Talha Maqsood /9418/

Usama Shokat /9420/

Literature Review

In essence, a literature review identifies, evaluates and synthesizes the relevant literature within a
particular field of research. It illuminates how knowledge has evolved within the field, highlighting what
has already been done, what is generally accepted, what is emerging and what is the current state of
thinking on the topic.

 What is meant by the term literature?

Literature refers to a collection of published information/materials on a particular area of research or

topic, such as books and journal articles of academic value. However, your literature review does not
need to be inclusive of every article and book that has been written on your topic because that will be
too broad. Rather, it should include the key sources related to the main debates, trends and gaps in your
research area.

 What is meant by the term review?

To review the literature means to be able to identify what has been established, discredited and
accepted in your field*

1. Areas of controversy or conflict among different schools of thought

2. Problems or issues that remain unsolved
3. Emerging trends and new approaches
4. How your research extends, builds upon, and departs from previous research.
 Importance
Besides enlarging your knowledge about the topic, writing a literature review lets you gain And
demonstrate skills in two areas:
1. Information seeking: the ability to scan the literature efficiently, using Manual and
computerized methods, to identify a set of useful articles, books And documents;
2. Critical appraisal: the ability to apply principles of analysis to identify Unbiased and valid
studies.
 Analysis and synthesis

Writing a literature review involves analyzing and synthesizing previous research. Analysis and
synthesis may appear to be two opposing methods: ‘Whereas analysis involves systematically
breaking down the relevant literature into its constituent parts, synthesis is the act of making
connections between those parts identified in the analysis.

In a literature review, however, you will notice the synergy between analysis and synthesis as you
zoom-in to closely analyze an individual source, then zoom-out to consider it in relation to the
broader field.
 After analyzing a range of sources, you should synthesize the relevant sources, connecting, linking
and positioning them against each other, in order to identify the recurring themes, trends and areas
of agreement or disagreement within your research field.

The process of conducting a literature review

1. Locate relevant literature,

a) Identify key text
2. Review the literature
a) Read key text
b) Analyze and evaluate critically
3. Write about the literature
a) Synthesize
b) Organize

After selecting a topic to investigate, you will begin to locate and read sources. Then you will analyse,
evaluate and synthesize the texts before organizing them into a logical structure that you will use to
write your literature review.

 Ways to Organize Your Literature Review

a) Chronology of Event
b) By Publication
c) Thematic [“conceptual categories”]
d) Methodological