It is that time of year again. 🎄🎉 We are frantically getting those last things done, running around buying presents 🎁, writing cards, and doing all the other things we do to prepare for the holiday season. If, in amongst all that you are also one of those brave people writing a dissertation 📚, you might also be setting aside some precious undistracted time to work on your literature review. In honour of the season, I wanted to share with you my 12 most successful mistakes. Yes, you read that correctly -- successful mistakes. Doing anything for the first time involves some stumbling around, and I certainly did my share of that. It was when I fell down and got back up that I learned the most, and in this blog that is what I want to share with you.
So, here it is -- my 12 most productive mistakes from 30 years of writing literature reviews and what they taught me.
1. Not understanding the role of description. If you read my blog regularly, you'll know your literature review is an argument in which you make the case for why your research question needs to be asked. Your evidence for this argument comes from previous research. However, in order to get to the stage of putting that argument together, you first have to understand the previous research, and that means a lengthy phase of describing those studies to yourself. Value this, as it is essential. But don't stop there, as this phase is just for you. For your dissertation, use your knowledge of each source to construct your argument and work out the evidence for it. ✍
2. Thinking that the unit of analysis in my literature review was each study, and trying without much success to figure out how the summary of each study was or wasn't evidence in my argument. That sent me back down the describe-every-study rabbit hole, until I figured out that the unit was not the study per se, but the findings of all the studies. What were the patterns and trends in all the findings? That was the thing to figure out. 🤔
3. Writing endless outlines but not getting anywhere. Finally, I figured out that this did not work, at least not for me, because my outlines were lists of topics. Lists of topics do not allow you to work out the structure of your argument. For that, I finally hit on the card-sorting technique, which allowed me to determine my main points (my research question needs to be asked because. . . . ) and the evidence for each point. For more on that, see my post on how your literature review is like a qualitative research project.
4. Thinking that frustration was my enemy. It certainly feels like an enemy 😖, but over time I came to understand that frustration was a sign that I was moving out of my comfort zone -- and moving out of your comfort zone is the only way to learn and make progress. If you stay where you are comfortable you never have to grapple with anything new. You will avoid frustration that way, but you will also avoid important breakthroughs in your understanding.
5. Confusing productive breaks with displacement activities. We all need breaks when we are writing. Sometimes we hit what feels like an impenetrable snarl, and taking a walk 🏃 helps us to think in new ways. But know the difference between a break that enables more creative and productive thinking and the displacement activity, which is really just a form of procrastination. If you are thinking Oh, I'll just do the dishes before I start, and since I've done the dishes I might as well do the counter tops . . . that is a displacement activity. If you go down that road, your house might sparkle, but you won't be any further along on your literature review.
6. Thinking that if I ended the day as confused as I began that I hadn't made any progress. This is not true. A literature review is a complex thing and some of the issues you have to deal with won't be solved in a day. If you stop work some days and all you have is a list of things you don't understand, that is progress. Now you know what you don't know yet. 💡
7. Trying to write in the afternoon and finally figuring out that I am a morning person 🌅. The literature review involves a lot of reading, thinking, and writing, but there is also a fair amount of administrative work. Figure out when you are at your best and do your writing then. Plough through the admin stuff during the other part of the day.
8. Thinking I should be able to concentrate solidly for hours without a break and getting annoyed with myself when I couldn't. 😠 I found that I got immersed for about 30 minutes, then needed a micro-break -- to look up, shift my gaze, roll my shoulders -- then could do another 30 minutes, and so on. I was relieved to discover that this was normal.
9. Trying to find shortcuts. On a day when I just couldn't face more note-taking, I would highlight things instead as I read. And that way, it wasn't even like work, as I could sit in my cosy chair and just read. I told myself I would go back to the highlighted bits and convert them into notes later so that I could figure out how they fit into my argument (or not). That never worked, not once, and was always wasted time. Inevitably, I lost track of the highlighted material and just wound up re-reading and taking the notes I should have taken the first time. 📖
10. Worrying about the word limit. The word limit is a tangible metric and can be a useful guide, but it is not the goal. Your goal is not to write a certain number of words. Your goal is to put together a rock-solid argument for why your research question needs to be asked. I discovered that when I did that, the word-limit took care of itself. 📘
11. Trying to edit before I knew all the steps in my argument and before I had assembled all of the evidence. This just led to hopeless confusion and much wasted time. When you have your argument nailed down and all the evidence assembled, you can spot extraneous detail immediately and just get rid of it without second-guessing yourself. ✂
12. Trying to work straight through Christmas. The holiday period frees up some time, and one year I decided I would only do the bare minimum for Christmas and then put my head down and write. I just made myself miserable and tired and wound up having to take a break when Christmas was over. There wasn't even any turkey left.
Whatever and however you celebrate this season, allow yourself that time. I wish you the joy of it!
