FINDING AND

REVIEWING
THE LITERATURE

DR. ZADARIANA JAMIL @ OSMAN

FKA, UITM SHAH ALAM
LITERATURE REVIEW
• A literature review is a description of the literature relevant to a particul
ar field, theory or topic.

• Surveys all relevant literature to determine what is known and not known
about a particular topic.

• Why write literature review?

i. To discover what has been written about a topic already
ii. To determine what each source contributes to the topic
iii. To understand the relationship between the various contributions, identify
and (if possible) resolve contradictions, and determine gaps or
unanswered questions
• You need to establish that what you are proposing has not been done
in the same way before.

• To do this you obviously need to find out what has been researched,
and how, within the area that you want to investigate.

• A literature review gives an overview of the field of inquiry:

What
What the
What has methodologie
prevailing What
already been Who the
theories and questions are
s and
said on the writers are? methods are
hypotheses being asked?
topic? appropriate
are?
and useful?
 What sources are considered “valid” literature?

Conference Historical
Journal articles Books
proceedings records

Standards Technical
Government /Specifications notes/papers Project reports
records

Newspaper Manuals
articles /Guidelines
Dissertations Theses
What sources are considered NOT VALID literature?

Lecture Online
Wikipedia Blogs Notes Forums

KEEP IN MIND!!!

Don’t just summarise the research findings that others have

reported. You must also evaluate and comment of each study's
worth and validity.

You should conclude the review with a statement of your

hypothesis, or a focused research question.