CHAPTER THREE

LITERATURE REVIEW

Senior lecturer A.Salad (MS.c)

 INTRODUCTION

I. Literature Review
II. Critical Reading
III. Citation and Referencing
 I LITERATURE REVIEW

1. Define what a literature review is?

2. Organizing a literature review
3. Writing a literature review
 1. What is a literature review?
A literature review situates your topic in relation to previous research and
illuminates a spot for your research. It accomplishes several goals:
• provides background for your topic using previous research.
• shows you are familiar with previous, relevant research.
• evaluates the depth of the research in regards to your topic.
• determines remaining questions or aspects of your topic in need of
research.
 1. What is a literature review?
Literature review tries to answer;
•What has been done before?
•What have others said?
•What is the relevance?
•What is the difference?
•Agreements/ disagreements
•Are there flaws?
…Which gap in the research you will do?
 1. What is a literature review?
Functions of literature review
•Review the main concepts and variables
•Review tools and methods
•Focuses on previous research
•Shows how your research study fills the ‘gap’
•The necessity for your study
•Sets the boundaries (delimitation) of the study
 1. What is a literature review?
Purpose of the Literature Review
• It gives readers easy access to research on a particular
topic by selecting high quality articles or studies that are
relevant, meaningful, important and valid and
summarizing them into one complete report.
 1. What is a literature review?
Purpose of the Literature Review
•It provides an excellent starting point for researchers
beginning to do research in a new area by forcing them to
summarize, evaluate, and compare original research in
that specific area.
•It ensures that researchers do not duplicate work that
has already been done.
 1. What is a literature review?

Purpose of the Literature Review

•It can provide clues as to where future research is heading or recommend
areas on which to focus.
•It highlights key findings.
•It identifies inconsistencies, gaps and contradictions in the literature.
•It provides a constructive analysis of the methodologies and approaches
of other researchers.
 1. What is a literature review?
Scope and length
Scope;
•Current state of the theory
•Master degree: 10 years
•Doctorate degree: much farther back
 1. What is a literature review?
Scope and length
Length
•Avoid verbosity
•Ability to synthesize literature
•Brief but focused
 1. What is a literature review?
Materials types priority
•Articles in refereed, international journals
•Books, chapters in edited books
•Articles in national, refereed journals
•Conference papers and research papers
•PhD dissertations and masters thesis
•Websites/ papers in non refereed journals
 1. What is a literature review?
Research history
•Review papers
•Survey university database
•Abstracts
•Indices in books
•Library research consultations
 2. Organizing a literature review
•The goal of the literature review is to assemble what other
researchers have said about topic of interest and to distil into
a coherent statement.
•This involves a lot of readings, note-taking, paraphrasing of
arguments, summarizing of the key findings, and extracting
the most critical quotes.

…Ideas arranged in a logical manner

 2. Organizing a literature review
How to write a strong literature review
Synthesize and evaluate;
•A literature review requires critical thinking, reading, and
writing. You will take the information that you have gathered
through your research and synthesize and evaluate it by
indicating important ideas and trends in the literature and
explaining their significance.
 2. Organizing a literature review
There are several steps toward writing a strong literature
review:
1. Synthesize and evaluate information
2. Identify the main ideas of the literature
3. Identify the main argument of the literature review
4. Organize the main points of the literature review
5. Write literature review
 2. Organizing a literature review
Synthesize and evaluate;
Questions;
•How has the topic been studied?
•What has been found?
•Which issue has been highlighted?
•How have key terms/ concepts been used?
 2. Organizing a literature review
Methodological critiques
•Sample size
•Randomized trials
•Reliability of the control points
•Validity
•Research design
•Biases
•Extraneous or confounding variables
 2. Organizing a literature review
Critical analysis and checklist
•What is the main idea put forward?
•What points develop the idea?
•What evidence is provided?
•Do you agree with the conclusions?
•It is a response to other text?
•Underlying theory?
•Model?
•Strengths/ weaknesses and limitations?
 2. Organizing a literature review

Synthesis Guideline •Exemplary studies

•Compare and contrast •Gaps in research
•Similar conclusions •Relates to previous work
•Criticize methodology •Relates to literature
•Areas of disagreement •Summarize literature
2. Organizing a literature review (Wrong
Synthesis)
2. Organizing a literature review
(Synthesis)
 3. Writing a literature review

Start writing
•Themes and topics
•Overall picture
•Cover all issues, ideas, boundaries, relevant areas,
dimensions
 3. Writing a literature review
Information presentations
•Text
•Tables
•Charts
•Diagrams
 3. Writing a literature review

Reminder
•Have easy access
•Keep sources details
•Save your work
 3. Writing a literature review
Components;
The introduction should provide the reader with the scale and
structure of your review. It serves as a kind of map.
The body of the review depends on how you have organized
your key points. Literature reviews at postgraduate level should
be evaluative and not merely descriptive. For example possible
reasons for similarities or differences between studies are
considered rather than a mere identification of them.
 3. Writing a literature review
The conclusion of the review needs to sum up
the main findings of your research into the
literature. The findings can be related to the
aims of the study you are proposing to do. The
reader is thus provided with a coherent
background to the current study.
 3. Writing a literature review
1.Background information (Introduction)
•Introduce topic
•Describe Scope and organization
•Review past and Present literature
•Clarify purpose
 3. Writing a literature review
2.Theory (Body)
•All research has a precedent
•Integrate key points and make appropriate inferences
•Be aware of relationship to your topic
 3. Writing a literature review
3. Review of literature on instruments (Body)
present evidences to support your choice
reliability and validity estimates
description of samples
 3. Writing a literature review
4. Summary/conclusion
concise account of knowledge and instrument used
you have done a thorough background investigation
 3. Writing a literature review
Organize information
•Key themes and findings
•Use headings and sub-headings in a logical order
e.g. 2. literature review
2.1 ………
2.1.1……
2.2……
2.2.1……..
 3. Writing a literature review
•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
 3. Writing a literature review
•A ‘poor’ literature review is…..
…..an annotated bibliography
….. confined to description
….. narrow and shallow
….. confusing and longwinded
….. constructed in an arbitrary way
 3. Writing a literature review
Have I fulfilled the purpose of the literature review?
Is it written at a level appropriate to its audience?
Are its facts correct?
Is all the information included relevant?
Are the layout and presentation easy on the eye?
 3. Writing a literature review
Is the language clear, concise and academic?
Does the introduction adequately introduce the topic?
Is the body organized logically?
Does the conclusion interpret, analyze and evaluate?
 3. Writing a literature review
Are the recommendations reasonable?
Have I acknowledged all sources of information through
correct referencing?
Have I checked spelling, grammar and punctuation?
Have I carefully proof-read the final draft?
 II. CRITICAL READING AND ABSTRACTING

Topics;
•Critical reading of a research paper
•Abstracting a research paper or thesis

…Next Class…