Research Methodology

3. LITERATURE REVIEW 1

DJOKO W. KARMIADJI
 3. LITERATURE REVIEW 1

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 What is LR?
A literature review discusses published information
in a particular subject area, and sometimes
information in a particular subject area within a
certain time period.
A literature review can be just a simple summary of
the sources, but it usually has an organizational
pattern and combines both summary and synthesis

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 What is LR?
A summary is a recap of the important information
of the source, but a synthesis is a re-organization,
or a reshuffling, of that information.
It might give a new interpretation of old material
or combine new with old interpretations.
Or it might trace the intellectual progression of the
field, including major debates.
And depending on the situation, the literature
review may evaluate the sources and advise the
reader on the most pertinent or relevant.

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 What is LR?
The format of a review of literature may vary from
discipline to discipline and from assignment to
assignment.
A review may be a self-contained unit -- an end in
itself -- or a preface to and rationale for engaging in
primary research. A review is a required part of
grant and research proposals and often a chapter in
theses and dissertations.
Generally, the purpose of a review is to analyze
critically a segment of a published body of
knowledge through summary, classification, and
comparison of prior research studies, reviews of
literature, and theoretical articles.
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 What is LR?
A literature review is the effective evaluation of
selected documents on a research topic.
A review may form an essential part of the
research process or may constitute a research
project in itself.
In the context of a research paper or thesis the
literature review is a critical synthesis of previous
research.
The evaluation of the literature leads logically to
the research question.

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 What is LR?
A ‘good’ literature review…..
….. is a synthesis of available research
….. is a critical evaluation
….. has appropriate breadth and depth
….. has clarity and conciseness
….. uses rigorous and consistent
methods
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A ‘poor’ literature review is…..
…..an annotated bibliography
….. confined to description
….. narrow and shallow
….. confusing and longwinded
….. constructed in an arbitrary way
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 Why write LR?
Literature reviews provide you with a handy guide
to a particular topic. If you have limited time to
conduct research, literature reviews can give you
an overview or act as a stepping stone.
Literature reviews also provide a solid background
for a research paper's investigation.
Comprehensive knowledge of the literature of the
field is essential to most research papers.

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 Why write LR?
For professionals, they are useful reports that keep
them up to date with what is current in the field.
For scholars, the depth and breadth of the
literature review emphasizes the credibility of the
writer in his or her field

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 Why write LR?
The purpose of a literature review is for you to take a
critical look at the literature (facts and views) that
already exists in the area you are researching.
A literature review is not a shopping list of everything
that exists, but a critical analysis that shows an
evaluation of the existing literature and a relationship
between the different works.
It demonstrates the relevance of the research.

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 Why write LR?
Literature can include books, journal articles,
internet (electronic journals), newspapers,
magazines, theses and dissertations, conference
proceedings, reports, and documentaries.
Literature reviews are written occasionally in the
humanities, but mostly in the sciences and social
sciences; in experiment and lab reports, they
constitute a section of the paper.
Sometimes a literature review is written as a paper
in itself.

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 Why write LR?
In the context of a research paper on a thesis, the
literature review provides a background to the study
being proposed.
The background may consider one or more of the
following aspects depending on the research question
being posed:
• Theoretical background – past, present or future
• Clinical practice – previous or contemporary
• Methodology and/or research methods
• Previous findings
• Rationale and/or relevance of the current study

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 Why write LR?
In a broader context Hart (1998) lists the following
purposes of a review:
 Distinguishing what has been done from what needs to
be done;
 Discovering important variables relevant to the topic;
 Synthesizing and gaining a new perspective;
 Identifying relationships between ideas and practice;
 Establishing the context of the topic or problem;

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 Why write LR?

Rationalizing the significance of the problem;

Enhancing and acquiring the subject vocabulary;
Understanding the structure of the subject;
Relating ideas and theory to applications;
Identifying methodologies and techniques that
have been used;
Placing the research in a historical context to show
familiarity with state-of-the-art developments.
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 Why write LR?
Its purpose is to:
 Place each work in the context of its contribution to the
understanding of the subject under review
 Describe the relationship of each work to the others under
consideration
 Identify new ways to interpret, and shed light on any gaps in,
previous research
 Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous
studies
 Identify areas of prior scholarship to prevent duplication of
effort
 Point the way forward for further research
 Place one's original work (in the case of theses or
dissertations) in the context of existing literature

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 General Guidelines to Writing a Literature Review

Introduce the literature review by pointing out the

major research topic that will be discussed
Identify the broad problem area but don’t be too
global (for example, discussing the history of education
when the topic is on specific instructional strategy)
Discuss the general importance of your topic for
those in your field

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 General Guidelines to Writing a Literature Review

Don’t attempt to cover everything written on your

topic
You will need to pick out the research most
relevant to the topic you are studying
You will use the studies in your literature review as
“evidence” that your research question is an
important one

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 General Guidelines to Writing a Literature Review

It is important to cover research relevant to all the

variables being studied.
Research that explains the relationship between
these variables is a top priority.
You will need to plan how you will structure your
literature review and write from this plan.

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 Organizing Your Literature Review

Topical Order—organize by main topics or issues;

emphasize the relationship of the issues to the
main “problem”
Chronological Order—organize the literature by the
dates the research was published
Problem-Cause-Solution Order—Organize the
review so that it moves from the problem to the
solution

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 Organizing Your Literature Review

General-to-Specific Order—(Also called the funnel

approach) Examine broad-based research first and
then focus on specific studies that relate to the
topic
Specific-to-General Order—Try to make discuss
specific research studies so conclusions can be
drawn

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 Literature Review
After reviewing the literature, summarize what has
been done, what has not been done, and what
needs to be done
Remember you are arguing your point of why your
study is important!
Then pose a formal research question or state a
hypothesis—be sure this is clearly linked to your
literature review

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 Literature Review

All sources cited in the literature review should be

listed in the references
To sum, a literature review should include
introduction, summary and critique of journal
articles, justifications for your research project and
the hypothesis for your research project

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 Common Errors Made in Lit Reviews
Review isn’t logically organized
Review isn’t focused on most important facets
of the study
Review doesn’t relate literature to the study
Too few references or outdated references cited
Review isn’t written in author’s own words
Review reads like a series of disjointed
summaries
Review doesn’t argue a point
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 Writing the Literature Review
Plagiarism includes (Galvan, pg. 89):
1. Using another writer’s words without proper citation
2. Using another writer’s ideas without proper citation
3. Citing a source but reproducing the exact word without
quotation marks
4. Borrowing the structure of another author’s
phrases/sentences without giving the source
5. Borrowing all or part of another student’s paper
6. Using paper-writing service or having a friend write the
paper

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 Exercise / Assignment 2.
Find articles/papers, textbooks and others in
related with your 3 topics that you selected in
assignment 1. At least 3 references for each
topic and write down the author, title,
publisher and year !

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