Week 3: Conducting a Literature Review

The most important reason for doing research is to produce new knowledge and understanding
and disseminate it for everyone's use. When planning a research project, it is important to know
what the current state of knowledge is on your chosen topic, as spending months producing
knowledge that is already freely available is an absolute waste of time. Therefore, one of the first
steps in planning a research project is to conduct a literature review: that is, scanning all
available sources of information to keep track of the latest information and evaluating them for
relevance, quality, controversy, and controversy. spaces. The last two will indicate where
additional research is needed to try to resolve a dispute or fill a gap. This chapter explains where
to find the information you need and how to analyze and present it so you can build a solid
foundation for your research project.

Literature reviews are a vital part of a research project or article and are especially important
during graduate school. This brochure will focus on defining what a literature review is, how to
organize and synthesize information, and what the different parts of a literature review are.
What is a literature review? A literature review is the examination of scientific sources on a
particular topic. It provides an overview of existing knowledge, allowing you to identify relevant
theories, methods, and gaps in existing research that you can then apply to your article,
dissertation, or dissertation topic.

A good literature review doesn't just summarize sources; Analyzes, synthesizes, and critically
evaluates to give a clear picture of the state of knowledge on the subject.

What is a Literature Review Not?

The literature review is not an annotated bibliography. In an annotated bibliography, the author
presents a summary and critical evaluation of each individual article or scholarly source, with
little or no connection between the various articles or sources. This is very different from
synthesizing and comparing information in a literature review. Additionally, a literature review is
not an article, report, or research paper; because it does not state, prove or develop the main
points. A literature review does not answer a question, nor is it a list of summarized articles.

What is Literature Review?

A literature review is a review or discussion of existing published material on a particular topic.

It tries to synthesize and evaluate materials and information according to the research question,
thesis and main theme. In other words, rather than supporting an argument or simply making a
list of summarized research, a literature review synthesizes and evaluates others' ideas on the
topic you provided. This lets your readers know what is being said about your topic, how these
sources compare to each other, and what gaps there are in the research.
When you write a thesis, dissertation, or research paper, you will likely need to conduct a
literature review to situate your research within existing knowledge.

Evaluate the current state of research and demonstrate knowledge of scientific debates on your
topic.
Literature review demonstrates your research ability; It also shows your expertise in your chosen
subject. By including a literature review in your project or thesis, you also provide your reader
with the most common theories and studies on your topic, evaluations and comparisons of these
studies, and possible gaps in the literature. This helps your reader understand your
project/thesis better. It also makes you a more convincing and reliable writer.
Writing a literature review is an especially important skill if you want to apply to graduate school
or pursue a career in research. We've written a step-by-step guide that you can follow below.
Search for relevant literature

Before you start searching for literature, you need a clearly defined topic.
If you are writing the literature review section of a dissertation or research paper, you will
search for literature relevant to your research problem and questions.

Make a list of keywords

Start by creating a list of keywords related to your research question. Include each of the key
concepts or variables you are interested in and list synonyms and related terms. As you discover
new keywords during your literature research, you can add them to this list.
Use your keywords to start searching for resources.

Be sure to read the abstract to find out if an article is relevant to your question. Once you find a
useful book or article, you can check the bibliography to find other related resources.

Evaluate and select sources

You probably won't be able to fully read all that has been written about your topic, so you will
need to evaluate which sources are most relevant to your research question.

Make sure the sources you use are reliable, and be sure to read important studies and important
theories in your field of research.
You can use our template to summarize and evaluate the resources you intend to use.

Take notes and cite your sources As you read,

you should also begin the writing process. Make notes that you can later include in the text of
your literature review.
It is important to follow your sources with citations to avoid plagiarism. It may be helpful to
prepare an annotated bibliography in which you compile all the citation information and write a
summary and analysis paragraph for each source. This helps you remember what you read and
saves time later on.
To begin organizing the argument and structure of your literature review, make sure you
understand the connections and relationships between the sources you read.

