CHAPTER-2

REVIEW LITERATURE
2.1.0 The

Literature Review

A literature review uses as its database reports of primary or original scholarship, and
does not report new primary scholarship itself. The primary reports used in the
literature may be verbal, but in the vast majority of cases reports are written
documents. The types of scholarship may be empirical, theoretical, critical/analytic, or
methodological in nature. Second a literature review seeks to describe, summarise,
evaluate, clarify and/or integrate the content of primary reports.
The review of relevant literature is nearly always a standard chapter of a thesis or
dissertation. The review forms an important chapter in a thesis where its purpose is to
provide the background to and justification for the research undertaken Bruce, who
has published widely on the topic of the literature review, has identified six elements
of a literature review. These elements comprise a list; a search; a survey; a vehicle for
learning; a research facilitator; and a report.
Research takes advantage of the knowledge which has accumulated in the past as
a result of constant human endeavour. It can never be undertaken in isolation of
the work that has already been done on the problems which are directly or indirectly
related to a study proposed by a researcher. A careful review of the research journal,
books, dissertations, theses and other sources of information on the problem to be
investigated is one of the important steps in the planning of any research study. A
review of the related literature must precede any well planned research study.

2.1.1

Purpose

of the Review

Review of the related literature; besides, following the researcher to acquaint

himself with current knowledge in the field or area in which he is going to conduct his
research, serves the following specific purposes:
1.

The review of related literature enables the researcher to define the limits of his

field. It helps the researcher to delimit and define his problem.

2.

By reviewing the related literature the researcher can avoid unfruitful and

useless problem areas. He can select those areas in which positive findings are very
likely to result and his endeavours would be likely to add to the knowledge in a
meaningful way.
3.

Through the review of related literature, the researcher can avoid unintentional

duplication of well established findings. It is no use to replicate a study when the

stability and validity of its results have been clearly established.
4.

The review of related literature gives the researcher an understanding of the

research methodology which refers to the way the study is to be conducted. It helps
the researcher to know about the tools and instruments which proved to be useful and
promising in the previous studies. The advantage of the related literature is also to
provide insight into the statistical methods through which validity of results is to be
established.
5.

The final and important specific reason for reviewing the related literature is to

know about the recommendations of previous researchers listed in their studies for
further research.

2.1.2

Writing

the Review of the Literature

The review of the literature may be a comprehensive inclusion of everything

known on a given research topic and its related topics or a short summary of the
literature most pertinent to the specific topic under study. Which one to use depends
on the requirements for the research proposal or research report. In general, research
proposals for doctoral dissertations have lengthy, comprehensive reviews of the
literature (sometimes hundreds of pages long, depending on the topic), whereas those
for research reports usually range from a page to only a few pages, at most. Research
reports and proposals for funding generally have page length requirements that limit
the length of the literature review. Also, for some courses students often must
complete literature reviews without going on and writing a research proposal or
report. The length of these will vary depending on the assignment and the topic.
Regardless of the required length of the review, there are some basic
considerations for writing a literature review. First and outline of the literature review
to be written is often very helpful, especially for longer reviews. This outline is
determined by the topic and how the research relates to it and to other related issues.
For instance, if the research topic is early reading skill development by children with
learning disabilities, some of the literature reviewed will likely be about early reading
development with non-disabled children. Other literature might be about the
characteristics of the general population o persons with learning disabilities. Still
another subtopic might be how learning difficulties are related to social issues of this
population, the more comprehensive the review, the further from the specific topic the

literature reviewed will venture. The more precise and short the review, the less
diverse the literature will be.
An outline helps determine how and where the references will be used. This
depends on an evaluation of each potential reference to see where, how, and it it fits.
Thus, references for a single topic are grouped together and cited together in the
review. It is important not to ignore studies that disagree with other studies or the
hypotheses. These should be included along with an explanation for their
contradictory findings.
The organization of the review follows the outline. In the outline, and thus the
review, the first paragraph should describe what the review is about. In a research
report, this may include the statement of the problem. As the review proceeds, the
literature cited should become more and more relevant to the specific hypotheses until
the final paragraphs are those most pertinent to it. Finally, the last paragraph should
succinctly restate the purpose of the review and its conclusions. In other words, let the
reader know what is coming, tell him all about it, and finally summarize what was
reported. In long, complex reviews this is a good approach for each major section.
In technical writings it is critical to cite references to support statements of
fact or opinion. Technical writing needs to be precise, so terms that may be
misinterpreted or not known by the reader need to be defined. The writer also needs to
understand the audience she is writing for and must write at a level appropriate for
that audience. In other words, words and jargon that only experts would know should
not be used if the audience is less well informed on the topic.

