Literature

review

Satya Shrestha
Lecturer
KUSMS
Introduction (1/2)
• A review of literature is a description and analysis of the
literature relevant to a particular field or topic.
• It provides an overview of what work already had been
carried out, who are the key researchers who did that
work, which of the questions are already answered
regarding a particular area of research interest, what
methods were used to answer the particular questions and
what are prevailing theories and hypothesis.
Introduction (2/2)
• Summary of theoretical and empirical sources to generate a
picture of what is known and not known about a particular
problem.
(Nancy Burns &Susan K)
• A critical summary of research on a topic of interest, often
prepared to put a research problem in context.
(Polit)
• It is defined as a broad, comprehensive, in depth, systematic
and critical review of scholarly publication, unpublished
printed or audio visual materials and personal
communications.
(S.K. Sharma)
Purpose of literature review (1/2)
• The overall purpose of a review of literature is to develop a
strong knowledge base to carry out research.

• It can help in the formulation or clarification of a research

problem. (develop insight to the problem)

• To find out what have previously done in related to the

problem.

• To determine what is known and not known about a

subject, concept or problem.
Purpose of literature review (2/2)
• To describe the strength and weakness of design/
methods and instruments used in earlier research.

• To determine an appropriate research

design/method, instruments and analysis methods
for answering the research questions.

• To assess the feasibility of a proposed study by

familiarity with related work.
Sources of literature review
• Primary sources
• Secondary sources
Sources of literature review
• Primary resources
• Primary resources contain first-hand information,
meaning that you are reading the author’s own account
on a specific topic or event that s/he participated in.
Sources of literature review

• Examples of a primary source are:

• Original documents such as diaries, speeches,
manuscripts, letters, interviews, records, eyewitness
accounts, autobiographies
• Empirical scholarly works such as research articles,
clinical reports, case studies, dissertations
• Creative works such as poetry, music, video, photography
Sources of literature review
• Secondary sources
• Secondary sources describe, summarize, or discuss
information or details originally presented in another
source; meaning the author, in most cases, did not
participate in the event.
• This type of source is written for a broad audience and
will include definitions of discipline specific terms,
history relating to the topic, significant theories and
principles, and summaries of major studies/events as
related to the topic.
Sources of literature review

• Examples of a secondary source are:

• Publications such as textbooks, magazine articles, book
reviews, commentaries, encyclopedias
 Steps of literature review
1. Understanding the concepts of research problem and identifying
the key search terms
2. Identifying the relevant sources
– Journals, books, electronic literature sources

3. Searching the literature

– Electronic search engines and databases: PubMed, CINHAL, Google
Scholar
– Identify and use appropriate keywords. Consider alternative spellings
and keywords

4. Analyzing and synthesizing the literature

– Initial overview
– Question, read and summarize

5. Writing the literature review

 Points to be considered for
literature review
• Report of the study of closely related problems that has been
investigated.
• Design of the study including procedures and data gathering
instruments used.
• Population that were sampled and sampling method employed.
• Variables that are defined.
• Extraneous variables that could have affected the findings
• Recommendations for further research.
 Documenting the literature
• A file should be kept on all references reviewed and
each entry should include the citation of the references
author’s name, title of the report, name of the books,
journals, articles, name of the publisher, date of the
publication and page number on which the material appear
and notes you have made on it.
Thank you