 A Literature Review is a written

summary of journal articles, books,

and other documents that describes
the past and current state of
information, organizes the text into
topics and documents a need for a
proposed study.
1. The review describes theoretical
perspectives and previous research
findings related to the problem at
hand.
2. Its function is to look again/re+view
at what others have done in areas
that are similar.
3. It will increase your confidence in
your topic.
4. It can provide you with new ideas
and approaches that may not have
occurred to you.
5. It shows how others have handled
the methodology and design
issues in studies similar to your
own.
6. It can help you interpret and make
sense of your findings and
ultimately, help you tie your
results to the work of those who
have preceded you.
1. Identify key terms
2. Locate literature
3. Critically evaluate and select the
literature for your review
4. Organize the literature you have
selected
5. Write a review
Strategies for managing this step:
a) Write a preliminary working title
by selecting keywords that
capture the central idea of your
study.
b) Pose a short, general questions
that you would like answered in
the study.
C ) Use words that authors reported
in the literature.

d) Look in a catalog of terms to find

words that match your topic.

e) Go to the bookshelves in a library,

check the table of content of
educational journals from the last
7 – 10 years, and look for key
terms in titles to the articles.
Use both primary and secondary
source materials.
a) Primary source consists of
literature reported by the
individuals who actually
conducted the research or
originated the ideas e.g.
research articles published by
educational journals.
b) Secondary source is one that
reviews, summarizes or
discusses research conducted by
others. Example:
i) Textbooks,
ii) Scholarly books,
iii) Theses and dissertations,
iv) Dictionaries, glossaries of terms,
v) Databases
vi) Encyclopedias (e.g. the
Encyclopedia of Educational
Research, 6th ed. 1992),
vii) Reviews, handbooks and
yearbooks.
Once you locate the literature, you
need to determine if it is a good
source to use and whether it is
relevant for your particular research.
➢ Start with refereed(judged) journal
articles, then books, papers,
dissertations and theses, and finally
non-refereed journal articles posted
to websites.
Relevance has the following criteria:
i) Does the literature focus on the
same topic as your proposed
study?
ii) Does the literature examine the
related research problem with your
study?
iii) Is the literature available in the
library or can you download it
from a website?

If you answer “yes” to these

questions, then the literature is
relevant.
 As you organize and take notes, a
conceptual picture will begin to
emerge.
 Having a diagram of this
conceptualization or literature map
allows you to organize the literature in
your mind, identify where study fits
into this literature, and convince
others of the importance of your study.
 LITERATURE MAP

The need for Teaching Program

Bennet, 2005; Smith, 2002;

N.elson, 2007

Online Classroom
Program Possible Program
Improvement
Michael,
2000 et al
Attitude Personal
towards Personal Conventional insight of
study abroad insight of Program pre-service
Kingston, pre-service Simon, 2006; teachers
2009 teachers cooper, 2009 Frank, 2003;
Frank, 2003;

Proposed study: These aspects were included

in the study because connecting prior
knowledge …(Ponder , Marion John, 2001) …
 Guidelines for this:
i) Identify key terms for you topic and
place them at the top of the map.

ii) Take the info and sort it into

groups of related topical areas.
iii) Provide label for each box
(later this label is useful as a
heading in your literature review).
iv) Indicate whether your study
will extend or add to the
literature.

v) Draw line connecting your

proposed study to other branches
of the literature.
In quantitative research, the review
should include three elements:
a) A summary of the study
reviewed,
b) An analysis of the study and
c) A summary of how the study
relates to the research problem.
 Review should not contain long
quotations or use the same wording
in discussing each study. E.g. “A
study by Brown (2000) indicated
that…”, “A study by Jones (2001)
showed that …”

 Quotations in general should be used

sparingly and only when a special or
critical meaning could not be
indicated by your words.
In qualitative research, the review
should:
1. Provide historical background
2. Provide summary of general
literature
3. Show different perspective on
the subject under investigation.
 The initial review of literature is
preliminary rather than complete.

 Once the study is on progress and

data are being collected, the
researcher continues to read
broadly in the literature.
 How do you end literature review?
 Summarize the major themes. Ask
yourself, “What are the major
results from all of the studies I
have reviewed?”
 Then briefly summarize each theme (can
be 3 or 4 themes). These must be the
major idea under each major heading in
the literature.
Research Gap is a topic or area for
which missing or inadequate
information limits the ability of
reviewers to reach conclusion on a
given question.
 It is what makes your manuscript
publishable.
 It is missing element in the existing
research literature.
 It is the gap that you fill with your
research study.
 Thus finally you should suggest
reasons why the current literature
is deficient and why educators need
additional research on your topic.
When do you know that you have
completed the review of the
literature?
i. Look for repetitive patterns in the
materials you are finding and
reading.
ii. When you are no longer encountering
new viewpoints, then you may be
reasonably sure that you are familiar
with the critical parts of literature.
 //