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Literature Review1

The document provides information on conducting a literature review. It defines a literature review as an examination of previous research in a particular field of study. The purposes of a literature review are to identify gaps in existing research, position a new project within previous work, and avoid duplicating past efforts. The document discusses where to find literature, how to organize sources and notes, and how to structure the writing of a literature review to convey the necessary information to the reader.

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Mustafa Khandgawi
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34 views26 pages

Literature Review1

The document provides information on conducting a literature review. It defines a literature review as an examination of previous research in a particular field of study. The purposes of a literature review are to identify gaps in existing research, position a new project within previous work, and avoid duplicating past efforts. The document discusses where to find literature, how to organize sources and notes, and how to structure the writing of a literature review to convey the necessary information to the reader.

Uploaded by

Mustafa Khandgawi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Literature Review

The Literature Review


What, Why, Where and How ?

This session
What is a literature review ?
Purposes of a literature review
Where to do literature reviews ?
Starting a literature review
Organizing sources and notes before writing
Writing a literature review
Conclusion

What is a literature review?


In the terms of a literature review, "the
literature" means the works you consult
in order to understand and investigate
your research problem.

A literature review is an examination (not an


information dump) of the research that has been
conducted in a particular field of study. Hart
(1998) defines it as:
The selection of available documents (both
published and unpublished) on the topic, which
contain information, ideas, data and evidence.
This selection is written from a particular
standpoint to full fil certain aims or express
certain views on the nature of the topic and how it
is to be investigated, and
The effective evaluation of these documents in
relation to the research being proposed.

What sort of questions should the


review answer?
What do we already know in the area
concerned?
What are the existing theories?
Are there any inconsistencies or other
shortcomings?
What views need to be (further) tested?
What evidence is lacking, inconclusive,
contradictory or too limited?
Why study (further) the research
problem?

Why do a Review?
Know what to do (before starting research):

to identify gaps in the literature


Know where to start (starting):

to carry on from where others have already


reached, or position your project relative to
previous work
to identify information, methods and ideas that
may be relevant to your project (i.e. avoid
reinventing the wheel)
Know what you have done (finishing):

to increase your breadth of knowledge of your


subject area
to put your work into perspective
Other:

to identify opposing views

The literature
Primary
Published papers in conferences or
journals
Papers in books
Research monographs
Technical reports? Web pages?
What degree of authority does this
source provide?

The literature
Secondary
Other summaries and review
articles
Textbooks
Encyclopedias

What literature should you


review? 1.
Journal articles: these are good, especially
for up-to-date information. They are
frequently used in literature reviews
because they offer a relatively concise,
up-to-date format for research.
Depending on the publication, these
materials may be refereed or nonrefereed materials.

What are refereed journals?


Refereed materials are publications
reviewed by "expert readers" or referees
before publication.
Refereed materials are also referred to
as Peer Reviewed.
Refereed materials assure readers that
the information conveyed is reliable and
timely.

What about non-refereed


journals?
Non-refereed materials such as Trade
Journals or Magazines use less rigorous
standards of screening prior to
publication.
Non-refereed materials may not by
checked as intensely as refereed
materials, but many can still be
considered scholarly.

What literature should you


review? 2.
Books: remember that books tend to be
less up-to-date, as it takes longer for a
book to be published than for a journal
article.
They are still likely to be useful for
including in your literature review as
they offer a good starting point from
which to find more detailed and up-todate sources of information.

What literature should you


review? 3.
Conference proceedings: these can be
useful in providing the latest research,
or research that has not been published.
They are also helpful in providing
information about people in different
research areas, and so can be helpful in
tracking down other work by the same
researchers.

What literature should you


review? 4.
Government/corporate reports: many
government departments and
corporations commission or carry out
research. Their published findings can
provide a useful source of information,
depending on your field of study.

What literature should you


review? 5.
Newspapers: since newspapers are
generally intended for a general (not
specialised) audience, the information
they provide will be of very limited use
for your literature review.
Newspapers are more helpful as
providers of information about recent
trends, discoveries or changes, e.g.
announcing changes in government
policy.
Newspapers do not give unbiased
opinions.

What literature should you


review? 6.
Theses and dissertations: these can be
useful sources of information. However
there are disadvantages:
they can be difficult to obtain since they
are not published, but are generally only
available from the library or interlibrary
loan
the student who carried out the
research may not be an experienced
researcher and therefore you might
have to treat their findings with more
caution than published research.

What literature should you


review? 7.
Internet: the fastest-growing source of
information is on the Internet.
bear in mind that anyone can post
information on the Internet so the
quality may not be reliable
the information you find may be
intended for a general audience and so
not be suitable for inclusion in your
literature review (information for a
general audience is usually less
detailed)

Starting a Literature Review

Preliminary checklist:

Have we formulated a topic and well-defined set of research


questions?
Have we discussed our topic and research question among
ourselves
Have we carried out some early searching to learn about the
topic and to help us narrow our topic and sharpen our
questions?
Have we talked to a faculty member about our topic, our
research questions, and the results of our early searching?
Have we identified the core research on the topic, the
classic works?

Generally use the inverted


pyramid
Broad introduction to topic

At the end of
your literature
review the
reader must
have only one
thought in their
heads.

level of detail

Your research
question

That this
research
question must
be answered!

Organizing Before Writing


a Literature Review
Key questions to answer in your reading and note-taking:

1.What is the sources topic, research


questions, methodology, and central results?
(Summary)
2.How is this source related to our topic and
research questions? Does it support or
contradict ?
3.What are the strengths and weaknesses of
the research in the source? Are there biases
or flaws? How important or influential is this
source? (Evaluation)

Organizing Before Writing


a Literature Review
Key questions to answer in your reading and notetaking:

4.How is the source related to other


research on the same topic? Does it
employ a different methodology? Does it
pertain to a different population, region,
time span? Does it work with a different
data set?
5.What are the points of agreement or
disagreement between the source and
other research on the same topic?

Why write a Literature


review?
The literature review is a critical look at
the existing research that is significant
to your project.
You should evaluate what has already
been done, show the relationships
between different work, and show how it
relates to your project.
It is not supposed to be just a summary
of other people's work.

Literature Review
Workingwith
with
Working
Literature
Literature

Findit!
it!
Find

Organizeit!
it!
Organize

Useit!
it!
Use

Reviewit!
it!
Review

Knowingthe
the
Knowing
literature
types
literature types

Reading
Reading
efficiently
efficiently

Choosingyour
your
Choosing
research
topic
research topic

Understandingthe
the
Understanding
lit
reviews
purpose
lit reviews purpose

Usingavailable
available
Using
resources
resources

Keepingtrack
track
Keeping
ofreferences
references
of

Developingyour
your
Developing
question
question

Ensuringadequate
adequate
Ensuring
coverage
coverage

Honingyour
your
Honing
searchskills
skills
search

Writingrelevant
relevant
Writing
annotations
annotations

Arguingyour
your
Arguing
rationale
rationale
Relateyour
yourwork
workwith
with
Relate
theory
theory
Designing
Designing
method
method

Review critically
critically
Review
Writing
Writing
purposefully
purposefully

NCBI PubMed

Conclusion
A literature review is an overview of research on a
given topic and answers to related research
questions
Literature reviews are an important part of research
and should be done
A well-written literature review:

Organizes literature
Evaluates literature
Identifies patterns and trends in
literature
Synthesizes literature

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