A novel form of reading group was developed to aid the literature review process for the project. This method allowed 68 papers to be reviewed in eight meetings with participation from a total of 11 researchers (). The reading group was found to be more efficient and engaging than a traditional form of review, and it enabled ongoing dissemination of texts and discussion with the wider team.
Details of 3A reading group meetings 2013–14
The initial literature review was carried out in a traditional way, with individual researchers reviewing papers and presenting the findings at a meeting that took the style of a journal club. It was found that the amount of work and time this entailed would not be sustainable for the project, and the rest of the research team was not informed of the wide range of literature being reviewed.
In the new form of reading group, the research team identified topics for which a literature review was required. A lead team member was nominated for each topic, and this person identified a number of papers in this area that were especially relevant to the project. They contacted experts in that topic area to ensure that key papers were included. The list of readings was circulated to the team and each member chose one or two papers to review in detail. The team then met in a reading group to discuss the papers. Participants also referred to the relevance of each paper in the light of their previous experience or project fieldwork, to add further insight and context.
This approach allowed for a broad literature review to be undertaken in time that could be made available, with the workload shared. The findings from each reading group meeting led on to discussion about further topics, and helped to identify further questions or areas to be reviewed. In some cases, authors of the papers were contacted for further information about their research which was relevant to the 3A study. The meetings were audio-recorded, transcripts were created and edited versions including the details of texts discussed were made available to all, for ease of reference later in the project.
