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Review of Literature
Review of Literature
Written document that either be coming from book, thesis, articles, laws
Thematic presentationSynthesize into one statement
Review of Related Literature
• A literature review discusses published information in a particular subject area, within a certain time period.
Literature review surveys scholarly articles, books and other sources (e.g. dissertations, conference proceedings) relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, providing a description, summary, and critical evaluation of each work. The purpose is to offer an overview of significant literature published on a topic.
• A literature review can be just a simple summary of the sources, but it usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis.
A summary is a recap of the important information of the source, but a synthesis is a re-organization, or a reshuffling, of that information. It might give a new interpretation of old material or combine new with old interpretations.
Purpose of Literature Review
1. Place each work in the context of its contribution to the understanding of the subject under review
2. Describe the relationship of each work to the others under consideration
3. Identify new ways to interpret, and shed light on any gaps in, previous research
4. Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies
5. Identify areas of prior scholarship to prevent duplication of effort
6.Point the way forward for further research
7. Place one's original work (in the case of theses or dissertations) in the context of existing literature.
8. The literature review itself, however, does not present new primary scholarship.
• Always keep in mind that as you read scholarly literature, you are looking for a GAP your own research might fill.
• the purpose of a review is to analyze critically a segment of a published body of knowledge through summary, classification, and comparison of prior research studies, reviews of literature, and theoretical articles.
Purposes of the Review
1. It provides the theoretical and conceptual framework of the planned research.
Theoretical framework – presents the theory which explains why the problem under study exists.
Conceptual framework – presents the relationship between the different specific constructs the researcher wants to study.
2. It provides information about past researches related to the intended study.
The information could either be research design used, treatments, observation instrument, statistical tools and findings/conclusions .
3.It ensures the clarity and focus of the study.
4.It is a means of ensuring the originality of one’s research.
5. It can broaden the researcher’s knowledge base in the research area.
Development of the literature review requires four stages:
1. Problem formulation—which topic or field is being examined and what are its component issues?
2. Literature search—finding materials relevant to the subject being explored
3. Data evaluation—determining which literature makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the topic
4. Analysis and interpretation—discussing the findings and conclusions of pertinent literature
Literature reviews should comprise the following elements:
• 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)
• 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
assessing each piece, consideration should be given to:
• 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?
• 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?
In the introduction of the literature review, you should:
1. Define or identify the general topic, issue, or area of concern, thus providing an appropriate context for reviewing the literature.
2. Point out overall trends in what has been published about the topic; or conflicts in theory, methodology, evidence, and conclusions; or gaps in research and scholarship; or a single problem or new perspective of immediate interest.
In the body, you should:1. Group research studies and other
types of literature (reviews, theoretical articles, case studies, etc.) according to common denominators such as qualitative versus quantitative approaches, conclusions of authors, specific purpose or objective, chronology, etc.
3. Establish the writer's reason (point of view) for reviewing the literature; explain the criteria to be used in analyzing and comparing literature and the organization of the review (sequence); and, when necessary, state why certain literature is or is not included (scope).
2. Summarize individual studies or articles with as much or as little detail as each merits according to its comparative importance in the literature, remembering that space (length) denotes significance.
3. Provide the reader with strong "umbrella" sentences at beginnings of paragraphs, "signposts" throughout, and brief "so what" summary sentences at intermediate points in the review to aid in understanding comparisons and analyses.
In the conclusion, you should:1. Summarize major contributions of
significant studies and articles to the body of knowledge under review, maintaining the focus established in the introduction.
2. Evaluate the current "state of the art" for the body of knowledge reviewed, pointing out major methodological flaws or gaps in research, inconsistencies in theory and findings, and areas or issues pertinent to future study.
3. Conclude by providing some insight into the relationship between the central topic of the literature review and a larger area of study such as a discipline, a scientific endeavor, or a profession.
• It is a Review – in other words, a critical assessment of the relevant material printed, or at least as much of it as is appropriate to your level of study.
Guidelines in Doing the Review
1.Go over reading materials you have at home, in your campus library or other learning resource center.
2.Prepare a working bibliography.
3.Examine each material.
4.Record important details on a 3 x 5 index card.
Writing the Review
1.Text should be brief. Avoid direct quotation.
2.Have a plan on how you are to present the review.
3.Emphasize relatedness.
4.Don’t reproduce the literature. Critically review, not mere enumeration of information.
Presenting the Review
1.Chronological approach- according to the year when they were written
2. Thematic/variable approach- same themes/concepts are grouped together.
3.Country of origin approach- categorized by country where they came from.
Dr. Ruby Cruz - Lecture on Research & Statistics 2011 PSU, Urdaneta City, Pangasinan
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