Based on the definition the author gave for "scoping studies", I felt that this type of literature review can suit me better for two reasons:
1. I have not decided on a specific topic for master thesis yet, and a broader(and maybe shallower) study can help me get an understanding of overall scope of the field or sub field of my choice.(in the paper the first reason to conduct a scoping study: To examine the extent, range and nature of research activity
)
2. Finding out research gaps and seeing what can be done further is something potentially useful for choosing a thesis topic and a research topic in general.(in the paper, the last reason for scoping study: To identify research gaps in the existing literature)
steps of the scoping study:
1. Define the research question, finding a set of key concepts and identify possible variations of any general term in the question.(example of illness--> which illnesses can be included in this definition)
2. Identifying relevant studies, to make this part as comprehensive as possible some sources of information is suggested:
-electronic data bases
-reference lists (like what?)
-journals
-conferences , networks , organisations
Setting a time constrain may help to shape the scope better.
-tools: reference manager & endnote
3. Reading the papers
4. Charting the data
Summarising and categorising each paper based on methods, outcomes ,etc
keeping the same set of info for all the papers may be useful.
what I think I will do differently:
1. I dont need this study to write a comprehensive paper, so I dont need every single article written in the area, but I just need to cover the area conceptually. It is important to cover all the types of the work done but missing some similar work wont hurt that much
2. I will do the partial reading(look through, abstract) and refining the key concepts and checklists while searching and not as a separate step at the end.
3. For me it maybe ok to summarise papers because I am making it for my personal use
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