How to Write a Literaure Review

What Is A Literature Review?

A literature review is an appraising description of information found in the literature associated to your chosen area of research. The literature review illustrates, summarize, appraise and clarify the literature for which you are writing literature review. It should give
a hypothetical foundation for the research and helps you establish the nature of your research. Unrelated works are removed completely while the marginal ones are considered critically.

Why Writing Literature Reviews?

The importance of literature review can not be denied because it is a review of writing on a subject. The under-mentioned reasons the importance of literature review:

1. Literature review helps to find new ways to figure out any ambiguity or flaws in earlier researches.
   
2. A literature review portrays the link of each work to the others.
   
3. Literature review resolves any contradictory findings, or gaps in previous studies.
   
4. Most importantly, literature review leads the way forward for further research.
   
5. It adds the understanding and knowledge of the particular field.
   

A Literature Review Should Cover These 4 Points

1. The literature review discovers the areas of controversy in the literature.
   
2. The literature review explains how each work is similar to and how it varies from the others.
   
3. Literature review should be well-structured around and directly linked to the research question you are developing.
   
4. The literature review should present an overview of the subject, issue or theory under consideration, along with the objectives of the literature review.
   

Development Of Literature Review

A literature review involves the four stages to advance:

Problem Formulation:

First of all, the component issues of topic of literature review to examine or research are determined.

Literature Search:

Finding materials are collected relevant to the subject being explored to write the literature review.

Data Appraisal:

It is determined that which literature makes a worth mentioning contribution to the understanding of the topic of literature review.

Analysis:

Finally, the findings of relevant literature are analyzed to conclude and include in literature review.

Apply these tips to write a good literature review:

1. You need to keep entire and exact records and references of what you read and find during research.
   
2. Learn the required citation style.
   
3. Make notes or summaries of the articles, books journals, papers whatever you read.
   
4. You must infer and read between the lines when go through any written work.
   
5. Broaden your vision and develop your own ideas without worrying that it might
   not be accepted. Just don’t be relaxed with copying previous work.
   
6. Divide the literature review into different thematic parts which will help you to focus.
   
7. Read the leading published material and search for the current issues for the latest information.
   

There is a wide range of sources to develop your literature review. These resources include:

Books Scholarly journals Previous Research papers World wide web Bibliographies Encyclopedias Newspapers Statistics handbooks/information

Conference proceedings Thesis Unpublished papers Empirical studies Historical records Commercial reports Government reports and reports from other bodies

Literature Review Guidelines For Organization

The following pattern is a very reasonable one to organize a literature review

Introduction:

Define the topic, together with your reason for selecting the topic. You could also point out overall trends, gaps, particular themes etc.

1. Body:
   In body, you discuss your sources. There are some way to in which you could organize your discussion:
   
   
   1. Chronologically:
      For example: If writers' views have a tendency to change over time. There is little point in doing the review by order of publication unless this demonstrates a clear style.
      
   2. Thematically:
      Here you can decide particular themes in the literature. For example in the literature review of poverty and disability, the writer can take the themes of the prevalence and structure of disability, education, employment, income and poverty, causes of disability, the path from poverty to disability and vice versa, and finally, policies for
      disabled people.
      
   3. Methodologically In this way, the focus is on the methods of the researcher. For example, qualitative versus quantitative approaches.
      
   
   

1. Conclusion:
   Summarize the major contributions, evaluating the current position, and pointing out flaws in methodology, gaps in the research, contradictions, and areas for further study.
   

Literature Review Revision

To revise and check of any flaw or lack in literature review, answer to these questions:

• What is thespecific thesis, problem, or research question that my literature review helps to define?
  
• How good was my information seeking?
  
• Was my search wide enough to ensure the availability of relevant material?
  
• Did I narrow enough the literature review to leave out irrelevant material?
  
• Have I used suitable number of sources for the length?
  
• Have I critically analyzedthe literature I use?
  
• Hive I just summarized the material I read?
  
• Does it have my own thoughts and insight?
  
• Have I used the citation properly?
  
• Will the reader find my literature review appropriate, and useful?
  

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