How to write a literature review.docx
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How to write a literature review.docx
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Howtowritealiteraturereview
Howtowritealiteraturereview
1.Introduction
Nottobeconfusedwithabookreview,a literaturereview surveysscholarlyarticles,booksandothersources(e.g.dissertations,conferenceproceedings)relevanttoaparticularissue,areaofresearch,ortheory,providingadescription,summary,andcriticalevaluationofeachwork.Thepurposeistoofferanoverviewofsignificantliteraturepublishedonatopic.
2.Components
Similartoprimaryresearch,developmentoftheliteraturereviewrequiresfourstages:
∙Problemformulation—whichtopicorfieldisbeingexaminedandwhatareitscomponentissues?
∙Literaturesearch—findingmaterialsrelevanttothesubjectbeingexplored
∙Dataevaluation—determiningwhichliteraturemakesasignificantcontributiontotheunderstandingofthetopic
∙Analysisandinterpretation—discussingthefindingsandconclusionsofpertinentliterature
Literaturereviewsshouldcomprisethefollowingelements:
∙Anoverviewofthesubject,issueortheoryunderconsideration,alongwiththeobjectivesoftheliteraturereview
∙Divisionofworksunderreviewintocategories(e.g.thoseinsupportofaparticularposition,thoseagainst,andthoseofferingalternativethesesentirely)
∙Explanationofhoweachworkissimilartoandhowitvariesfromtheothers
∙Conclusionsastowhichpiecesarebestconsideredintheirargument,aremostconvincingoftheiropinions,andmakethegreatestcontributiontotheunderstandinganddevelopmentoftheirareaofresearch
Inassessingeachpiece,considerationshouldbegivento:
∙Provenance—Whataretheauthor'scredentials?
Aretheauthor'sargumentssupportedbyevidence(e.g.primaryhistoricalmaterial,casestudies,narratives,statistics,recentscientificfindings)?
∙Objectivity—Istheauthor'sperspectiveeven-handedorprejudicial?
Iscontrarydataconsideredoriscertainpertinentinformationignoredtoprovetheauthor'spoint?
∙Persuasiveness—Whichoftheauthor'sthesesaremost/leastconvincing?
∙Value—Aretheauthor'sargumentsandconclusionsconvincing?
Doestheworkultimatelycontributeinanysignificantwaytoanunderstandingofthesubject?
3.DefinitionandUse/Purpose
Aliteraturereviewmayconstituteanessentialchapterofathesisordissertation,ormaybeaself-containedreviewofwritingsonasubject.Ineithercase,itspurposeisto:
∙Placeeachworkinthecontextofitscontributiontotheunderstandingofthesubjectunderreview
∙Describetherelationshipofeachworktotheothersunderconsideration
∙Identifynewwaystointerpret,andshedlightonanygapsin,previousresearch
∙Resolveconflictsamongstseeminglycontradictorypreviousstudies
∙Identifyareasofpriorscholarshiptopreventduplicationofeffort
∙Pointthewayforwardforfurtherresearch
∙Placeone'soriginalwork(inthecaseofthesesordissertations)inthecontextofexistingliterature
Theliteraturereviewitself,however,doesnotpresentnew primary scholarship.
1.Whatisaliteraturereview?
Somedefinitions
Aliteraturereviewisadescriptionoftheliteraturerelevanttoaparticularfieldortopic.Itgivesanoverviewofwhathasbeensaid,whothekeywritersare,whataretheprevailingtheoriesandhypotheses,whatquestionsarebeingasked,andwhatmethodsandmethodologiesareappropriateanduseful.Assuch,itisnotinitselfprimaryresearch,butratheritreportsonotherfindings.
Hereisonedefinitionofaliteraturereview:
"...aliteraturereviewusesasitsdatabasereportsofprimaryororiginalscholarship,anddoesnotreportnewprimaryscholarshipitself.Theprimaryreportsusedintheliteraturemaybeverbal,butinthevastmajorityofcasesreportsarewrittendocuments.Thetypesofscholarshipmaybeempirical,theoretical,critical/analytic,ormethodologicalinnature.Secondaliteraturereviewseekstodescribe,summarise,evaluate,clarifyand/orintegratethecontentofprimaryreports."
Cooper,H.M.(1988),"Thestructureofknowledgesynthesis",
KnowledgeinSociety,Vol.1,pp.104-126
Aliteraturereviewmaybepurelydescriptive,asinanannotatedbibliography,oritmayprovideacriticalassessmentoftheliteratureinaparticularfield,statingwheretheweaknessesandgapsare,contrastingtheviewsofparticularauthors,orraisingquestions.Suchareviewwillnotjustbeasummarybutwillalsoevaluateandshowrelationshipsbetweendifferentmaterial,sothatkeythemesemerge.Evenadescriptivereviewhowevershouldnotjustlistandparaphrase,butshouldaddcommentandbringoutthemesandtrends.
Somebasicdo'sanddon'ts
Aliteraturereviewshouldneverbejustalist,asintheexamplebelow:
"Untilrecentlymanyresearchershaveshowninterestinthefieldofcoastalerosionandtheresultingbeachprofiles.Theyhavecarriedoutnumerouslaboratoryexperimentsandfieldobservationstoilluminatethedarknessofthisfield.Theirfindingsandsuggestionsarereviewedhere.
