Handout #6: - Literature Review

Objective: At the end of this assignment, students should be able to organise, evaluate and synthesise information into a well-argued study and present the work in a professional manner, suitable to the subject area.

A literature review summarises, interprets and evaluates existing “literature” (or published material) to establish current knowledge of a subject. All good research and writing is guided by a review of the relevant literature.

In writing the literature review, you analyse the contents of the various sources and then synthesise them into a whole that gives the reader an understanding of the state of the art on a particular question, problem, or topic/sub-topics.

As a result of your reading on your assigned topic, you will present readers with an organised view of a question or a problem as you explain the important concepts. The primary purpose of your literature review is informative. Because it is not a history of the research and publication on the topic or question, it should be organised in a topical order instead of a chronological order. This will enable your reader to access the topics, problems, or questions in which they are interested. You will summarise, develop a thesis, interpret and evaluate.

The review itself may consist of major sections, each focusing on a particular topic or problem. Each major section begins with a statement of a basic sub-topic or sub-problem and then goes on to discuss the specific theories, principles, viewpoints, issues or evidence that is related to it and identifies the published sources where particular information can be found. Each major section may have several subsections. Although most of the review is conventional text, graphics can be helpful to the reader in summarising the data from large numbers of studies.

If your research question (subtopic) has not been answered satisfactorily by someone else, then search out the answers to these questions.

· What is known about the subject?

· What is the chronology of the development of knowledge about my subject?

· Are there any gaps in knowledge of my subject? What openings for research have been identified by other researchers? How do I intend to bridge the gaps?

· Is there a consensus on relevant issues? Or is there significant debate on issues? What are the various positions?

· What is the most fruitful direction I can see for my research as a result of my literature review? What directions are indicated by the work of other researchers?

Remember that nothing is completely black or white. Only you can determine what is satisfactory, relevant, significant or important in the context of your own research.

Mechanics of a literature review. Your literature review will have two components.

· The search through the literature/on-line search

· The writing of the review

Finding too much? If you find so many citations that there is no end in sight to the number of references you could use, its time to re-evaluate your question as it may be too broad.

Finding too little? On the other hand, if you cant find much of anything, ask yourself if you are looking in the right area. Your topic may be too narrow.

Leading edge research. What if you are trying to research an area that seems never to have been examined before? Be systematic. Look at journals that print abstracts in that subject area to get an overview of the scope of the available literature. Then, your search could start from a general source, such as a book, and work its way from those references to the specific topic you want. Or, you could start with a specific source, such as a research paper, and work from that author’s references. There isn’t a single best approach.

TAKE THOROUGH NOTES. Be sure to write copious notes on everything as you proceed through your research. It’s very frustrating when you can’t find a reference found earlier that now you want to read in full.

Identify publications which print abstracts of articles and books in your subject area. Look for references to papers from which you can identify the most useful journals. Identify those authors who seem to be important in your subject area. Identify keywords in your area of interest to help when you need to narrow and refine database searches. Read online library catalogues to find available holdings. Be sure to write copious notes on everything.

Getting ready to write. Eventually, a broad overview picture of the literature in your subject area will begin to emerge. Then its time to review your notes and begin to draft your literature review. But, where to start?

Writing the review. One draft wont cut it. Plan from the outset to write and rewrite. Don’t restrict yourself to writing the review in a linear fashion from start to finish. If one area of the writing is proving difficult, jump to another part.

Edit and rewrite. Your goal is to communicate effectively and efficiently the answer you found to your research question in the literature. Edit your work so it is clear and concise. Communicating ideas is the objective of your writing, so make it clear, concise and consistent. Big words and technical terms are not clear to everyone.

Writing the conclusion. Throughout your written review, you should communicate your new knowledge by combining the research question or subtopics you asked with the literature you reviewed. End your writing with a conclusion that wraps up what you learned in the literature review process.

CITATION OF SOURCES

We cite the sources of information which we re-use in our writings to give credit to the original creator of an idea, quotation or illustration. We don’t want others to assume we are the authors of original work done by someone else. However, we do want another reader to be able to read the original source if needed. A reader should be able to assume that anything not cited, if not common knowledge, is your original idea.

If you take information from a printed book, the data needed for a proper citation often is found on the front and back of the title page. In printed magazines and journals, information for a citation also can be found inside the periodical. The situation may be different, however, for pages published on the World Wide Web.

Note: An Internet document may be authoritative, but it is a virtual source.

1. If the Internet document is not original, but a copy of text published elsewhere, cite the primary printed source if you can locate it. Use your library or interlibrary loan to see the original source.

2. It’s easy for anyone to publish anything on the Internet.

3. Once you have an author’s name, you can check his or her reputation by finding a biography or other documents he or she has written.

Citations and document formatting should follow the APA Style. Consult the following web sites:

APA Style Essentials - http://www.vanguard.edu/faculty/ddegelman/index.cfm?doc_id=796

Psychology With Style - http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/apa4b.htm