Literature ReviewNovember 16 2011

T. Zoubir & Dr. Anthony ‘Skip’ Basiel t.zoubir@mdx.ac.uk abasiel@gmail.com

Material online at: http://www.mdxpartnership.org.uk/research/research-materials/research-session-

materials-sept.-2011-start Live webcast on the day at:

http://breeze.mdx.ac.uk/midwheb

Overview:

• Why do a literature review?• What is a literature review?• How do I do a literature review?

– Writing style

• Sample for discussion• Online follow-up

Why write a Literature Review?

• ?• ?• ?

Ideas have origins• A literature review demonstrates how your work builds on existing

research and practice; it puts your work into context

Citations:• 1. Citations recognise and acknowledge the intellectual property rights of

authors. They are a matter of ethics and a defence against plagiarism. (General theory)

• 2. Citations are used to show respect to previous scholars. (General theory)

• 3. Citations operate a kind of mutual reward system. Writers ‘pay’ other authors in citations (Ravetz 1971)

• 4. Citations are tools of persuasion; writers use citations to give their statements greater authority. (Gilbert 1977)

• 5. Citations are used to demonstrate familiarity with the field (Bavelas 1978)

• 6. Citations are used to create a research space (Swales 1990)http://www.flinders.edu.au/slc_files/Documents/Brochures/lit_review.pdf

The literature review provides the reader with

• an understanding and critical analysis of relevant/ influencing research that impacts on your work

• a synthesis of research and a clear idea of your contribution (what gaps are you going to fill, contribute to?)

• a theoretical foundation that will help explain later findings.

What is a Literature Review?

• ?• ?• ?

The Literature Review is

• A selective analysis of past and current (within the last three years) research/findings that relate to and provide a theoretical foundation for your title of investigation.

• It is a critical synthesis of previous research which leads logically to the research questions that you wish to ask in your independent project, action enquiry or dissertation (From Gillian Lazar’s Lecture).

How do I get started?

• ?•?•?

Start by identifying what you will need to know to inform your research:

• What research has already been done on this topic? • What are the sub-areas of the topic you need to explore? • What other research (perhaps not directly on the topic)

might be relevant to your investigation? • How do these sub-topics and other research overlap with

your investigation? • Note down all your initial thoughts on the topic. You can

use a spidergram or list to help you identify the areas you want to investigate further. It is important to do this before you start reading so that you don’t waste time on unfocussed and irrelevant reading

Taken from: http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/studyadvice/StudyResources/Essays/sta-startinglitreview.aspx#how

http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/sta/A5_Literature_Reviews_2_Undertaking.pdf

Structure your reading• Search the literature: it will help you identify key areas

to investigate and current research/practice – it will save you time

• Draft some headings/areas to explore: after a few to many revisions this will come to form the structure of your literature review

• Begin working on your key heading/area (the one that leads to the others) and remember that sources for any one heading will likely be relevant to other headings/areas KEEP NOTES

Read Critically

From Carole Davis’s lecture 2010http://breeze.mdx.ac.uk/litreviewedd/

Reading Tips and Suggestions

http://www.flinders.edu.au/slc_files/Documents/Brochures/lit_review.pdf

http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/sta/A5_Literature_Reviews_2_Undertaking.pdf

Writing: Is there one structure?

• Think of some possible ways e.g. historical account

Writing Structure:In any case do include:

• An introductory review which explains how you review is organised

•Heading and subheadings (signposting) which clearly show the relationship to your title of investigation, different strands of your argument and synthesis

•A summary/conclusion where the key arguments are reinforced and gaps or problems with the existing research identified followed by an explanation of how your research will fill these gaps/build on the research.

http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/pdf/Litrev.pdf

Writing Critically and Voice:

• What do you understand by “writing critically”• How strong is your voice?

Think about including:• “Relational markers: words or phrases that indicate, explicitly

or implicitly, the writer’s relationship to the audience or the scholarly community in which they are writing

• Attitude markers: words or phrases that indicate a writer’s assessment of or attitude to an issue

• Emphatic expressions: Words or phrases which relate to the strength of the claim or to your degree of confidence in what is said

• Hedging expression: word or phrases which make statements about the degree of certainty, possibility or probability of a question”

Taken from (see for examples):http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/pdf/Litrev.pdf

Useful Diagrams: From Carole Davis’s lecture 2010http://breeze.mdx.ac.uk/

litreviewedd/

Purpose of the Model and Diagram:

• 1. Summarise the literature and key concepts

2. Base the Research on the concepts

3. Amend through collecting data to gain new insights (or prove existence)

Sample for discussion

• Use the search facility to find and read literature reviews. Go to http://mdxpartnership.org.uk and use the search option – type in literature review and explore the results

Online follow-up

• Review the question online • Post the session a page will be created to

disseminate this material and an option to discuss will be enabled at http://www.mdxpartnership.org.uk/research/research-materials/research-session-materials-sept.-2011-start