Hamre and Pianta (2004) found that about 10 percent of caregivers in this large
study of early care and education reported clinically significant levels of
depressive symptoms for themselves. Across different types of early care and
education, those caregivers reporting higher levels of such symptoms were
observed to be less sensitive in their interactions with children, to engage less
often in affectively positive verbal interactions, and to be rated as more
withdrawn. In addition, in home-based care only, caregivers with higher levels
of depressive symptoms also showed more affectively negative and intrusive
interactions. The link between negative interactions and depressive symptoms
was stronger when caregivers spent a majority of the observational period as the
only adult interacting with the child. The authors raise the possibility that when
a caregiver has another adult present, she can more readily withdraw from a
frustrating interaction with a child than when she is alone with the child.
Raver and colleagues (2008) note that early educators working in low-income
communities may be especially prone to emotional burnout. Higher rates of
child exposure to stressors such as domestic and community violence and
economic hardship are associated with higher levels of behavior problems, with
between 20 and 23 percent of young children in low-income communities
showing elevated rates of externalizing (acting out, aggressive) and
internalizing (depressed, withdrawn) behavior problems Elevated rates of

behavior problems among multiple children in a class can pose ongoing

challenges to early educators.

Early and colleagues (2007) and Burchinal and colleagues (2008) have
suggested that it is important to look directly at the quality of degree granting
early childhood higher education programs in order to understand the
associations (or lack of associations) between attainment of a higher education
degree, program quality, and child outcomes in early care and education. A new
study by Hyson, Tomlinson and Morris (2008) provides further insight into the
potential need to target higher education program quality in efforts to improve
early childhood professional development

Accreditation of Higher Education Programs for Early Educators. The quality of

early childhood programs offering bachelors and graduate degrees can be
evaluated through the accreditation process of the National Council for the
Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Program review is carried out in
light of the set of standards for early childhood professional development
developed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children
(NAEYC). A new process for accreditation of associate degree programs is
under development by NAEYC. Hyson and colleagues note that of the

approximately 450 institutions of higher education offering bachelors degrees

and graduate programs, fewer than half are recognized for quality by NAEYC
through the NCATE accreditation process. Some institutions of higher education
do not participate in the NCATE accreditation process. Of those that do
participate in the review process, over the past three years, approximately 25
percent have been unsuccessful in their first application for accreditation
Whitebook and colleagues (2008) have recently reported on the first year results
of a five-year longitudinal descriptive study of an approach intended to support
such nontraditional students. In the study, six college programs in California
have developed cohort approaches in which small groups of students in early
childhood bachelors programs enroll in courses together, receive financial
assistance, are given flexibility in scheduling courses and field placements, and
are offered tutoring and advising on how to fulfill degree requirements.
Interviews have been conducted with 90 percent of the 124 participating
students, administrators, and faculty at three of the institutions of higher
education.
Burchinal and colleagues (2008) point to the further possibility that there may
be moderating factors that these analyses could not examine. For example, the
quality of the educators degree-granting higher education programs could not
be examined and may be an important underlying factor (Hyson, Tomlinson,
and Morris 2008). In addition, they note emerging evidence that the early

childhood educators educational attainment may play a differing role

depending on the type of program. They summarize recent findings from a
study in California by Vu and colleagues (2008) indicating that having a
bachelors degree did predict quality in programs with fewer resources and
supports, such as community-based child care, but did not predict quality in
programs with more resources as well as ongoing supports and monitoring, such
as state-funded prekindergarten.
The National Reading Panel (National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development 2000), focusing specifically on teacher preparation in the area of
reading instruction, found that while there was a small set of rigorously
conducted studies examining the effects of preservice teacher education, these
studies examined effects on teacher knowledge but did not extend out to an
examination on teacher instructional practice or student achievement. The report
underscores the importance of examining effects on teacher practice and student
outcomes as well as teacher knowledge in confirming the effectiveness of
higher education in preparing teachers for reading instruction. The National
Reading Panel concluded that there is a critical need for rigorous studies
focusing on the preservice education of teachers.
Pang and Kamils review (2006) concludes that there is a continuing need both
for rigorous evaluation research examining the role of higher education in
preparing teachers to provide instruction in reading as well as for descriptive

research that will yield a better understanding of how and for whom preservice
education is effective.
Summarized in Gilliam 2005
Preschool expulsions were also higher when class size was larger and when
there were more 3-year-olds mixed in with 4-year-olds in a class. Expulsions
were also more likely in for-profit child care programs or other communitybased programs than in public school or Head Start programs, raising the
possibility that supports available to teachers through their programs may be
important. In addition, expulsion rates were related to teacher access to an
expert who could help them in working with children with emotional or
behavioral difficulties. Expulsion rates were lowest in programs in which
teachers had regular on-site visits from a mental health consultant, followed by
those in which teachers had access to such consultation on-call, and were
highest when teachers had no access to mental health consultation.
These issues may be especially troubling for those working in isolation (as in
home-based care settings), and those working with groups of children who are
themselves stressed because of such issues as exposure to violence at home or
in the community and ongoing family financial stress. We are beginning to see
the emergence of evaluation studies focusing on the provision of professional
development with a component involving the psychological well-being of early

educators. Thus, consideration of the human capital of early educators is now

being complemented with a focus on social capital.