Literature Review Anne Freund Arshad Habib 10 th

Literature Review Anne Freund & Arshad Habib 10 th November, 2014

What are we doing today? • What is a ‘literature review’? • What are the functions of a literature review? • Why literature review is important? • How to conduct a literature review?

Definition of a Literature Review • A literature review is an exploration/investigation • of scholarly sources (journal articles, books) • and non-scholarly sources (conference proceedings, newspaper reports) • relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory. (Lyons, 2005)

Functions of a literature review • What has been said previously • Who are the key writers in this topic area or field • What are the prevailing theories, questions & hypotheses • What methods and methodologies have been used in a given area and are they still appropriate and useful? (Lyons, 2005)

Purpose of a Literature Review: why it is important? • To become familiar with the current state of knowledge relevant to your topic • To understand theory, concepts, ideas, key issues surrounding your chosen topic • To highlight any gaps in our knowledge • To place your research in context • It helps you narrow down or refine your topic/problem/question.

Purpose of a Literature Review: why is it important? • An understanding of the literature is essential because it enriches the research process.

Purpose of a Literature Review: why is it important? • • The literature review will show: Literature you have studied for your topic Your understanding of the literature Your ability to read critically and analytically, and to summarise the work of other writers clearly and briefly • How do you link it with your proposal

Literature review: Lets watch. . . • https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=i. PT 0 ni nx 1 Z 8 • Individual task

How do we conduct a literature review? • Identify relevant topic/literature • Read critically and write a short summary of the literature you have found (if relevant) so that you can refer to it • Make sure to keep bibliographic details • Comment critically on it. . . provide your own perspective on it (argument/data/method) or highlight any gaps in the literature.

How do we conduct a literature review? Being ‘CRITICAL’. . . • Show whether or not the author has clearly stated his/her argument/topic/question • Is there any bias evident? • How scholarly is the work/Has the author reviewed previous literature? • Is the argument coherent or does it break down at some points?

How to conduct a literature review? Being ‘CRITICAL’. . . • What methods are used by the author to back his/her argument? • What is the language like? Is it academic? Do you find sweeping statements? • Has the author acknowledged their sources i. e. included references? • How different authors have approached the same issue differently? /Compare or contrast different authors or theories.

What is ‘NOT’ a literature review • Stay focus on your argument. Do not just describe what different authors have written. • Do not reproduce an argument/quote/data without linking it with your respective research proposal

Recap • Individual exercise