Literature reviews
/UTS
literature review may form an assignment by itself, in which case the aim is to summarise the key research relating to your topic. Alternatively, it may form part of a larger paper, such as a thesis or a research report, in which case the aim is to explain why more research needs to be done on your chosen topic.
Process of a literature review
Deciding on a research question or topic
Whether you’ve been given a topic by your teacher, or you’ve been asked to decide upon your own topic or research question, it’s best to rephrase the topic as a specific question that you’re attempting to answer.
If your purpose is to summarise the existing research on the topic, it may be quite appropriate to have a very broad question, such as the example below.
If your purpose is to justify the need to conduct further primary research, you will need a more specific research question which takes into account how the existing research has failed to adequately answer the question you’re planning to address.
This question allows the writer to narrow the focus of their literature review and, hopefully, find gaps in the amount or type of research conducted into this very specific topic. Sometimes you may start with a broader topic or question, then conduct some initial research into the existing literature, and then narrow the focus of your research question based on what you find.
Searching the literature
When searching for relevant sources, it’s important to first decide the criteria you will use when trying to find existing research. This includes setting the scope of your research to decide what is important and why.
How old can your research papers be? Must they be from the past 5 years, or would any papers from the previous 15 years be considered acceptable? The answers may depend on:
your discipline
the purpose of your research
the amount of research that has been conducted on that topic
the speed with which findings are considered no longer valid
Which databases will you use? What types of journals are considered acceptable? Speaking with your teacher, and with a Librarian from UTS Library, can help you make these decisions.
Are you focusing on research relating to a particular country, and if so, why?
Are you focusing on particular research methods or specific theoretical approaches? If so, you need to explain to the reader what they are and why you have made these decisions.
Taking notes
What notes you take depends on your research question. Knowing what you’re trying to achieve or what question you’re trying to answer will help you choose what to focus on when reading the literature. Common aspects to look out for when reading include:
the main research findings
the researchers’ claims (usually based on their interpretation of the findings)
where, when and how the research was conducted
the scope and/or limitations of the research being reviewed
Remember to also take notes about your own response to the literature. If you see weaknesses in a particular study, or assumptions being made when interpreting the findings of a study, make a note of it, as your critical analysis of the literature is a key aspect of a literature review.
Grouping your materials
Before drafting your literature review, it’s useful to group together your sources according to theme. A good literature review is not structured based on having one paragraph for each paper that you review. Instead, paragraphs are based on topics or themes that have been identified when conducting your research, with various sources synthesised within each paragraph.
How you decide on your groupings will depend on the purpose of your literature review. You may be clear on this before you begin researching, or your themes may emerge during the research process. Examples can include:
the methodology used to conduct the research
the theoretical perspective used by the researchers
themes identified when analysing the various research findings
opinions presented by the researchers based on their analysis of the findings
Writing the review
Structure of a literature review (by themes in body) :
Introduction
The introduction is usually one paragraph in a short literature review, or series of paragraphs in a longer review, outlining:
the content being covered,
the structure (or how the review is organised), and
the scope of what will be covered.
Body
The body paragraphs should be well organised and structured. Rather than writing one paragraph for each piece of research being discussed, literature reviews are usually organised so that each paragraph or section covers one theme or sub-topic. These themes will differ depending on your topic and your purpose, but may relate to:
different theoretical perspectives on your topic
different ways of conducting research on the topic
different sub-topics within the broader topic
Each section ends with a brief summary which relates this theme to the main focus of the research area. It may do this by focusing on parts of the topic where the literature agrees or disagrees.
Conclusion
The conclusion summarises the main themes that were identified when reviewing the literature.
If the literature review is part of a larger research project, the conclusion should also summarise any gaps in the existing literature, and use this to justify the need for your own proposed research project. The types of gaps in the existing literature may relate to:
a lack of research into a particular aspect of the topic, or
the fact that existing evidence is conflicting or inconclusive, and therefore more evidence is required to help provide conclusive evidence, or
problems in the methodology used in previous research, meaning that a different research method is required.
Literature review as an individual assignment
If the purpose of your literature review is to summarise the existing literature on a topic, you will be expected to:
summarise the most important (or most recent) literature on your specified topic
discuss any common themes that emerge in the literature, such as similar types of research that have been conducted, similar findings from the research, or similar interpretations of the findings
discuss any differences in the research findings or interpretation of evidence from the literature
evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the literature that you’re reviewing. Examples of things you might look for include:
Does the author make any assumptions that weaken their claims?
Are the author’s claims supported by adequate evidence?
Was the research conducted in a way that is valid and credible?
Is there anything missing from their discussion of the topic?
Literature review as part of a thesis or research report
If your literature review is part of a thesis or research report, as well as doing everything listed above, you will also need to:
discuss ‘gaps’ in the current literature, which means finding important areas of research that have not yet been adequately covered, or for which further evidence is still required
explain the significance of your research
show how your work builds on previous research
show how your work can be differentiated from previous research (i.e. what makes your research different from previous studies that have been done on this topic?)
Verb tense in literature Reviews
Always consider the verb tense when presenting a review of previously published work. There are three main verb tenses used in literature reviews. Please click on each occasion to check which verb tense is appropriate.
1. Describing a particular study
When describing a particular study or piece of research (or the researchers who conducted it), it is common to use past tense.
For example:
2. Giving opinions about a study
If you are sharing your own views about a previous study, or conveying the views of other experts, then present tense is more common.
For example:
3. Making generalisations
If you are making generalisations about past research, present perfect tense is used.
For example:
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