RRL

Writing the Literature Review

3 Areas to cover in this lesson:

● Define what a literature Review is

● Organizing a Literature review
● Writing the Literature Review
Defining a Literature Review
 Defining Literature Review
● A Review of all the literature done so far on
your topic.
● Usually written as a separate chapter on a
Thesis or is included in the Introduction
(IMRAD)
 4 things RRL is set out to do:
Functions of RRL
● Focuses on what has been researched before
on your chosen topic
● Shows how your study fills the current
research ‘gap’
● Points out the necessity of your study
● Sets the boundaries for your study /
delimitations of the study
 Scope and Length
You may have to learn a great deal about
your topic but you don’t have to write
everything about it. Limit it by:

● Focusing on the current state of the theory

● Avoiding verbosity (Making description too
lengthy)
● Synthesizing the literature
● Making it brief but focused
 What should be included on RRL?
Adapted from: Hart,C.(1998). Doing a literature review.London:Sage Publications.

● A summary of Existing knowledge

● Critical evaluation of these works.

 RRL seeks to answer these following
Questions:
● What research has been done before
● What have other said about your topic
● How are these researches relevant to my
study?
● How are they different to my study?
● Do the results of these researches agree
with one another or they disagree?
● Are there flaws in the existing literature?
Always keep in mind that you are
showing which GAP on the
literature your study can fill
…So How and Where to start your RRL?
Start with…
Research History:

All research has a history that provides a

precedent of further work. This may be a
starting point for your research. You need
to decide which literature is most pertinent
to your review.
…So How and Where to start your RRL?
Conduct a library search both online or using
hard copies.

● Survey university database

● Abstracts
● Indices in books
● Library research consultation
…So How and Where to start your RRL?
Prioritize your material types in this order:

1. Articles in refereed, international journals,

recent and widely disseminated
2. Books/chapters in edited books
3. Articles in national refereed journals
4. Conference papers and research reports
5. PhD dissertations and Masters theses
6. Websites/articles in non-refereed journals
Organizing a Literature
Review
 ORGANIZING A LITERATURE REVIEW
● The goal of the library search is to assemble
what other researchers have said about your
topic of interest and to distill this into a coherent
statement.
● This involves a lot of reading, note-taking,
paraphrasing of arguments, summarizing of the
key findings, and extracting the most critical
quotes.
● What you come up with at the end of all these
should read much more like a short essay than
simply a jumble of disordered notes.
(Davidson,C.,&Tolich,M.(1999). Social science research in New Zealand(2nd ed.).
Auckland, New Zealand: Pearson Education New Zealand Limited.)
ORGANIZING A LITERATURE REVIEW

● A Literature Review
should be well
structured.
Synthesize the
information
gathered into a
cohesive whole.
● Ideas are arranged
in logical manner
 Components of RRL:
● Background Information
● Introduce topic, key concepts, and terms
relevant to your study.
● Describe the scope and organization
● Review past and present literature
● Clarify the purpose of your study

Adapted from:
Newman,I.,Benz,C.R. Weis, D., & McNeil, K. (1997). Theses and dissertations:
A guide to writing in the social and physical sciences. Maryland, M.A.:
University Press of America.
 Components of RRL:
● Theory: Outline relevant theories that
impact your study

● All research has a precedent (There must be

some foundation where your research rests)
● Integrate some key points of previews studies
to your topic and make appropriate inferences
● Be aware of its relationship to your topic

Adapted from:
Newman,I.,Benz,C.R. Weis, D., & McNeil, K. (1997). Theses and dissertations:
A guide to writing in the social and physical sciences. Maryland, M.A.:
University Press of America.
 Components of RRL:
● Review of literature instruments
● Review your instruments or measures you will
use as part of your study
● Present evidence to support your choice of
instrument
● Include reliability and validity estimates
● Describe the samples that have received the
instruments.

Adapted from:
Newman,I.,Benz,C.R. Weis, D., & McNeil, K. (1997). Theses and dissertations:
A guide to writing in the social and physical sciences. Maryland, M.A.:
University Press of America.
 Organizing the Information:

● Arrange the review by:

● Key themes or findings

● Use headings and sub-headings
 Example:
(Use headings and sub-headings)

Note: The last part will

always be the summary of
literature and the research
aims…
Example: further sub-headings…
Example: further sub-headings…
•As we can see from the
As we can see
outline, Information from
from the
your
outline, Information from your
sources issources
grouped in
is grouped in
chronological order. order. This will
chronological
allow you to structure a
•This will coherent
allow you to structure
argument about the
a coherent research
argument doneabout
thus far in the
the
research process
done thus showing
far inthe
thegap or
gaps in the literature. And
process showing the gap or
this in turn leads to your
gaps in the literature.
research question and
provides justification for why
•And this your
in turn leads
study to your
should take place.
research question and provides
justification for why your study
should take place.
 Summarizing the Information:
In summarizing we answer the following general
questions…

● How has the topic been studied?

