Lesson 3: Learning from Others and Reviewing the Literature

INTRODUCTION 2.2 REVIEW OF LITERATURES

A. What is Review of Literature?

A. WHAT IS REVIEW OF LITERATURE?

According to Cooper (1988), a literature review uses as its database reports of primary or original
scholarship, and does not report new primary scholarship itself. The primary reports used in the
literature may be verbal, but in the vast majority of cases reports are written documents. The types of
scholarship may be empirical, theoretical, critical or methodological in nature. Second a literature
review seeks to describe, summarize, evaluate, clarify and integrate the content of primary reports.

The review of relevant literature is nearly always a standard chapter of a thesis or dissertation. The
review forms an important chapter in a thesis where its purpose is to provide the background to and
justification for the research undertaken (Bruce 1994). Bruce, who has published widely on the topic of
the literature review, has identified six elements of a literature review. These elements comprise a list; a
search; a survey; a vehicle for learning; a research facilitator; and a report (Bruce 1994).

The aim of a literature review is to show particular reader that researcher have read, and have a good
grasp of, the main published work concerning a particular topic or question in specific field. This work
may be in any format, including online sources. It may be a separate assignment, or one of the
introductory sections of a report, dissertation or thesis. In the latter cases in particular, the review will
be guided by research objective or by the issue or thesis researcher are arguing and will provide the
framework for researchers’ further work.

It is very important to note that review should not be simply a description of what others have published
in the form of a set of summaries, but should take the form of a critical discussion, showing insight and
an awareness of differing arguments, theories and approaches. It should be a synthesis and analysis of
the relevant published work, linked at all times to your own purpose and rationale

B. Objectives of the Literature Review

The research work of knowledge and science is associated with each other in one or other way.
Sometimes it happens that when one research work has been completed it would be a mother of
invention for other researcher. So the deep study and assessment of preceding research is an essential
matter for any research work.

The main objectives of the researcher are mentioned as under for his present research work.

• Researcher can know the special finding from the related literature of his/her research topic.
• The study of literature review is drawn the researcher towards the meaningful correction of his/her
research work.

• Researcher can develop his/her own beliefs and thoughts through the study of related literature
regarding his/her topic.

• Researcher would be aware with the fact that, what are the different steps taken for the problem and
what are the steps and efforts to be taken and what was the result.

• It can save the time and energy with giving authentication of the information which was retrieved with
such genuine effort.

• Researcher can know the sources through which the prior research work was done. Researcher can
find the perfect information that from which method of gathering information which type of
information Researcher can get from the resources of finding facts like questionnaire, personal
interview, observation etc.

• From the study of prior research work or literature review Researcher got such useful thoughts,
methods, definitions and ideas for our present research.

• Researcher can find that which method and ideas would be fruitful for the present research

• Researcher can know the errors and special facts of the related literature

• Researcher can find new method of theory of work which was founded earlier by someone which may
be useful to our research and can help to do our work in proper way.

• With the study of literature review researcher can understand the topic properly and can express in a
right way which can help LIS professionals to do their further research work related with the topic.

• With the study of literature review, researcher can know the problems and deficiencies which may
arise earlier which he can reduce in his present topic.

• Literature review can be helpful to the present researcher to decide their limitations. It gives new
ideas, methods and approaches to deal with research problems.

• With the help of the opinions of subject experts and the quotations given by such professionals;
researcher is able to provide his topic with his strong findings and recommendations.

C. Writing of Literature Review

Researcher first need to decide what he/she need to read. In many cases researcher will be given a
booklist or directed towards areas of useful published work. Make sure to use this help. With
dissertations, and particularly thesis, it will be more down to researcher to decide. It is important,
therefore, to try and decide on the parameters of research. What exactly are objectives and what do
researcher need to find out?

In literature review, are researcher looking at issues of theory, methodology, policy, quantitive research,
or what? Before researcher start reading it may be useful to compile a list of the main areas and
questions involved, and then read with the purpose of finding out about or answering these. Unless
something comes up which is particularly important, stick to this list, as it is very easy to get sidetracked,
particularly on the internet. A good literature review needs a clear line of argument.

Therefore need to use the critical notes and comments researcher made while doing reading, to express
an academic opinion. Make sure that:

 Researcher include a clear, short introduction which gives an outline of the review, including the main
topics covered and the order of the arguments, with a brief rationale for this.

 There is always a clear link between researcher own arguments and the evidence uncovered in
reading. Include a short summary at the end of each section. Use quotations if appropriate.

