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GENERAL GUIDES TO IMPROVE THE CHAPTER ON “RELATED LITERATURE REVIEW”

(Extracted from, ”Leedy, P.D. & Ormrod, J.E (2005). Practical Research: Planning and
Design.”

 This chapter should start with a kind of advance organizer/ brief introduction that outlines
what main issues are reviewed, the scope and the order in which these issues are treated in the
chapter.
 In a good literature review, the researcher doesn’t merely report the related literature. He or
she also evaluates, organizes and synthesizes what others have done.
o Evaluate– In reviewing the literature you should be critical of the methods, results
and conclusions of previous studies. Never take other people’s conclusions at face value.
Determine for yourself whether their conclusions are justified based on the data
presented.
o Organize- In addition to evaluating what you read, you must also organize the ideas
you encounter during your review. Look at how other authors have organized
literature reviews related to your topic for ideas.
o Synthesize- you must synthesize what you have learned from your review. In other
words, you must pull together the diverse perspectives and research results you have
read into a cohesive whole. Here are some examples of what you might do:
 Compare and contrast varying theoretical perspectives on the topic
 Show how approaches to the topic have changed overtime
 Describe general trends in research findings
 Identify discrepant or contradictory findings, and suggest possible
explanation for such discrepancies
 Identify general themes that run throughout the literature
 I just want to remind you that the review of the related literature is a discussion of the studies,
research reports, and scholarly writings that bear directly on your own effort.
Hence, in your review make sure that this is exactly what you did. To help you do this, you
might think of the review of the related literature section in your document to be a discussion
with a peer about what others have written in relation to what you plan to do.
 In your review you have to keep your reader constantly aware of how the literature you are
discussing is related to your problem. Point out precisely what the relationship is. Remember
that you are writing a review of the related literature. Literature reviews should never be a

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chain of isolated summaries of the writings of others (Jones says…; Smith says…; Black says…).
Whenever you cite a study, explain clearly how it relates to your own research problem. If you
cannot identify a relationship, you would do well to consider whether you should include the
study at all.
 In writing the review, always credit those authors whose ideas you are using or whose research
results you are reporting. The specific way in which you do this should be as per the latest
American Publication Manual Style.
 Review the literature. Don’t reproduce it!
 Summarize what you have said. Every discussion of related literature should end with a
brief summary section in which you gather up all that has been said and describe its
importance in terms of the research problem.

I strongly advise you to adhere to this suggestion and revise your work
accordingly.

Endalkachew Tesera