Civil Engineering Postgraduate Seminar Series 4.

Title:
A Comprehensive Guide on how to Conduct
Literature Review

by
Okiemute Roland Ogirigbo (PhD, MNSE)
Civil Engineering Postgraduate Seminar Series 4.0

My Background:
• Professional:
o Senior Lecturer in Civil/Structural Engineering,
UNIBEN
o Registered Engineer
• Educational:
o B.Eng – Civil Engineering, UNIBEN
o MSc – Offshore Technology, Cranfield University,
England
o PhD – Structural Engineering, University of
Leeds, England
Civil Engineering Postgraduate Seminar Series 4.0

Outline of Presentation:
• Introduction
o Meaning of literature review
o Why we write literature review
• How to write a literature review
o Narrow your topic
o Search for literature
o Read and evaluate selected articles
o Organise the selected papers
o Write the paper
o Review your work
o Develop a summary/purpose statement
Civil Engineering Postgraduate Seminar Series 4.0

What is literature review?

• A search and evaluation of the available
literature in your given subject or
chosen topic area
• A documentation of the state of the art
with respect to the subject or topic you are
writing about
• Shows your readers that you have an in-
depth grasp of your subject
• Shows that you understand where your own research fits into
and adds to an existing body of agreed knowledge

A Comprehensive Guide on how to Conduct Literature Review

Civil Engineering Postgraduate Seminar Series 4.0

A literature review should achieve the following:

• Provide a survey of the literature in your chosen area of study

• Synthesize the information in that literature into a summary

• Critically analyse the information gathered

o by identifying gaps in current knowledge
o by showing limitations of theories and points of view
o by formulating areas for further research and reviewing
areas of controversy

• Present the literature in an organised way

A Comprehensive Guide on how to Conduct Literature Review
Civil Engineering Postgraduate Seminar Series 4.0

How to write a literature review:

1. Narrow your topic

• Consider your specific area of study

• Think about what interests you and

what interests other researchers in
your field

• Concept of mind mapping – develop

keywords, sub-topics and connect
them to main topic
A Comprehensive Guide on how to Conduct Literature Review
Civil Engineering Postgraduate Seminar Series 4.0

How to write a literature review:

2. Search for literature

• Define your selection criteria – date

range, geographic region, etc.

• Databases to explore – Google

Scholar, Scopus, Web of science,
ScienceDirect, etc.

• Reference lists of recent articles and

reviews can lead to other useful
papers
A Comprehensive Guide on how to Conduct Literature Review
Civil Engineering Postgraduate Seminar Series 4.0

Practical Example: Searching for a research interest

using Google and Google Scholar

A Comprehensive Guide on how to Conduct Literature Review

Civil Engineering Postgraduate Seminar Series 4.0

Practical Example: Searching for a research interest

using Google and Google Scholar

A Comprehensive Guide on how to Conduct Literature Review

Civil Engineering Postgraduate Seminar Series 4.0

How to write a literature review:

3. Read and evaluate the selected articles
• Evaluate and synthesize the studies' findings and conclusions
• Note the following:
o Assumptions some or most researchers seem to make
o Methodologies, testing procedures, subjects, material
tested researchers use
o Experts in the field: names/labs that are frequently
referenced
o Conflicting theories, results, methodologies
o Popularity of theories and how this has/has not changed
over time
A Comprehensive Guide on how to Conduct Literature Review
Civil Engineering Postgraduate Seminar Series 4.0

How to write a literature review:

4. Organise the selected papers by
• Looking for patterns and how the articles fit into already
developed sub-topics

• Note the following:

o Findings that are common/contested
o Important trends in the research
o The most influential theories

There might be need to develop new sub-topics at this stage!