 Researcher always acknowledge opinions which do not agree with thesis. If researcher ignore
opposing viewpoints, argument will in fact be weaker.

Literature review must be written in a formal, academic style. Keep writing clear and concise, avoiding
colloquialisms and personal language. Researcher should always aim to be objective and respectful of
others' opinions; this is not the place for emotive language or strong personal opinions.

If one thought something was rubbish, use words such as "inconsistent", "lacking in certain areas" or
"based on false assumptions". When introducing someone's opinion, don't use "says", but instead an
appropriate verb which more accurately reflects this viewpoint, such as "argues", "claims" or "states".
Use the present tense for general opinions and theories, or the past when referring to specific research
or experiments.

D. Importance of Literature Review

To define and limit of the research

• To place your study in an historical perspective

• To avoid unnecessary duplication

• To evaluate promising research methods

• To relate your findings to previous knowledge and suggest further research

A good literature review, therefore, is critical of what has been written, identifies areas of controversy,
raises questions and identifies areas which need further research.

E. Types of Sources for Review

Thesis and dissertations: these can be useful sources of information. However there are disadvantages:
1) they can be difficult to obtain since they are not publisher, but are generally only available from the
library shelf or through interlibrary loan; 2) the student who carried out the research may not be an
experienced researcher and therefore you might have to treat their findings with more caution than
published research.

Books: books tend to be less up-to-date as it takes longer for a book to be publisher than for a journal
article. Text books are unlikely to be useful for including in your literature review as they are intended
for teaching, not for research, but they do offer a good starting point from which to find more detailed
sources.

Journal articles: these are good especially for up-to-date information. Bear in mind, though, that it can
take up to two years to publish articles. They are frequently used in literature reviews because they
offer a relatively concise, upto-date format for research, and because all reputable journals are refereed
(i.e. editors publish only the most relevant and reliable research).

Conference proceedings: these can be useful in providing the latest research, or research that has not
been publisher. They are also helpful in providing information on which people are currently involved in
which research areas, and so can be helpful in tracking down other work by the same researchers.

Internet: the fastest-growing source of information is on the Internet. It is impossible to characterize the
information available but here are some hints about using electronic sources: 1) bear in mind that
anyone can post information on the Internet so the quality may not be reliable, 2) the information you
find may be intended for a general audience and so not be suitable for inclusion in your literature review
(information for a general audience is usually less detailed) and 3) more and more refereed electronic
journals (e-journals) are appearing on the Internet - if they are refereed it means that there is an
editorial board that evaluates the work before publishing it in their e-journal, so the quality should be
more reliable (depending on the reputation of the journal).

Government/corporate reports: many government departments and corporations commission or carry

CD-ROMS: at the moment, few CR-ROMs provide the kind of specialized, detailed information about
academic research that you need for your own research since most are intended for a general audience.
However, more and more bibliographies are being put onto CD-ROM for use in academic libraries, so
they can be a very valuable tool in searching for the information you need.

Magazines: magazines intended for a general audience (e.g. Time) are unlikely to be useful in providing
the sort of information you need. Specialized magazines may be more useful (for example business
magazines for management students) but usually magazines are not useful for your research except as a
starting point by providing news or general information about new discoveries, policies, etc. that you
can further research in more specialized sources.

TYPES OF SOURCES FOR REVIEW:

1) Primary review: Usually a report by the original researchers of a study (unfiltered sources).
Letters/correspondence, diaries, memoirs, autobiographies, official or research reports, patents and
designs, and empirical research articles.

2) Secondary review: Description or summary by somebody other than the original researcher, e.g. a
review article (filtered sources) academic journal articles (other than empirical research articles or
reports), conference proceedings, books (monographs or chapters’ books), documentaries.

WHAT DOES A LIT REVIEW DO?

• Clarifies understanding of the field

• Places your research within a broader context

• Evaluates the results of previous research

• Defines key concepts and ideas

• Identifies research in related areas that is generalizable or transferable to your topic

• Identifies relevant methodological issues

• http://www.une.edu.au/library/find/eskillsplus/literat ure/litreview.php

WHAT A LIT REVIEW IS NOT

• A lit review is NOT an annotated bibliography

• Annotated Bibliographies:

• Cite various works

• Summarize major points of those works

• Talk about the importance of each work to the reader or larger community

• Discuss gaps in the literature or shortcomings of the works

• Are useful tools

• Are first steps to a good lit review