● What has been found?
● Which issues have been highlightened?
● How have the key concepts and terms
been defined or used.
 Summarizing the Information:

Here is an example of a vague summarized work:

Too short
It does not give an
indication on how or
why the study was
conducted
 Summarizing the Information:
Here is a better summary:
Tip: In summarizing other’s works, it is good
to include some of the following features…
● Participant information
● Sample Size
● Location of study
● Type of study (experiment, interview, survey…)
● Nature of the task (what was done and details of
the test used)
● Findings (Numerical or descriptive.)
● How the findings relate to your research work.
Synthesizing the Information:

Synthesis – a combination of ideas into a complex whole

Synthesizing the Information:
 Synthesizing the Information:
Avoid using a separate paragraph on each work.

Instead, guide the discussion by using your voice

though showing how the studies relate to each other.
Then showing how their researches relate to your
research project.
 Synthesizing the Information:
Instead, guide the discussion by using your voice
though showing how the studies relate to each other.
Then showing how their researches relate to your
research project.
 Synthesizing the Information:
…In this way, your review is organized as an
argument that flows.
In other words, the information you have gathered in
various sources is synthesized to form a coherent
argument because your voice has guided the
discussion.
 Example of Synthesis:

See how the information from

these sources was arranged to a
congruent argument.
Example of Synthesis:
 Example of Synthesis:

Note how the first part of the

paragraph summarized and
synthesized the studies
previously done.
Example of Synthesis:
Example of Synthesis:

In the final sentence, the

writer’s voice came through
as the works were critiqued.
 Guidelines in synthesizing information
from sources:
Adapted from:
University of Melbourne. (2005). Conducting a literature review. Retrieved July 3, 2006 from,
http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/posgrad/interview/gettingstarted.html

● Compare and contrast different authors’

view in an issue.
● Group authors who draw similar
conclusions.
● Criticize aspects of methodology
● Note areas of disagreement (among
authors)
 Guidelines in synthesizing information
from sources:

● Highlight exemplary studies

● Highlight gaps in research
● Show how your work relates to previous
works.
● Show how your work relates to the
literature in general.
● Summarize your literature
 Critical Evaluation:
● This is critiquing the information you have
● It is the ability in pointing out strengths and
weaknesses in previous research in
relation to your research topic.
● It is moving beyond a mere description of a
research towards analysis and evaluation.

Note: Aside from your own critique, you may also

use other writers’ critique on your discussion.
 How do we critically evaluate existing
knowledge?

· Move beyond description towards analysis

and critique.
 Example:

This is only a description

of the study conducted by
Smith and Jones.
 Example:

You should be able to show the strengths and/or

weaknesses of the study in relation to your research,
and what gap/s in current knowledge the study has
not filled.
 Critical Analysis Checklist:
● What is the main idea the writer is
putting forward? (you may refer to
abstracts or introductions…)
● What points are made to develop the
idea?
● What kind of evidence is provided to
support the points?
● Do you agree with the writers’
conclusion/s?
Critical Analysis Checklist:
●Was the text written in response to
another text?
●What is the underlying theory?
●Does it develop a previous model
further or provide an entirely new
model?
●What are the strengths and
weaknesses or limitations in relation to
your research?
 Critical Analysis Checklist:
●Other factors to consider
●Sample size
●Research design
●Measures used
●Biases
●Extraneous or confounding
variables

Note: Designing a checklist will help you in

ting written material and ensure consistency in your
sion. It also reduces your own biases.
 Methodological Critique:
●Sample size
●Randomized trials
●Reliability of the control group
●Validity

Adapted from:
Bowker, N. (2006). Crafting the literature review.
Reviewed June 17, 2007 from,
http://owll.massey.ac.nz/Crafting%the%literature%20revi
ew%index.htm
Writing a Literature Review
 How to start writing:
● Organize you literature around topics and
themes you can write about.
● Choose headings to define topic categories and
sub-categories
● At this stage, do not be concerned about the
overall picture on how topics will link.
● Be concerned about covering all issues/
ideas/boundaries/ relevant areas and dimensions
Adapted from:
Bowker, N. (2006). Crafting the literature review.
Reviewed June 17, 2007 from,
http://owll.massey.ac.nz/Crafting%the%literature%20revi
ew%index.htm
 Formats in presenting information:
● Text
● Tables
● Charts
● Diagrams

Tips:
● Examine other literature reviews to give you
a better idea.
● Create templates in text, diagrams etc.
 Filing and Storing your Notes:
● Make sure you have easy access to your
documents.
● Establish a clear filing system
● Keep detailed records of the source of
information.
● Store your records in APA format
● Note which are your exact words and which are your
summaries.
● Save your work
● Print and save multiple copies.
● Take note of the date and time when you saved
your data