A Comprehensive Guide on how to Conduct Literature Review

Civil Engineering Postgraduate Seminar Series 4.0

How to write a literature review:

5. Write the paper
• Follow the organizational structure you
developed, including the headings and
subheadings you constructed
• Make certain that each section links
logically to the one before and after
• Structure your sections by themes or
subtopics not by individual theorists or
researchers
• Prioritize analysis over description
A Comprehensive Guide on how to Conduct Literature Review
Civil Engineering Postgraduate Seminar Series 4.0

Practical example of Student A and Student B

Student A: Smith (2000) concludes that personal privacy in their living quarters is the most important factor in
nursing home residents' perception of their autonomy. He suggests that the physical environment in the more
public spaces of the building did not have much impact on their perceptions. Neither the layout of the building
nor the activities available seem to make much difference. Jones and Johnstone (2001) make the claim that the
need to control one's environment is a fundamental need of life, and suggest that the approach of most
institutions, which is to provide total care, may be as bad as no care at all. If people have no choices or think that
they have none, they become depressed.

Student B: After studying residents and staff from two intermediate care facilities in Calgary, Alberta, Smith
(2000) came to the conclusion that except for the amount of personal privacy available to residents, the physical
environment of these institutions had minimal if any effect on their perceptions of control (autonomy).
However, French (1998) and Haroon (2000) found that availability of private areas is not the only aspect of the
physical environment that determines residents' autonomy. Haroon (2000) interviewed 115 residents from 32
different nursing homes known to have different levels of autonomy. It was found that physical structures, such
as standardized furniture, heating that could not be individually regulated, and no possession of a house key for
residents limited their feelings of independence. Moreover, Hope (2002), who interviewed 225 residents from
various nursing homes, substantiates the claim that characteristics of the institutional environment such as the
extent of resources in the facility, as well as its location, are features which residents have indicated as being of
great importance to their independence.

A Comprehensive Guide on how to Conduct Literature Review

Civil Engineering Postgraduate Seminar Series 4.0

Practical example of Student A and Student B:

Comparison of Student A to Student B:

• Student A: merely describes the literature. Easier to do

• Student B: takes a more analytical and evaluative approach

by comparing and contrasting. Requires more work and
ability to synthesize knowledge

• Take note of key phrases used by Student B: “However”,

“Moreover”, “Substantiates the claim”

A Comprehensive Guide on how to Conduct Literature Review

Civil Engineering Postgraduate Seminar Series 4.0

How to write a literature review:

6. Review your work
• Look at the topic sentences of each
paragraph:
o Do they indicate the main points of your
literature review?
o Do the sentences present a clear
position of your paper?
o Are they logical from beginning to end?

A Comprehensive Guide on how to Conduct Literature Review

Civil Engineering Postgraduate Seminar Series 4.0

How to write a literature review:

6. Review your work (contd.)
• Make an outline of each section of the
paper:
o Check if you need to add more
information, delete irrelevant
information or re-structure sections
• Read your work out loud
o Check if you need to add punctuation
marks, sentence divides, grammatical
errors, unclear sentences

A Comprehensive Guide on how to Conduct Literature Review

Civil Engineering Postgraduate Seminar Series 4.0

How to write a literature review:

6. Review your work (contd.)
• Check to make certain that you have
covered all of the important, up-to-date,
and pertinent texts
• Check to ensure that your literature is up to
date
• Check to ensure that citations and
references are correct, and presented in the
appropriate style
• Check for plagiarism

A Comprehensive Guide on how to Conduct Literature Review

Civil Engineering Postgraduate Seminar Series 4.0

How to write a literature review:

7. Write a summary or purpose statement
• Write a one or two sentence statement summarizing the
conclusion you have reached about the major trends and
developments you see in the research that has been conducted
on your subject

• Highlight the gaps you’ve identified in the literature

• Conclude by setting out the path for your study i.e. the gaps
your study intends to fill

A Comprehensive Guide on how to Conduct Literature Review

Civil Engineering Postgraduate Seminar Series 4.0

Thanks for listening!

A Comprehensive Guide on how to Conduct Literature Review