Assignment 5:
Writing a Literature Review
The purpose of the literature review is for the author to familiarize themselves with their topic / area of study.
What is a review of literature?
The format of a review of literature may vary from discipline to discipline and from assignment to assignment.
A review may be a self-contained unit – an end in itself – or a preface to, and rationale for, engaging in primary research. A review is a required part of grant and research proposals and often a chapter in theses and dissertations. The purpose of a review is to critically analyze a segment of a published body of knowledge through summary, classification, and comparison of prior research studies, reviews of literature, and theoretical articles.
Put differently, literature refers to a collection of published materials related to a specific research area or topic, including academic books and journal articles. In contrast, a literature review goes beyond summarizing these sources; it involves evaluating individual works and synthesizing them to develop your research project (Monash University).
Organizing your literature review can pose a significant challenge. You can structure the literature review chronologically, methodologically, or thematically. The structure should include the following:
Introduction: In the introduction, you should:
Identify the general topic, issue, or area of concern, thus providing an appropriate context for reviewing the literature.
Point out overall trends in what has been published about the topic; or conflicts in theory, evidence, and conclusions; or gaps in research and scholarship; or a single problem or new perspective of immediate interest.
Clarify your motivation (perspective) behind conducting the literature review; elucidate the standards for evaluating and contrasting literature, along with the review’s structure (sequence); and, where applicable, articulate the reasons behind the inclusion or exclusion of specific literature (scope).
The Body: In the body, you should:
Categorize research studies and various types of literature (including reviews, theoretical articles, case studies, etc.) based on shared characteristics such as qualitative versus quantitative methods, author conclusions, specific goals/objectives, chronological order, and so on.
Summarize individual studies or articles with as much or as little detail as each merits according to its comparative importance in the literature, remembering that space (length) denotes significance. Identify key findings relevant to your topic. Draw connections between findings and organize them under key themes.
Provide the reader with strong “umbrella” sentences at beginnings of paragraphs, “signposts” throughout, and brief “so what” summary sentences at intermediate points in the review to aid in understanding comparisons and analyses.
The conclusion: In the conclusion, you should:
Summarize the key contributions of important studies and articles to the reviewed body of knowledge, while staying aligned with the introduction’s focus.
Evaluate the current status of this body of knowledge, highlighting significant methodological shortcomings or research gaps, inconsistencies in theory and findings, and areas or issues that need future investigation.
Conclude by offering insights into how the central topic of the literature review relates to broader domains, such as a particular discipline, design field, or a profession.
The information mentioned above is obtained from the University of Wisconsin website. More information about how to write a literature review can be found in University of Toronto and Knox College Library websites.
In summary, a literature review should fulfill these objectives and provide detailed explanations for each:
Have a structure that revolves around and directly correlates with the thesis or research question under exploration.
Synthesize findings into a comprehensive overview of both established and unestablished knowledge.
Detect controversial aspects within the existing literature.
Articulate inquiries that demand additional investigation concerning your thesis or research question.
Deliverables
For this assignment, you are asked to conduct a literature review (1500 words) focused on material related to your topic. To achieve this, you need to find at least four sources (review articles, theoretical articles, case studies, etc.) and extract relevant information to your topic. Remember that you have already outlined the problem/issue of your topic in the Abstract and highlighted its significance in the Rationale. Hence, the literature review should be primarily focused on key findings and debates on your topic in relevant studies. Seek out sources that help address the identified gaps you mentioned in your rationale. You may also explore further gaps in the literature that have been tackled by other researchers in their studies.
Grading Criteria
Relevance (30%): Did you critically and thoroughly discuss literature relevant to your topic?
Synthesis (30%): Did you draw comparisons between research articles or other sources? Did you highlight research gaps?
Structure (10%): Did you structure your literature review based on the aforementioned criteria (i.e. introduction, body, and conclusion)? Did you categorize your findings within the body under various headings or themes?
Reliability (10%): Did you gather data from reputable and trusted sources like academic journals?
Clarity (10%): Did you present your findings clearly?
Format & citation (10%): Did you adhere to the Chicago style guidelines? Did you correctly cite your sources?