Writing literature reviews

(Author: arrticol_5@yahoo.com | Article Views: 24 | Word Count: 594 | Published: Nov 10th 2007)

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When you think of a literature review, you might think that it is the review of novels, books, maybe even poetry, but in reality for the purpose of research, its meaning is more specific. In this form we are talking about the works you consulted in order to understand and investigate your research problem or thesis.
A literature review is an investigative, critical review on a book, journal, thesis or media piece that you referenced to understand and investigate a research problem. Generally speaking these are written materials that have been publishes by a literary scholar. The purpose of a written literature review is to demonstrate that you understood and have critically analyzed what the author was conveying to his readers, and how it is relevant to your research question. It can also convey the strengths and weaknesses that he might see in the authors work. Writing one is not just about summarizing the work, but about seriously having given the work thought, meaning and understanding.
A literature review needs to be related to a research question or a thesis. The results should mention theories, both those that are known and those that are unknown. It should also ask questions that make others “think” and may require more research that can be developed.
A review should hold the answers to various points or areas of thought. It should demonstrate what the problem is and find the solution if possible to a certain problem. It could pose a question and then answer it through in the review.
Decide on the type of literature review you want to do. Do you want to research the theory behind the review? What about the method, or policy? Remember it is a means of evaluating the literature and showing its relevance to your work.
When writing your review you should answer some basic questions. These questions will help you create the reviews without just summarizing the work:
1. What problem, or question does your work help answer?
2. What type of work are you reviewing?
Journals – are good sources of information because the research has been done recently Books – They are slightly less informative than journals because it takes longer to publish a book
Government documents – Good source of information
Popular media – Here we refer to newspapers, etc. These are made for the general public, and so may not be as investigative in nature.
3. Was your research well done? Have you found the pertaining information? Have you eliminated all the unwanted and unneeded information?
4. Have you correctly reviewed all of the pertinent literature? Did you answer all the questions pertaining to it?
5. Could the situation have been looked at from a different perspective?
6. What was the author’s form of research? Was it critical science, or interpretive. Maybe it was both.
7. What theory did the author focus on? (e.g. psycohological, mathematical, etc.)
8. If the literature is research then what is the research design. Is the data analysis correct?
9. How does the book or literature help in the understanding of the issue which is being studied?
10. Will my readers find my literature review correct and useful?
A literature review is a study of the literature you use to evaluate your thesis or research question. It should not be a summarized list of literature summaries. Organize your work into areas with similar themes or trends and relevant information. You need to synthesize and use personal evaluation according to your research question.

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Writing a literature review can be difficult, but with certain organizational skills and help from us, you too can write a well written and interesting review.

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