The Literature Review

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The Literature Review

• Leeanne Romane, Computer Science Librarian
• University of Waterloo
• October 8, 2008

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What is a Literature Review

• The literature review is a critical look at the
  existing research that is significant to the work
  that you are carrying out
• Language Centre, Asian Institute of Technology

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Why do a Lit Review?

• The purpose is to
•  define your research problem find a gap, ask a
  question, continue previous research, explore
  counter-claims
• read every source relevant to your research
  problem.
• offer an overview of significant literature
  published on a topic

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Is this a Summary?

• Although you need to summarize relevant
  research, it is also vital that you evaluate this
  work, show the relationships between different
  work, and show how it relates to your work.
• Language Center, Asian Institute of Technology

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How does writing a Literature Review help you?

• Expands your knowledge about the topic
• Improves Information Seeking skills
• Improves Critical Thinking skills

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A Literature Review should consist of

• An overview of the subject, issue or theory under
  consideration, along with the objectives of the
  literature review
• Division of works under review into categories
  (e.g. those in support of a particular position,
  those against, and those offering alternative
  theses entirely)

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Components continued...

• Explanation of how each work is similar to and
  how it varies from the others
• Conclusions as to which pieces are best
  considered in their argument, are most convincing
  of their opinions, and make the greatest
  contribution to the understanding and development
  of their area of research

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Ask yourself these questions

• Start the process by asking yourself
• What is my research question?
• Am I looking at
• Theory
• Methodology
• Policy
• Qualitative or Quantitative research

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How to conduct the Literature Review

• Search for Resources
• Critical Review of the Literature
• Bibliography

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Search for Resources

• Look for books in our catalogue, TRELLIS
• Use the Research Databases to find articles,
  disserations, conference proceedsings, etc.
• Search the World Wide Web for government sites,
  publishers, technical reports, etc.
• Stay informed, get Alerts

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Stay on top of the literature

• Table of Contents (TOC) Alerts
• Search Alerts

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Critical Review of Literature

• Provenance
• What are the author's credentials? Are the
  author's arguments supported by evidence (e.g.
  primary historical material, case studies,
  narratives, statistics, recent scientific
  findings)?
• Objectivity
• Is the author's perspective even-handed or
  prejudicial? Is contrary data considered or is
  certain pertinent information ignored to prove
  the author's point?

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Critical Analysis continued...

• Persuasiveness
• Which of the author's theses are most/least
  convincing?
• Value
• Are the author's arguments and conclusions
  convincing? Does the work ultimately contribute
  in any significant way to an understanding of the
  subject?

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Bibliography

• Know which citation style you are meant to follow
• Use RefWorks, but dont rely on it 100

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Final Questions

• Finish by asking yourself
• How good has my review been?
• Have I found all the material?
• Has irrelevant material been excluded?

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And more questions

• Have I critically analyzed the literature?
• Have I assessed and discussed the strengths and
  weaknesses of the literature?
• Have I discussed that literature that is contrary
  to my perspective?
• Have I cited my sources correctly?

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References

• How to Write a Literature Review (2005, November
  15). Retrieved November 12, 2007, from
  http//library.ucsc.edu/ref/howto/literaturereview
  .html
• Literature Review (2001, April 1). Retrieved
  November 2, 2007 from http//lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/tse2
  Dportal/literaturereview/junghyun-an-literature-re
  view/literature-review.html
• Writing up Research Using the Literature.
  Retrieved November 12, 2007 from
  http//www.languages.ait.ac.th/EL21LIT.HTM