Importance of

literature review

Dr. Neelima MehtaPrincipal and Dean

Department of EducationTilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth

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What is a Literature Review ?

• According to Creswell (2005) , a review of the literature “is a written summary of journal articles, books and other documents that describes the past and current state of information, organizes the literature into topics and documents a need for a proposed study.” (pp.79)

• Literature review is the presentation, classification and evaluation of what other researchers have written on particular subject.

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The Literature Review

The review of the literature is defined as a broad, comprehensive, in - depth, systematic , and critical review of scholarly publications, unpublished scholarly print materials, audiovisual materials, and personal communications.Merriam (1988) define literature review as ‘an interpretation and synthesis of published work’

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How Literature Review will help you in your proposed research ?

• It will clarify the conceptual issues of your research related area.

• It will help you to learn about research design for your research.

• It is an opportunity to persuade your examiner that your research is relevant worth doing.

• It will give you insight to contribute something new in your subject area.

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Three stages at which a review of the literature is needed

1. An early review

2. Review during the period of your research.

3. Review at the stage of preparing your final report

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Creswell’s 5 steps to conduct a Literature Review

Step 1 : Identify Key Terms• Extract key words from your title (remember, you may decide to change the title later)•To identify key terms use Thesaurus of ERIC.• The site address is www.eric.ed.gov

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Step 1 : Identify Key Terms ( cont’d)• Familiarize yourself with online databases• Using relevant database.

1. Start with a general terms from the database thesaurus.

2. Redefine your topic if needed.3. Identify landmark or classic studies and

theorists.

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Step 2 : Locate Literature Use academic libraries, do not limit your search to

an electronic search of articles. Use primary and secondary sources. A “primary

source” is research reported by the researcher that conducted the study.

A “secondary source” is research that summarizes or reports findings that come from primary sources.

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Step 2 : Locate Literature (cont’d)• It is “best to report mostly primary sources” (p.82). Search different types of literature:

summaries, encyclopedias, dictionaries and glossaries of terms, handbooks, statistical indexes, reviews and syntheses, books, journals, indexed publications, electronic sources, abstract series, and databases.

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Step 3: Critically Evaluate Selected Literature

• Rely on research Journal articles published in national journals

• Prioritize your search : first look for refereed journal articles, then, non-refereed articles, then books, then conference papers, dissertations and theses and then papers posted to websites.

• Look for research articles and avoid as much possible “opinion” pieces

• Blend qualitative and quantitative research in your review.

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How to read research article critically(An appreciation of Strength, Weakness and Limitations)

• Identify research aim / questions ?• Identify nature / type of study.• Identify ontological position, epistemological and

methodological assumptions.• Is researcher’s value position explicit ? • Identify location, date sample method used.

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(Cont’d)• Examine use of theory, deductive ? Inductive ? • Are analysis, method clearly explained ?• Are conclusions appropriately supported by evidence ?• What are the implication for policy and practice?

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Step 4: Organize the Literature1. Create a “file” or “abstract” system to keep track of

what you read. Each article you read should be summarized in one page containing - • Title (use APA to type the title so that you can later copy-paste this into the References section of your paper)• Source: journal article, book, glossary, etc.• Research problem: one or two lines will suffice.

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• Research Questions or Hypotheses• Data collection procedure ( a description of

sample, characteristics can be very handy as well)• Results or findings of the study

2. Sort the abstracts into groups of related topics or areas which can then become the different sections of your review.

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(cont’d)3. Take notes:

1. Decide on the format in which you will take notes as you read the articles.

2. Define key terms3. Note key statistics that you may want to use in

the introduction to your review.

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4. Note emphases, strengths & weakness.5. Identify major trends or patterns.6. Identify gaps in the literature7. Identify relationships among studies8.Keep your review focused on your topic.9.Evaluate your references for currency and

coverage.

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Step 5: Summarize the Literature in table or concept map format

• Galvan (2006) recommends building tables as a key way to help you overview, organize, and summarize your findings.1. You can create the table using the table feature within

Microsoft Word 2. You can create it initially in Excel.3. The advantages of using Excel is that it enables you to

sort your findings according to a variety of factors (e.g. sort by date, and then by author; sort by methodology and then date, summary of research result)

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Structure of the Literature Review :• There is not one ‘ideal’ structure for your literature

review so talk to your guide about this .• Consider whether you wish to organize your literature

review chronologically, thematically, by development of ideas (or a combination of these)

• Make sure that you always explain your structure for your structure for your reader and have a clear narrative.

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Synthesize the literature prior to writing your review

• Using the notes that you have taken and summary tables, develop an outline of your final review.

• The following are the key steps as outlined by Galvan (2006:71-79)1. Consider your purpose before beginning to write.2. Consider how you reassemble your notes3. Create a topic outline that traces your argument.4. Reorganize your notes according to the path of

your argument

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5. Within each topic heading, note differences among studies.

6. Within each topic heading, look for obvious gaps or areas needing more research.

7. Plan to describe relevant theories.8. Plan to discuss how individual studies relate to and

advance theory.9. Plan to summarize periodically.10. Plan to present conclusions and implications.11. Plan to suggest specific directions for future

research.

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Writing the review1. Importance of the topic.2. Distinguish between research finding and other

sources of information.3. Indicate why certain studies are important.4. If you are commenting on the timeliness of a topic, be

specific in describing the time frame.5. If a landmark study was replicated, mention that and

indicate the results of the replication.6. Discuss other literature review on your topic.7. Justify comments such as, “no studies were found”.

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8. Avoid long lists of nonspecific references.9. If the results of previous studies are inconsistent or

widely varying, cite them separately.10. Near the beginning of a review, state explicitly what

will and will not be covered11. Specify your point of view early in the review: this

serves as the thesis statement of the review.12. If your topic teaches across disciplines, consider

reviewing studies from each discipline separately.13. Write a conclusion for the end of the review.

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Referencing

• Provide full details of all sources cited in the dissertation• Should include published book or articles, book

chapters, technical reports, web sources, etc.• List alphabetically by author name (name of first author

in the case of work with co-authors) • Make sure you understand the university regulations on

plagiarism• Consult your department guidelines for more on

referencing style

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5 minute self testRead the following statements and identify if they are true (T) or false (F).1. T / F A literature review should refer to all key literature in your

field of study.2. T / F A literature review should always identify a need for

further research.3. T / F A thesis statement is important to guide research for a

literature review.4. T / F A research question is important to guide research for a

literature review.5. T / F Literature which is not related to your research objective

should be discarded.6. T / F There is one widely–recognized, standard structure for a

literature review.

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Answer key1 ---- F

2 ---- T

3 ---- T

4 ---- T

5 ---- T

6 ---- F

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References1) Creswell, J.W. (2005)Educational Research : Planning,

Conducting and Evaluation Quantitative and Qualitative Research.

2) Toylor, D. (2001) writing a Literature Review http://www.utaranto.co/hswriting/lit-review.html3) “ APA Documentation ” VW-Madison Writing Center

Writer’s Handbook.

http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook /Review of Literature.html

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4) ‘How to prepare literature review’www.le.ac.uk

5) ‘Guideline for writing literature review’

http://www.duluth.umn.edu/~hrllis/guides/researching/litreview.html

6) Thinking about Research and Research Quality in you academic work Oxbridge.

7) www.eric.ed.gov

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Thank you !