All aspects of what should be in the literature review:
Must identify a gap in research.
The literature review is more than just a list of previous research papers in the field. If you think
of writing a thesis or dissertation as writing a story of your research, the literature review then
will be a story within a story. In the literature review story, you tell the reader about general
trends, traditions, and approaches to your subject, ones that surround and support your study.
Choose texts to help you try to answer your research question. As you explore the literature, take
notes:
• Why did you pick up this text? [Reminder:
• What is being studied, by whom, why? What did they find?
As you pick up a text, note all documentation
information.]
• How does this article, chapter, book, study help you answer your question or not?
After you have read and written, draw a diagram, chart, or matrix that would help you to
visualize connections between your sources and reveal a possible structure for your literature
review. For example, if you notice distinct historical developments in researching your subject,
you may choose to plot it out on a time line. Or, you may decide to organize your literature
review by the researchers’ stance towards your subject. Or, you may want to create a sort of
bubble map to discover:
• What major trends and patterns in the results of previous studies emerge?
• What common threads do you find?
• How do these studies connect?
There is no right or wrong way for structuring the review. It should explain the thinking process
behind your choices and help reveal the need to answer your question (to fill a gap) and how to
go about doing that (the methodology).
The introduction states the main topics, arguments and underlying rationale and should be short and clear. The body provides an in-depth review of the source and may be structured by theme or argument or chronologically. Organising information by argument tends to be more dynamic and helps with coherence.
Task
A literature review provides context and establishes the need for new research. In your literature review, you will summarize and analyze published research on your topic by identifying strengths, weaknesses, commonalities, and disagreements among your sources.
For this assignment, you will conduct research on your topic and then compose a thoughtful, well-organized literature review that reflects your own analysis of at least five scholarly sources and their contributions to your topic. (Note that a literature review differs from an annotated bibliography, which simply lists sources and summaries one-by-one. A literature review also differs from a research paper because it does not include new arguments or unpublished primary research.)
Your literature review should have three parts: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
Introduction
In the introduction, identify your research topic and provide appropriate background information to clarify the context in which you will be reviewing the sources. You should also identify commonalities, conflicts, and/or gaps in published research. Finally, you should explain the criteria you’ve used to analyze, compare, and contrast sources.
Body
In the body, discuss your sources. Organize your discussion of sources based on a common characteristic such as authors’ purposes, findings, or conclusions; research methodologies; or chronology. Briefly summarize each source and describe the strengths and weaknesses of each source. Identify and analyze each source’s contribution to the topic and address differing viewpoints. Integrate source information effectively using lead-in phrases and citations.
Conclusion
In the conclusion, discuss the ways your sources have contributed to greater knowledge and understanding of the topic and address shortcomings in the existing research. Answer the following questions: What has your review of the sources revealed or demonstrated about the topic? What new questions that have been raised? What areas need further study?
In the introduction, you should . . .
Identify the general topic or issue you have researched.
Provide appropriate background information to clarify the context in which you will be reviewing sources.
Identify overall trends conflicts, and/or gaps in research and scholarship; and/or identify a single problem or new perspective.
Explain the criteria you’ve used to analyze, compare, and contrast sources.
When necessary, state why certain sources are, or are not, included.
In the body, you should . . .
Include at least five scholarly sources.
Organize discussion of sources logically according to a common characteristic (E.g.: authors’ purposes, findings, or conclusions; research methodologies; or chronology)
Briefly summarize individual sources.
Describe strengths of each source.
Describe weaknesses of each source.
Identify and analyze each source’s contribution to the topic.
Address differing viewpoints.
Integrate source information effectively using lead-in phrases and citations.
In the conclusion, you should . . .
Discuss the ways your sources have contributed to greater knowledge and understanding of the topic.
Address shortcomings in the existing research.
Note new information or understanding the literature review has revealed about the topic.
Note new questions that have been raised.
Note areas where further study is needed.
ATTACHED BELOW IS WHAT I HAVE STARTED
