Topic 3.

THE LITERATURE REVIEW

A literature review is a text written by someone to consider the critical points of current
knowledge including substantive findings, as well as theoretical and methodological
contributions to a particular topic. Literature reviews are secondary sources, and as such, do not
report any new or original experimental work. Also, a literature review can be interpreted as a
review of an abstract accomplishment. A literature review is a piece of discursive prose, not a list
describing or summarizing one piece of literature after another. Organize the literature review
into sections that present themes or identify trends, including relevant theory.

A literature review gives an overview of the field of inquiry: what has already been said on the
topic, who the key writers are, what the prevailing theories and hypotheses are, what questions
are being asked, and what methodologies and methods are appropriate and useful. A critical
literature review shows how prevailing ideas fit into your own thesis, and how your thesis agrees
or differs from them.

A literature review is a description of the literature relevant to a particular field or topic. This is
often written as part of a postgraduate thesis proposal, or at the commencement of a thesis. A
critical literature review is a critical assessment of the relevant literature. It is unlikely that you
will be able to write a truly critical assessment of the literature until you have a good grasp of the
subject, usually at some point near the end of your thesis. A literature review demonstrates to
your reader that you are able to: Understand and critically analyze the background research.
Select and source the information that is necessary to develop a context for your research. It also:
Shows how your investigation relates to previous research; Reveals the contribution that your
investigation makes to this field (fills a gap, or builds on existing research, for instance);
Provides evidence that may help explain your findings later. If you are doing a thesis,
dissertation, or a long report it is likely that you will need to include a literature review. If you
are doing a lab write-up or a shorter report, some background reading may be required to give
context to your work, but this is usually included as an analysis in the introduction and
discussion sections.

A literature review is a select analysis of existing research which is relevant to your topic,
showing how it relates to your investigation. It explains and justifies how your investigation may
help answer some of the questions or gaps in this area of research. A literature review is not a
straightforward summary of everything you have read on the topic and it is not a chronological
description of what was discovered in your field. A longer literature review may have headings
to help group the relevant research into themes or topics. This gives a focus to your analysis, as
you can group similar studies together and compare and contrast their approaches, any
weaknesses or strengths in their methods, and their findings.

A systematic review is a literature review focused on a research question, trying to identify,

appraise, select and synthesize all high quality research evidence relevant to that question. A
meta analysis is typically a systematic review using statistical methods to effectively combine
the data used on all selected studies to produce a more reliable result.

Literature review surveys scholarly articles, books and other sources (e.g. dissertations,
conference proceedings) relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, providing a
description, summary, and critical evaluation of each work. The purpose of a literature review is
to offer an overview of significant literature published on a topic. New discoveries don't
materialize out of nowhere; they build upon the findings of previous experiments and
investigations. A literature review shows how the investigation you are conducting fits with what
has gone before and puts it into context. A systematic review is a literature review focused on a
research question, trying to identify, appraise, select and synthesize all high quality research
evidence relevant to that question.

A LITERATURE REVIEW MUST DO THESE THINGS OR STEPS FOLLOWED

(i)Be organized around and related directly to the thesis or research question you are developing

(ii)An overview of the subject, issue or theory under consideration, along with the objectives of
the literature review

(iii) Division of works under review into categories (e.g. those in support of a particular position,
those against, and those offering alternative theses entirely)

(iv)Explanation of how each work is similar to and how it varies from the others

(v)Synthesize results into a summary of what is and is not known

(vi) Identify areas of controversy in the literature

(vii) Formulate questions that need further research

(viii)Conclusions as to which pieces are best considered in their argument, are most convincing
of their opinions, and make the greatest contribution to the understanding and development of
their area of research.

Start by identifying what you will need to know to inform your research:

What research has already been done on this topic?

What are the sub-areas of the topic you need to explore?

What other research (perhaps not directly on the topic) might be relevant to your investigation?

How do these sub-topics and other research overlap with your investigation?

Some questions to ask yourself before including material:

What is the specific thesis, problem, or research question that my literature review helps to
define?

