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Synthesizing Sources
Themes
When you are reading the literature, keep track of main topics or themes.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- What are the big topics being discussed in the literature?
- What are the most important topics being discussed in the literature?
Organize
Develop a system for keeping track of what your different sources are saying about each of the themes.
- Put pieces of information you think are important about these themes into folders on your desktop.
- Keep a check list of each source that is talking about each of the themes.
Video
The following 19-minute video offers a lesson on organizing, analyzing, and synthesizing your literature using extraction and thematic tables.
Click here or on the image to access the video in D2L.
More Information
More information and tips on synthesizing can be found at "Synthesizing Sources," by the University of Toronto.