Literature Review

Ashfara Haque

PR RESEARCH
Spring 2021

AHAQUE, PR RESEARCH, MSJ

AHAQUE, PR RESEARCH, MSJ
Introduction Review of the literature
A good literature review:

1. Includes all literature that is relevant to justifying the proposed research;

2. Does not include literature that is irrelevant to justifying the proposed research;

3. Supports undertaking the proposed research;

4. Avoids speculation and unsubstantiated statements;

5. Is critical (a critical review does not merely accept previous authors’ conclusions,
but weighs them carefully, examining them on the basis of the weaknesses and
strengths in the methodologies of the studies being reviewed);

AHAQUE, PR RESEARCH, MSJ

Introduction Review of the literature
A good literature review:

6. Is organised under subheadings;

7. Forms a connected argument; and
8. Has a summary at the end.

AHAQUE, PR RESEARCH, MSJ

AHAQUE, PR RESEARCH, MSJ
 Literature review in details
A review of relevant literature is one of the most important first steps when beginning a
piece of research. A literature review identifies gaps in the current knowledge and provides
context to your research and research questions.

Often it will underpin and help to justify your research design and choice of methodology.
The importance of the literature
• You should continue to review the literature throughout your project, as you’ll need to
interpret your results in the context of the relevant literature to support the discussion of
your research and final conclusions.
• Examiners will assess the quality and coverage of your literature when judging the overall
thesis standard. It‘s expected that your review of the literature will comprehensively cover
your area of inquiry, be up-to-date and reflect a process of critical engagement.
AHAQUE, PR RESEARCH, MSJ
 Literature review in details
Engaging with the literature
• Your literature review is expected to reflect critical engagement and a
synthesis of relevant information.
• Critical engagement involves situating the literature within the context of
your research, and that of others. It includes identifying its strengths,
limitations and implications.
• A synthesis of the literature requires an integration of the knowledge such
that the separate pieces of evidence work to comprise part of a whole
argument. These processes set a literature review apart from an annotated
bibliography and are the hallmarks of a good literature review.
AHAQUE, PR RESEARCH, MSJ
 Literature review in details
Elements of a review
Generally, it is expected that your literature review will identify,
interpret and discuss:
• what has been done before;
• the intersections between relevant pieces of research;
• the key contributors to the area of inquiry and their contribution;
• key theories and concepts that have been applied before;
• the strengths and limitations of what has been done before;
• the implications of what is known; and
• the gaps in what is known.
AHAQUE, PR RESEARCH, MSJ
 How to do Literature review?
A good literature review:
1. includes all literature that is relevant to justifying the proposed research;
2. does not include literature that is irrelevant to justifying the proposed
research;
3. supports undertaking the proposed research;
4. avoids speculation/ assumptions and unsubstantiated statements;
5. is critical (a critical review does not merely accept previous authors’
conclusions, but weighs them carefully, examining them on the basis of the
weaknesses and strengths in the methodologies of the studies being reviewed);
6. is organised under subheadings
7. forms a connected argument; and
8. has a summary at the end.
AHAQUE, PR RESEARCH, MSJ
Example

AHAQUE, PR RESEARCH, MSJ