Learning how to do a literature review can make a difference in getting excellent grades. A literature review is a survey of existing research on a given topic. It is used to identify debates, trends, and gaps in the research so that you can determine where your work will fit into a broader field.
Literature reviews are an essential part of any research project and often one of the most challenging parts of writing. But never fear— we're here to help! This step-by-step manual will teach you how to write a literature review.
To place your research in the existing body of knowledge, you'll probably need to do a literature review while writing a dissertation, thesis, or research paper. Using the literature review, you can:
If you want to enroll in graduate school or pursue a career in research, being able to write literature reviews is a skill that you should develop.
A thematic outline is a great way to organize your literature review if you know what themes or topics you want to focus on. To create a thematic outline, list all the themes or issues you wish to include in your literature review. Once you have your list of themes, you can begin looking for sources that discuss those themes.
You can create a chronological outline if you want to organize your literature review chronologically. List all the different sources in the order in which they were published. It can be a great way to see how other scholars have approached the same topic over time.
A methodological outline is a great way to organize your literature review if you want to focus on the different methods used to study a specific topic. To create a methodological outline, include all the other methods used to analyze your topic. Once you have your list of techniques, you can begin looking for sources that discuss those methods.
You can create a conceptual outline focusing on the different concepts used to study a particular topic. You will need to list all the concepts used for the topic's research. Once you have your list of concepts, you can begin looking for sources discussing those concepts.
Literature Review Lays Down the basis of your research
Get a Literatrure Reviewthat matches your requirements, which includes the topic title, research aim and objective, research questions, research gap, literature review, methodology and list of reference papers.
The Literature Review will be foundation of your final dissertation. It is very important to get this done perfectly to avoid any problems!
An effective literature review is written in five stages, which are as follows:
To give a comprehensive picture of the state of knowledge on the topic, a good literature review does more than simply describe the sources; it also analyses, synthesizes, and critically assesses them.
The initial step is to decide what your focus is going to be. You'll need to narrow your topic down so that it's manageable, and you'll want to choose a focus with enough existing research to draw from that isn't so well-researched that you'll have trouble saying something new. Once you've settled on a direction, it's time to start your literature search.
There are various strategies for this. The first is to do a keyword search in a database such as JSTOR or Google Scholar. Another way is to do a Google search, but use advanced search operators like "AND" NOT " to ensure you're getting relevant results for your topic.
Once you've found some sources, it's time to start reading! But don't just read — you must take diligent notes as you go along. For each source, make sure to note the main arguments or ideas, any influential authors or studies, and anything else that strikes you as being important or notable.
Since it's unlikely that you'll have time to read everything that has been written on your subject, you'll need to decide which sources are most important to your research issue.
Ensure that the sources you rely on are reliable, and read any seminal works and important theories in your field of study.
Now that you've gathered all your sources and taken detailed notes, it's time to write up your findings! There are a few different ways to organize your literature review.
Whatever approach you take, there are a few things that every good literature review should have:
Your readers should be able to follow your argument from start to finish without getting lost along the way. Make sure every paragraph flows smoothly into the next one.
Like any other piece of writing, your literature review needs an introduction and conclusion that bookend the main body of the text. Your introduction should overview the topic and introduce your thesis statement (more on that later). At the same time, your conclusion should summarize your main findings and tie them back into your thesis statement.
A literature review isn't just a list of all the existing knowledge on a given topic; it's also an opportunity to offer your analysis and interpretation of those sources.
These are just some of the questions you should be thinking about as you read through your sources.
Now that we've gone over what a literature review is and how to write one let's look at how they're used in real life. Literature reviews are commonly used in two situations:
In either case, though, their goal is always the same:
A literature review is essential to any research project, but writing one can be daunting if you've never done it before. This article will show you exactly how to write one—from choosing a focus and conducting your search to taking notes and writing up your findings. By following these simple steps, you'll be well on your way toward producing high-quality literature reviews that will contribute new insights into existing fields of study!
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