Creating a Literature Review. What is a literature review? A critical, comparative review of...

Creating a Literature Review

What is a literature review?

A critical, comparative review of relevant literature – critique, compare and contrast writings

Research-based (empirical)Conceptual (theory)Use direct referencesProperly referenced, avoiding plagiarismBe critical!End with a summary of main points and link to next section

Stages of a lit review

http://info.emeraldinsight.com/authors/guides/literature.htm?part=2

Define Search Evaluate Analyse

Define

Define your terms – what are you looking for

And what are you NOT looking for?

Think sideways... Eg. You may be looking for parental engagement but part of the world calls it parental involvement

Search

Search databases (See the Useful Links page)

Use the resources on the Library Webpages - LINK

Be methodical!

Keep good, clear records

of what you have looked for(and search terms)

of what you found

of what you have read

The table on the next slide shows one way of keeping track

This shows the data base searched

These are the terms used in the search

Keeping good records of your searches

• Allows you to maximise your time (you won’t repeat searches)

• Allows you to show you have looked at the literature carefully• See pages 17 – 18 of THIS REPORT for an example of how

searches can be reported

Evaluate (Criticality)

Be critical about what is includedIs it a reputable publication?

Is the study robust, and does the study support the conclusions?

Be critical about how it is includedIs it worth the emphasis you are giving to it?

Include, as appropriate, information about the study – when, where, who, how many...?

Analyse

So, what does all this mean?

A literature review isn’t a list – it needs to be more than that; it’s not a book report – it must relate to your central research question

SHOW how it relates, don’t assume the reader will figure it out

Themes? Conclusions?

Literature reviews...

The point is a *review* of the main publications about a subject

It does not need to – and can not – contain a reference to *every* publication on the subject

It is a *review*, not a list

Read other lit reviews

Find one on your subject, and read that...

Include it in your review –it will, by definition, be older than yours!

Meaning – peer reviewed journals

Google scholar

Academic data bases

These supplement books - but they do need to be there

Academic sources

Very important in terms of the subject of your research

Current or recent

If there really aren’t any, say so – it’s a gap in the knowledge base

(But be sure there really isn’t anything out there!)

Academic sources