Making Fruit Salad

As my 7-year old daughter was getting ready for school this morning, she asked me what I was doing today since Fridays are known to be one of Mommy’s important study days. I told her that I needed to write about fruit salad for a class. I knew this revelation would totally turn her on because she has been the self-appointed Iron Chef of fruit salads in our house for a number of years. So, Lindsay wanted to make sure I reported that “fruit salads are good and that if you use frozen fruit, they are cold also”!

Typology of fruit salad

When I reflect about the fruit salads we make at our house, I can actually categorize them in two different ways. First, there is the fruit salad that is thrown together when there is a ripe banana on the counter and you realize that there also happens to be more than one other kind of fruit in the fruit bowl that day. For the record, the critical threshold for a spur-of-the-moment fruit salad is three different types of fruit. Second, there is the fruit salad that you actually list on your weekly menu or for which you purposely shop because you are making dinner for guests or because you signed up to bring fruit salad for a potluck dinner. In the case of the second type, the ingredients are usually more numerous and exotic. I suggest that at least five different types of fruit are critical and that raspberries, kiwis or pineapple must be considered for fruit salads meant to be consumed by others. As for a juice or syrup to toss with the fruit, for both types of salads, the fruit:sauce ratio is very important since it is always more appealing when the fruits you eat are recognizable.

So what does a fruit salad have to do with a literature review?

But, how does this brief personal reflection about fruit salad add value to my goal to describe a literature review? As suggested in class, the fruit salad and its preparation, is a metaphor for the criticality of knowing why and for whom you are reviewing literature. Just as the quantity, type, and quality of fruit and the intricacies of any sauce depend on whether you happen into or plan in advance for making fruit salad, the quantity, type, quality, and “sauce” of your literature review will depend on your research problem, your audience, and the context. And just as how the taste of the dish is dependent on how you choose, prepare and put the fruit together, so does the significance and quality of your research depend on your efforts to find and analyze your sources.

Are these bananas appropriate for a fruit salad or are they best baked into a quick bread for breakfast?

Sometimes, before you even start your literature review, you have “fruit” to sort. No sooner had I selected the topic of merit pay in K-12 education for this class project than I started recognizing the topic everywhere. I read about it in popular magazine articles and newspapers, and I listened to it in a Planet Money podcast. I also happened to mention the topic to my Labor Economics professor and sure enough, she started sending me abstracts from economics journals. My point is that even though these resources were not found in the course of my formal, step-by-step literature review, they are fruit to sort through nonetheless. And importantly, even if they don’t end up as references in my final project, they have suggested other ingredients to consider. For example, the economist interviewed by the Planet Money team has published a study on the economic value of good teachers versus bad teachers – I can look for his name and his study when I shop in peer-reviewed journals. And via the suggestions sent by my professor, I can find other studies as well as journals that have reported on the topic. One of the abstracts she sent appears to be written as a book chapter which suggests that it is a secondary source and may be good map of other literature already out there.

So, I know that fruit exists but I still have to go shopping!

I despise going to the grocery store without a list. My list keeps me focused on the menu at hand; so that I buy what I need and I don’t end up with the stuff that just looks yummy. For this literature review, my “list” contains my main topic, merit pay in K-12 education, and related terms such as pay for performance, incentive pay, teacher morale, extra-role behaviors, and teacher performance management.

Before I get in my car to go shopping, I first check to make sure my grocery bags are in the trunk. That is to say, I need to make sure I have something to bring my fruit home in once I buy it. So I create an Excel spreadsheet to track author name, article/chapter title, and the title of the journal/book. I also decide to set up a way to keep track of my purchases in case I need to tell my dinner guests where I found such delicious fruit later on. So, I also take some time to recall my RefWorks password and I create a new folder there called EDUS 660.

With my bags, list and car keys in hand, I stop to realize that I still don’t know where I am going. I need to find out which grocery store is going to have the type and quality of fruit that I want. To accomplish this for the purposes of my literature review, I identify and save a set of databases to begin my search with and then finally, I am off to shop. Even with my list, I foresee the temptation to buy other items that are strategically placed near the fruit I am looking for. For example, if “teacher engagement” wasn’t on my original list but I notice that it is a keyword in the first sources I find, I’ll probably add it to the list. On the other hand, if the serpent is hocking the caramel dip next to the apples or even just distracting exposes of No Child Left Behind legislation, I will stay focused! I must remain in “Fruit & Produce”. I dare not wander to “Frozen Foods”!

Just as I do when I shop using a list, I may make substitutions based on what is ripe or in season. For example, I may realize that one of my keywords is consistently directing me to non-peer reviewed journals or popular magazines. I’ll substitute different terms then. Also, within the records that are retrieved based on keywords or topics, I will look through the selections and pick those that appear most relevant to my topic. Before heading to the checkout line, I will also make sure that I buy enough to feed everyone at the table and that the fruit I’ve selected isn’t too old or too mushy. Similarly, my literature review must be comprehensive enough but it must not include studies that are out of date or irrelevant based on current circumstances.

Is it a Berry Medley or a Tropical Fruit Salad?

Until I get home with my groceries and start cutting up and tasting the fruit, I might not know what type of salad will actually be served at dinner. In this same way, I look forward to what my literature review will produce and how my research proposal may change based on the sources I find. Secondary sources may turn me on to a whole group of studies that make my intended proposal less relevant. I may find primary sources which suggest an area for further research that is more significant than the one I originally identified. As I organize, summarize and relate the studies to each other, I could also end up with a whole new framework for the research that I propose. And then, who knows but I may even need to run back to the store for more fruit!