REFERENCES: -Schulz Claudia, Knig Hans-Helmut, Hajek Andr (2020). Differences in Self-Esteem Between Cat Owners, Dog Owners, and Individuals Without Pets. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2020.00552 -McConnell, A. R., Brown, C. M., Shoda, T. M., Stayton, L. E., & Martin, C. E. (2011). Friends with benefits: On the positive consequences of pet ownership. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(6), 12391252. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024506 Hajek, A., & Knig, H.-H. (2020). How do cat owners, dog owners and individuals without pets differ in terms of psychosocial outcomes among individuals in old age without a partner? Aging & Mental Health, 24(10), 1613-1619. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2019.1647137 - Prato-Previde, E., Fallani, G., & Valsecchi, P. (2006). Gender Differences in Owners Interacting with Pet Dogs: An Observational Study. Ethology, 112(1), 64-73. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0310.2006.01123.x - Wood, Martin, K., Christian, H., Nathan, A., Lauritsen, C., Houghton, S., Kawachi, I., & McCune, S. (2015). The pet factor--companion animals as a conduit for getting to know people, friendship formation and social support. PloS One, 10(4), e0122085-e0122085. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0122085 - Serpell. (1991). Beneficial effects of pet ownership on some aspects of human health and behaviour. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 84(12), 717720. - Anderson, W. P., Reid, C. M., & Jennings, G. L. (1992). Pet ownership and risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The Medical Journal of Australia, 157(5), 298-301. - Adams, G. A., King, L. A., & King, D. W. (1996). Relationships of job and family Involvement, family social support, and work-family conflict with job and life satisfaction. Journal of applied psychology, 81(4), 411 3. Paragraph 1: The goal of the first paragraph is to introduce your reader to the general problem that you are attempting to investigate. In the first paragraph: Do Start with your key variable of interest; this is usually your DV or outcome variable, but doesn't have to be Include some literature, but keep it general Include basic facts and definitions End with a sentence that foreshadows your specific problem and transition into your literature review Don't Be too specific about your literature and findings; this is not the place to begin your actual literature review Discuss more than one variable Reference your own study explicitly 4. Your literature review is the part of your introduction where you introduce your reader to all of the literature that will help them to understand why you are studying what you are and why you are predicting what you are. The length of your literature review will differ depending on your study and how many variables you have. When writing your literature review you want to write thematically: Do Start your paragraph with an argument or a theme Use literature to support your argument Include all information about one topic in the same paragraph Have all of the information in one paragraph be about the same theme Don't Write in an article by article manner Start your paragraph describing a study - studies are evidence for an argument, not the argument itself Have information about one topic in multiple paragraphs Have multiple paragraphs about the same thing Have multiple ideas in one paragraph Other Dos and Don'ts when writing your literature review: Do Only include information relevant to your question; have a reason for including everything you do Consider the flow of your paragraphs - your information should form a triangle, with the most general information in the beginning, and the information most specific to your study near the end Don't Include irrelevant information. Just because it's related to your variable doesn't mean it's related to your question Make a subsequent paragraph more general than the one before (unless you have switched variables you are discussing). Directly reference your own study in this section Only talk about other people's literature (remember what they did is in past tense, but the implications are in present) Provide enough detail to be convinced of the literature (manipulated/measured and found) Provide too much information about the study (exact method, participant size, etc.) unless it's relevant