RES 301

Literature Review
 What is literature review?
Today Why review?
Types of literature review
The process
Critical review
Structure
Literature search
Write and Cite
 To generate research ideas
What To conduct a ‘preliminary’ search
is of existing material
the Bring clarity and focus to your
research problem
point? To develop a critical perspective,
situating your research within the
wider body of work
The gap in the literature is the
justification for your research
 Provides the foundation on which
What your research is built
is
the Identifies variables that previous
point? studies found either important or
unimportant

Suggests factors to consider in

setting the research design and
methodology

Further research
 Highlighting your own arguments in
What relation to what exists

is To organise valuable ideas and

the contextualise findings
point?
To identify other research that may be
in progress

To demonstrate that you have a good

grasp of the most important debates in
your research area
 What is The documentation of a
comprehensive review of the
Literatur published and unpublished work in
the areas of specific interest to the
e researcher.
Review?
An integral part of the entire research
process and makes a valuable
contribution to almost every
operational step
 Argumentative Review
– Examines literature selectively in
Types order to support or refute an
of argument.
Reviews Integrative Review
– reviews, critiques, and synthesizes
representative literature on a topic
to create new frameworks and
perspectives.
Historical Review
– focused on examining research
throughout a period of time
 Methodological Review
– A review does not always focus
on what someone said [content],
Types but how they said it [method of analysis].
of
Reviews Systematic Review
– a meticulous summary of all the available
primary research in response to a research
question. It considers all the existing research
and may be called ‘research on research’

Theoretical Review
– helps to establish existing theories, the
relationships between them, to what degree
they have been investigated, and to develop
new hypotheses to be tested
 Steps in develop a
writing up
the
literature
Literature develop
conceptual
framework reviewed
theoretical
Review review and
empirical
literature
selected
search
for
existing
literatur
e
 Deductive -
Develops a conceptual framework
Approaches from the literature which is then
tested using the data

Inductive -
Explores the data to develop
theories which are then tested
against the literature
 Three common structures
Structure
of the • A single chapter
literature
review
• A series of chapters

• Throughout the report

 • Is your literature review organised thematically
around the ideas contained in the research being
reviewed rather than the researchers?
Evaluating
the • Are your arguments coherent and cohesive – do
structure of your ideas link in a way that will be logical to
the literature your reader?
review • Have you used sub-headings within the literature
review to help guide your reader?

• Does the way you have structured your literature

review draw your reader’s attention to those
issues which are going to be the focus of your
research?

• Does your literature review lead your reader into

subsequent sections of your report?
 • Demonstrate that you have read, understood
The key to and evaluated your material
a critical
literature • Link the different ideas to form a cohesive
review and coherent argument

• Make clear connections to your research

objectives and the subsequent empirical
material

Saunders et al. (2012)

Sources
 Write down

The • parameters of your search

literature • key words and search terms to
search be used
strategy • databases and search engines
to be used
• criteria for selection of relevant
and useful studies
 Searching the Internet

Conducting
a literature
search

Saunders et al. (2012)

 Searching the Internet

Conducting
a literature
search

Saunders et al. (2012)

 Identify search words
Searching
Analyse your research topic or
question
What are the main ideas?
What concepts or theories have
you already covered?
Write down your main ideas,
synonyms, related words and
phrases.
 AND
Limit results Education AND Women
(Search for content that contains both education and women)
OR
Boolean One term OR another Female OR Women
Operators (Search for content that contains female OR women.)
-
Exclude a term from the search Education -Primary
(Limits results to only those with education and not the term
primary.)
-site:
Exclude a website from the search Usecases -
site:ieeexplore.ieee.org
(Limits results to results other than ieee explore.)
~
Synonyms of term~education
(Search for the term education and its synonyms.)

““
Exact phrase “Women in Education”
(Search for the phrase women in education.)
Evaluating • Define the scope of your review
the
literature
• Assess relevance and value

• Assess sufficiency
 Keep a record of the literature
you collect
Save Record where and when you
References retrieved the information
Use a reference manager!!!!!
It can be a nightmare trying to
relocate documents after writing
up.
 Four common forms

• Stealing material from another source

Plagiarism • Submitting material written by another

• Copying material without quotation marks

• Paraphrasing material without

documentation

Adapted from Park (2003), cited in Easterby-Smith et al.

(2008)
 Citing Sources
If it’s not your own idea (and not common
knowledge)—DOCUMENT IT!
• Paraphrase key ideas.

• Use quotations sparingly.

• Introduce quotations effectively.

• Use proper in-text citation to document the source of ideas.

• Again, maintain accurate bibliographic records.

Characteristic Outlining important research
s of trends
Effective Assessing the strengths and
Literature weaknesses of existing research
Reviews Identifying potential gaps in
knowledge
Establishing a need for current
and/or future research projects
 In the initial stages of a research,
Three
when making research proposal
ways
of
using To provide the theoretical
literature framework and context

To help place research findings

within the wider body of
knowledge
Adopting a critical view of your reading
• Previewing: Browsing the text to find out what it
purpose
• Annotating: Conducting an analogue with yourself, the
author and the issues at stake
• Summarising: Be able to explain/state the text in your
own words
• Comparing and contrasting: How has your thinking been
altered by this reading?
• Use review questions: Questions which you ask yourself
during reading which are linked to your research
Critical Review Process
Critical review v not critical
Questions to help critical reading and
noting
Information you need to reference publications
Structuring your critical literature review
 • Mind maps
– Brief version of research topic in the middle of
the page
– expand with themes and sub-themes

Strategies • Planning
– use themes or categories to organise your content
– create a detailed outline for each main paragraph
an list works that will be discussed/analysed. use
keywords, themes, arguments and relevant data
– easier to keep track of ideas

• Maintain a current reference list

• Review, rewrite and edit
 Writing your Literature Review

As you read, try to see the “big picture”—your literature

review should provide an overview of the state of research.
Include only those source materials that help you shape
your argument.
Balance summary and analysis as you write.
Keep in mind your purpose for writing:
– How will this review benefit readers?
– How does this review contribute to your study?
Be meticulous about citations.
 While reading the literature for theoretical
background of your study, you will realise that
certain themes have emerged.
Writing
your List the main ones, converting them into
subheadings.
literature
review These subheadings should be precise, descriptive of
the theme in question, and follow a logical
progression.

Now, under each subheading, record the main

findings with respect to the theme in question

highlighting the reasons for and against an argument

if they exist, and identifying gaps and issues.
 Researcher’s idea on how the
research problem will have to be
Develop a explored
conceptual
framework
Stems from the theoretical and
empirical reviews.
 The critical literature review

• Sets the research in context

• Leads the reader into later sections of the

Summary
report

• Begins at a general level and narrows to

specific topics