Critical summaries of papers 1 and 2 Overview of the purpose of research and literature review

The purpose of critical reviews of literature is to provide an objective and
comprehensive analysis of the writing. (Cronin, 2008). By using a number of
different sources a researcher can access a range of current data that can be used
for a variety of purposes (Aveyard 2010, Cronin et al 2008). The data can, for
instance, be used to advise on up to date practice or help formulate a further
research question. One key feature is that the analysis must be unbiased and
consider both the strengths and weaknesses of the writings in order to formulate a
complete picture.
Literature reviews should be clear and written in a flowing style to provide for easy
reading. This is characterised by being unbiased and being free from jargon whilst
using any relevant technical terminology correctly and appropriately (Colling, (2003)
cited in Cronin et al 2008).
Research is ‘ the attempt to derive generalisable new knowledge by aggressing
clearly-defined questions with a systematic and rigorous method’ (Department of
Health, 2001, section 1.7). However, nursing research involves a systematic
application of scientific methods to the study of phenomena interest within the
nursing profession (Fain,1999). Evidence based research is increasingly becoming
much more important within the medical fields. Research critique is a careful critical
appraisal of the study’s strength and limitations focusing on whether the findings are
accurate, believable and clinically meaningful (Polit and Beck, 2008). Burns and
Grove (2007) assert that if findings cannot be trusted, it makes little sense to
incorporate them into nursing practice (Timmins F, 2005).