JACHOWSKI(1964)developedamodelinvestigationconductedontheinterlockingprecastconcreteblockseawall.AfteraresultofasurveyofdamagescausedbytheseverestormatthecoastofUSA,anewandespeciallyshapedconcreteblockwasdevelopedforuseinshoreprotection.Thisblockwasdesignedtobeusedinarevetmenttypeseawallthatwouldbebothdurableandeconomicalaswellasreducewaverun-upandovertopping,andscouratitsbaseortoe.Itwasprovedthateffectiveshoreprotectioncouldbedesignedutilizingtheseunits.
HOM-MAandHORIKAWA(1964)studiedwavesforcesactingontheseawallwhichwaslocatedinsidethesurfzone.Onthebasisoftheexperimentalresultsconductedtomeasurewavesforcesagainstaverticalwall,theauthorsproposedanempiricalformulaofwavepressuredistributiononaseawall.Thecomputedresultsobtainedbyusingtheaboveformulawerecomparedwellwiththefielddataofwavepressureonaverticalwall.
SELEZOVandZHELEZNYAK(1965)conductedexperimentsonscourofseabottominfrontofharborseawalls,basingonthetheoreticalinvestigationofsolitarywaveinteractionwithaverticalwallusingBoussinesquetypeequation.Itshowedthatthenumericalresultswereinreasonableagreementwithlaboratoryexperimentaldata."
Thisexamplefirstappearedonthewebsiteofthe
LanguageCenter,AsianInstituteofTechnology.
Allthisextractdoesistowriteapottedsummaryoftheviewsofthreesetsofauthors;thereisnoattempttolookattherelationshipsbetweentheviews,ordrawoutthemes.
Bycontrast,thefollowingextractfromapaperquotedinfull(seeFurtherinformationandexamplessection)doesjustthat:
"Indevelopedcountries,alargepartoftheliteratureconcernedwithincome-relatedaspectsofdisabilityhastendedtofocusonthequantitativeimpactofdisabilityoneducationalachievement,earningsandincome,andontheadequacyandequityofincomemaintenanceschemesandotherprogrammes.Thecostsandbenefitsofrehabilitationandvocationalemploymentschemesandemploymentdiscriminationhavealsobeenrecurrentthemes.Muchofthecurrentpopularliteraturehasbeentodowithremovingbarriersofallkindsinordertoincreasetheparticipationofdisabledpeopleintheemploymentmarket."
WhatisaliteraturereviewasanEmeraldarticlecategory?
Itisapaperthemainpurposeofwhichistoannotateand/orcritiquetheliteratureinaparticularsubjectarea.Itcaneitherbe:
∙aselectivebibliographyprovidingadviceoninformationsources;
∙comprehensive,coveringthemaincontributorstothefieldwithanexplorationoftheirviews.
Onwhatotheroccasionisaliteraturereviewrelevant?
Aliteraturereviewwillgenerallybepartofathesisordissertation,forminganearlycontext-settingchapter.Itmayalsoformausefulbackgroundwhereyouareoutliningapieceofresearch,orputtingforwardahypothesis.
2.Thestagesofaliteraturereview
Definetheproblem
Itisimportanttodefinetheproblemorareawhichyouwishtoaddress.Havingapurposeforyourliteraturereviewwillnarrowthescopeofwhatyouneedtolookoutforwhenyouread.
Carryoutasearchforrelevantmaterials
Relevantmaterialswillprobablycomprisearangeofmedia:
∙books(monographs,textbooks,referencebooks);
∙articlesfromjournals,whetherprintorelectronic(butmakesureelectronicjournalshavebeensubjecttothepeerreviewprocess);
∙newspaperarticles;
∙historicalrecords;
∙commercialreportsandstatisticalinformation;
∙governmentreportsandstatisticalinformation;
∙thesesanddissertations;
∙othertypesofinformationwhichmayberelevanttoyourparticulardiscipline.
Muchthebestplacetostartthesearchisyourownuniversitylibraryifyouareattachedtoauniversity.Ifyouarenot,findthenearestacademiclibrarywithagoodcollectioninyoursubjectarea.Mostacademiclibrarieshavewellqualifiedandhelpfulstaffwhowillbemorethanhappytohelpyou.StartbylookingattheirOPAC(onlinepublicaccesscatalogue)whichisadatabaseoftheirresources.
Youcouldalsorefertootherrelevantlibrarycatalogues,suchastheBritishLibrarycatalogue,theNationalUnionCatalogue(LibraryofCongress),and,throughtheirURLs,otherlargeacademiclibraries.
Mostlibrarieswillalsohaveindexesofperiodicals,e.g.BusinessPeriodicalsIndex,andabstractingservices,e.g.DissertationAbstracts.
Keywordsareagoodsearchstrategy,andhereitisbettertousespecificratherthangeneralkeywordsandphrases.
TheInternet–viasearchengines,metasearchengines,subjectgatewaysanddirectories–hasbecomeahugelypopularplacetosearch,buttherearealsohugepitfalls.Thefollowingwebsitesprov
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