This step will help you develop the structure of your literature review and demonstrate how your
own research will contribute to existing knowledge.
Example of trends and gaps.
Most research has focused on how to learn English well.
The goal of most research is to find problems and find a way to solve them.
However, there is still a lack of findings about students' characteristics, especially students'
learning styles; This is a gap you can address in your own research.

Outline the structure of your literature review

There are various approaches to organizing the body of a literature review. You may combine
several of these strategies, depending on the length of your literature review.
The simplest approach is to monitor the development of the topic over time. However, if you
choose this strategy, be careful to avoid listing and summarizing sources sequentially.
Try to analyze the patterns, turning points, and important debates that have shaped the
direction of the field. Give your interpretation of how and why certain developments occurred.
If you found some major recurring themes, you can organize your literature review into
subsections that address different aspects of the topic.
 If you draw your sources from different disciplines or areas where a variety of research is used,
you may want to compare the results and conclusions that emerge from different approaches.

A literature review often forms the basis of a theoretical framework. You can use it to discuss
various theories, models, and definitions of key concepts.
You may discuss the appropriateness of a particular theoretical approach or combine various
theoretical concepts to create a framework for your research.

Like other academic texts, your literature review should have an introduction, a body, and a
conclusion. What you include in each depends on the purpose of your literature review.

Introduction

The introduction should clearly state the focus and purpose of the literature review.
Tip: If you are writing the literature review as part of your dissertation or dissertation, reiterate
your central problem or research question and give a brief summary of the scientific context.
You can emphasize the topicality of the topic or highlight a gap in the literature.
Keep it short: Mostly just a paragraph long, but can be up to 1.5 pages.
o Introduce the larger topic.
o Narrow down the larger topic to your manageable topic.
o Explain the importance of the topic.
o Formulate the research question.
o Explain the extent of your insurance coverage.
o Organize the review.

Body

Depending on the length of your literature review, you may want to break the body into
subsections. You can use a subheading for each theme, period or methodological approach.
Provide some background information, such as definition of concepts, historical perspective.
o Divide the research into themes, trends, approaches, etc. Group by.
o Summarize individual items in as much detail as possible.
o Incorporate quotes/descriptions from the literature into your analysis and show the reader how
it relates to your overall research question.
o Point out methodological flaws, gaps in research, or inconsistencies in theory and findings.

Remember that summarizing means summarizing the important information of the source;
whereas synthesizing means rearranging, remixing, or reinterpreting that information and
involves finding connections and relationships between your sources. Synthesizing research
demonstrates awareness of how research from different articles can be intertwined. Also,
evaluate means to evaluate the value of something. This means that when synthesizing
information from a particular source, be sure to include that source's evaluation.

Booth-Butterfield, M. and Frisby, B.B. The “how” and “why” of flirtatious communication between
marriage partners. Communication Quarterly, 60, 465-480.
Frisby, B.N. «There would be no marriage without flirting»: Flirtatious communication between
relationship partners. Qualitative Research Reports in Communication, 10, 55-60. doi:
10.1080/17459430902839066
Horan, S.M. & Booth-Butterfield, M. . Investing in love: A study of affective exchange theory and
relational qualities. Communication Quarterly, 58, 394-413. doi: 10.1080/01463373.2010.524876

Abstract

Frisby and Booth-Butterfield's study explores how flirting with one's partner provides positive
 benefits within the relationship.

In their research on the purpose of flirting, Synthesis

Frisby and Booth-Butterfield found that the biggest reason for flirting in marriage is to create a
more intimate world between the couple and to encourage sex. They also found that women
wearing hats were more likely to benefit from dating. However, a separate study on dating found
that men also use careful flirting as a way to make their partners feel attractive. Agreeing with
previous research, Frisby found that men generally flirt to have sex, while women flirt to
stimulate attention, fun, and interest in their partner.

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