What type of literature review am I conducting? Am I looking at issues of theory?

methodology? policy? quantitative research (e.g. on the effectiveness of a new procedure)?
qualitative research (e.g., studies )?What is the scope of my literature review? What types of
publications am I using (e.g., journals, books, government documents, popular media)? What
discipline am I working in (e.g., nursing; psychology, sociology, and medicine)? How good was
my information seeking? Has my search been wide enough to ensure I've found all the relevant
material? Has it been narrow enough to exclude irrelevant material? Is the number of sources I've
used appropriate for the length of my paper? Have I critically analyzed the literature I use? Do I
follow through a set of concepts and questions, comparing items to each other in the ways they
deal with them? Instead of just listing and summarizing items, do I assess them, discussing
strengths and weaknesses? Have I cited and discussed studies contrary to my perspective? Will
the reader find my literature review relevant, appropriate, and useful? For each article or book
you include, you should ask yourself questions like these:

Ask yourself questions like these:

What is the specific thesis, problem, or research question that my literature review helps to
define? What type of literature review am I conducting? Am I looking at issues of theory?
methodology? policy? quantitative research (e.g. on the effectiveness of a new procedure)?
qualitative research (e.g., studies )? What is the scope of my literature review? What types of
publications am I using (e.g., journals, books, government documents, popular media)? What
discipline am I working in (e.g., nursing psychology, sociology, medicine)?How good was my
information seeking? Has my search been wide enough to ensure I've found all the relevant
material? Has it been narrow enough to exclude irrelevant material? Is the number of sources I've
used appropriate for the length of my paper?

In material written for a popular readership, does the author use appeals to emotion, one-sided
examples, or rhetorically-charged language and tone? Is there an objective basis to the reasoning,
or is the author merely "proving" what he or she already believes? How does the author structure
the argument? Can you "deconstruct" the flow of the argument to see whether or where it breaks
down logically (e.g., in establishing cause-effect relationships)?

In what ways does this book or article contribute to our understanding of the problem under
study, and in what ways is it useful for practice? What are the strengths and limitations? How
does this book or article relate to the specific thesis or question I am developing?

PURPOSE OF A LITERATURE REVIEW

A literature review may constitute an essential chapter of a thesis or dissertation, or may be a

self-contained review of writings on a subject (such as a journal article) Literature’ covers
everything relevant that is written on a topic: books, journal articles, newspaper articles,
historical records, government reports, theses and dissertations, etc. The important word is
'relevant'. In either case, its purpose is to:

(i) Place each work in the context of its contribution to the understanding of the subject under
review

(ii)Describe the relationship of each work to the others under consideration

(iii) Identify new ways to interpret, and shed light on any gaps in, previous research

(iv)A literature review gives an overview of the field of inquiry: what has already been said on
the topic, who the key writers are, what the prevailing theories and hypotheses are, what
questions are being asked, and what methodologies and methods are appropriate and useful.

(v)A critical literature review shows how prevailing ideas fit into your own thesis, and how your
thesis agrees or differs from them

(vi) Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies

(vi) Identify areas of prior scholarship to prevent duplication of effort

(vii) Point the way forward for further research

(viii)Place one's original work (in the case of theses or dissertations) in the context of existing
literature. The literature review itself, however, does not present new primary scholarship.

How does a literature review differ from other assignments?

The review, like other forms of expository writing, has an introduction, body and conclusion,
well-formed paragraphs, and a logical structure. However, in other kinds of expository writing,
you use relevant literature to support the discussion of your thesis; in a literature review, the
literature itself is the subject of discussion.

Evaluating material

In assessing each piece, consideration should be given to:

Provenance: What are the author's credentials? Are the author's arguments supported by evidence
(e.g. primary historical material, case studies, narratives, statistics, recent scientific findings)?

Objectivity: Is the author's perspective even-handed or prejudicial? Is contrary data considered

or is certain pertinent information ignored to prove the author's point?

Persuasiveness: Which of the author's theses are most/least convincing?

 Value: Are the author's arguments and conclusions convincing? Does the work ultimately
contribute in any significant way to an understanding of the subject?

How many references to look for?

This depends on what the literature review is for, and what stage you are at in your studies. Your
supervisor or tutor should specify a minimum number of references. Generally speaking, a
reasonable number of references in a literature review would be:

(i)undergraduate review/proposal: 5-20 titles depending on level

(ii)Honors dissertation: 20+ titles (iii)Master’s thesis: 40+ titles (iv)Doctoral thesis: 50+ titles