3/13/2015

TheLiteratureReview:AFewTipsOnConductingIt

TheLiteratureReview:AFewTipsOnConductingIt
WrittenbyDenaTaylor,HealthSciencesWritingCentre

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Whatisareviewoftheliterature?
Aliteraturereviewisanaccountofwhathasbeenpublishedonatopicbyaccreditedscholarsandresearchers.Occasionallyyou
willbeaskedtowriteoneasaseparateassignment(sometimesintheformofanannotatedbibliographyseethebottomofthe
nextpage),butmoreoftenitispartoftheintroductiontoanessay,researchreport,orthesis.Inwritingtheliteraturereview,your
purposeistoconveytoyourreaderwhatknowledgeandideashavebeenestablishedonatopic,andwhattheirstrengthsand
weaknessesare.Asapieceofwriting,theliteraturereviewmustbedefinedbyaguidingconcept(e.g.,yourresearchobjective,
theproblemorissueyouarediscussing,oryourargumentativethesis).Itisnotjustadescriptivelistofthematerialavailable,ora
setofsummaries
Besidesenlargingyourknowledgeaboutthetopic,writingaliteraturereviewletsyougainanddemonstrateskillsintwoareas
1. informationseeking:theabilitytoscantheliteratureefficiently,usingmanualorcomputerizedmethods,toidentifyasetof
usefularticlesandbooks
2. criticalappraisal:theabilitytoapplyprinciplesofanalysistoidentifyunbiasedandvalidstudies.
Aliteraturereviewmustdothesethings
1. beorganizedaroundandrelateddirectlytothethesisorresearchquestionyouaredeveloping
2. synthesizeresultsintoasummaryofwhatisandisnotknown
3. identifyareasofcontroversyintheliterature
4. formulatequestionsthatneedfurtherresearch

Askyourselfquestionslikethese:
1. Whatisthespecificthesis,problem,orresearchquestionthatmyliteraturereviewhelpstodefine?
2. WhattypeofliteraturereviewamIconducting?AmIlookingatissuesoftheory?methodology?policy?quantitative
research(e.g.ontheeffectivenessofanewprocedure)?qualitativeresearch(e.g.,studies)?
3. Whatisthescopeofmyliteraturereview?WhattypesofpublicationsamIusing(e.g.,journals,books,government
documents,popularmedia)?WhatdisciplineamIworkingin(e.g.,nursingpsychology,sociology,medicine)?
4. Howgoodwasmyinformationseeking?HasmysearchbeenwideenoughtoensureI'vefoundalltherelevantmaterial?
Hasitbeennarrowenoughtoexcludeirrelevantmaterial?IsthenumberofsourcesI'veusedappropriateforthelengthof
mypaper?
5. HaveIcriticallyanalysedtheliteratureIuse?DoIfollowthroughasetofconceptsandquestions,comparingitemsto
eachotherinthewaystheydealwiththem?Insteadofjustlistingandsummarizingitems,doIassessthem,discussing
strengthsandweaknesses?
6. HaveIcitedanddiscussedstudiescontrarytomyperspective?
7. Willthereaderfindmyliteraturereviewrelevant,appropriate,anduseful?

Askyourselfquestionsliketheseabouteachbookorarticleyouinclude:
1. Hastheauthorformulatedaproblem/issue?
2. Isitclearlydefined?Isitssignificance(scope,severity,relevance)clearlyestablished?
3. Couldtheproblemhavebeenapproachedmoreeffectivelyfromanotherperspective?
4. Whatistheauthor'sresearchorientation(e.g.,interpretive,criticalscience,combination)?
5. Whatistheauthor'stheoreticalframework(e.g.,psychological,developmental,feminist)?
6. Whatistherelationshipbetweenthetheoreticalandresearchperspectives?
7. Hastheauthorevaluatedtheliteraturerelevanttotheproblem/issue?Doestheauthorincludeliteraturetakingpositions
sheorhedoesnotagreewith?
8. Inaresearchstudy,howgoodarethebasiccomponentsofthestudydesign(e.g.,population,intervention,outcome)?
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TheLiteratureReview:AFewTipsOnConductingIt

Howaccurateandvalidarethemeasurements?Istheanalysisofthedataaccurateandrelevanttotheresearchquestion?
Aretheconclusionsvalidlybaseduponthedataandanalysis?
9. Inmaterialwrittenforapopularreadership,doestheauthoruseappealstoemotion,onesidedexamples,orrhetorically
chargedlanguageandtone?Isthereanobjectivebasistothereasoning,oristheauthormerely"proving"whatheorshe
alreadybelieves?
10. Howdoestheauthorstructuretheargument?Canyou"deconstruct"theflowoftheargumenttoseewhetherorwhereit
breaksdownlogically(e.g.,inestablishingcauseeffectrelationships)?
11. Inwhatwaysdoesthisbookorarticlecontributetoourunderstandingoftheproblemunderstudy,andinwhatwaysisit
usefulforpractice?Whatarethestrengthsandlimitations?
12. HowdoesthisbookorarticlerelatetothespecificthesisorquestionIamdeveloping?

FinalNotes:
Aliteraturereviewisapieceofdiscursiveprose,notalistdescribingorsummarizingonepieceofliteratureafteranother.It's
usuallyabadsigntoseeeveryparagraphbeginningwiththenameofaresearcher.Instead,organizetheliteraturereviewinto
sectionsthatpresentthemesoridentifytrends,includingrelevanttheory.Youarenottryingtolistallthematerialpublished,butto
synthesizeandevaluateitaccordingtotheguidingconceptofyourthesisorresearchquestion
Ifyouarewritinganannotatedbibliography,youmayneedtosummarizeeachitembriefly,butshouldstillfollowthroughthemes
andconceptsanddosomecriticalassessmentofmaterial.Useanoverallintroductionandconclusiontostatethescopeofyour
coverageandtoformulatethequestion,problem,orconceptyourchosenmaterialilluminates.Usuallyyouwillhavetheoptionof
groupingitemsintosectionsthishelpsyouindicatecomparisonsandrelationships.Youmaybeabletowriteaparagraphorso
tointroducethefocusofeachsection

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