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LITERATURE REVIEW WORKSHOP

Mr. Muhammad Usman Kemal
Assistant Professor
SZABIST
Islamabad

WORKSHOP AGENDA
Literature review What and why
Searching and finding print and online sources
Evaluating sources for relevance and reliability
Reading critically
Writing and presenting literature review
Citing sources in text and reference list /
bibliography
Avoiding plagiarism

TRAINING METHODS
Lectures / presentations based on secondary
information
Question-answer / short assignments during lectures
Sharing of trainers personal experiences

Discussion on research projects of participants

LITERATURE REVIEW DEFINITION

A body of text that aims to review the critical points of
current knowledge on a particular topic
A comprehensive survey of publications in a specific
field of study or related to a particular line of research
Non-quantitative summary of existing published
literature made by experts who select and weigh
findings available from the literature
A summary and interpretation of research findings
reported in the literature
A process and documentation of the current relevant
research literature regarding a particular topic or
subject of interest

PURPOSES OF LITERATURE
REVIEW
Define and limit problem
Develop familiarity with topic
Limit research to a subtopic within larger body of
knowledge
Place study in historical perspective
Analysis of way in which study relates to existing
knowledge
Avoid unintentional and unnecessary replication
Awareness of prior studies so as to avoid unneeded
replication
Replication is reasonable if it is needed to verify prior
results, investigate results that failed to be significant, or
relate problem to a specific site

PURPOSES OF LITERATURE
REVIEW
Select promising methods and measures
Knowledge of and insight into specific research designs
for investigating a problem
Awareness of specific instruments, sampling procedures,
and data analyses
Relate findings to previous knowledge and suggest future
research needs
Relating prior research to what is known places current
study in perspective
This knowledge allows researcher to focus problem on
what is not known
Develop research hypotheses
Suggestions for specific research hypotheses

Literature review designs

Narrative review

Systematic review

Meta-analysis

Selective

review of the literature that broadly covers

a specific topic.
Does not follow strict systematic methods to locate
and synthesize articles.
Utilizes exacting search strategies to make certain
that the maximum extent of relevant research has
been considered.
Original articles are methodologically appraised and
synthesized.
Quantitatively combines the results of studies that are
the result of a systematic literature review.
Capable of performing a statistical analysis of the
pooled results of relevant studies.

WHEN WE NEED TO DO A
LITERATURE REVIEW
At the beginning of the research project
Proposal
Chapter 2, 1 & 3

Constantly update during the research

When writing the discussion and conclusion chapters

THREE TYPES OF
LITERATURE