently required for a graduate review.

· Methods: A methods section, and explanation of how the story was conducted, isn’t required for an undergraduate literature review because no original research is required for a separate literature review.

· References: The reference section in a review of literature duplicates the reference section in a research paper. The references in a review of literature include all reviewed articles, in addition to references from sources cited (review Chapter 12).

· Appendixes: Appendixes offer an opportunity to add related content beyond what’s developed in the paper, such as relevant historical documents. Review Chapter 13 for additional uses of appendixes.

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FIGURE 16-7: An example abstract.

· Tables and figures: If applicable, you can supplement your topic with tables and figures. Tables are common to scientific topics, and figures are common to many topics in the behavioral sciences (see Chapter 13).

· Conclusion: This includes a summary of the findings, the importance of those findings, and recommendations for further research on related topics.