The Literature Review

A Step-by-Step Guide for Students

Diana Ridley

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781446281093
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Study Aids
• Subtopic: Study Guides

This second edition of Diana Ridley?s bestselling book provides a step-by-step guide to conducting a literature search and literature review, using cases and examples throughout to demonstrate best practice. Ridley outlines practical strategies for conducting a systematic search of the available literature, reading and note taking and writing up your literature review as part of an undergraduate research project, Masters dissertation or PhD thesis.

New to this edition are:

• Examples drawn from a wide range of disciplines
• A new chapter on conducting systematic reviews
• Increased guidance on evaluating the quality of online sources and online literature
• Enhanced guidance in dealing with copyright and permissions issues.

This book also comes with a companion website containing a wide range of examples of successful literature reviews from various academic disciplines. SAGE Study Skills are essential study guides for students of all levels. From how to write great essays and succeeding at university, to writing your undergraduate dissertation and doing postgraduate research, SAGE Study Skills help you get the best from your time at university. Visit the SAGE Study Skills hub for tips, quizzes and videos on study success!

1

Introduction

‘The first thing you must do is conduct a comprehensive literature review.’ This is one of the early tasks that many research students are asked to undertake by their supervisors. It can sometimes be frustrating, when you are keen to make a start on researching a particular problem that you have identified, to be advised to go and search for relevant work done by others, to identify pertinent theories, or just generally to read around the subject. However, it is important to explore the field in which you are going to do your research and gain a thorough awareness and understanding of current work and perspectives in the area so that you can position your own research clearly on the academic map of knowledge creation. An essential aspect of academic research is that it has connections with the work of others.

‘But where do I start?’ and ‘What exactly is a literature review, anyway?’ are common questions. The literature review is an activity which has many facets and it is not unusual to feel somewhat baffled when trying to work out exactly what is expected. To be tackled successfully, it requires thoughtful organisation and planning from the beginning. Before embarking on the challenge it is therefore helpful to give careful consideration to the following questions in the context of your own discipline:

• What is a literature review and what purposes does it serve in relation to your research?
• Why is it such a vital component of research?
• What are the various ways it can be realised in a dissertation or thesis?
• What does the process of completing a literature review involve?

I begin to address these questions here and elaborate further on the ideas throughout later chapters. The book as a whole contains:

• extensive practical tips on how to prepare, organise and write your review successfully;
• extracts from a variety of different sample dissertations and theses to illustrate the points being suggested;
• tasks for you to do which involve observations and analysis of the dissertation and thesis text extracts and reflection on a range of aspects of your own research and literature review.

It can therefore be used as a self-study guide and either read from start to finish at the beginning of the research process to give you a comprehensive view of what is entailed or relevant chapters can be visited as you progress through your research. I would, however, recommend reading Chapters 1 to 5 as you begin the reading for your research because they focus on strategies for conducting efficient searches of the literature, and techniques for reading efficiently and organising the information you collect. Chapters 6 to 10 will become more pertinent when you prepare to write your review and will continue to be relevant as you draft and revise your work. Chapter 11 is a new chapter in this edition and discusses the purposes and processes involved in conducting a systematic literature review. This type of review differs from a thesis or dissertation literature review in that it is a stand-alone investigation usually conducted by a team of experienced researchers. The majority of the book, however, assumes that you are a student conducting research for an undergraduate, masters or doctoral programme or a supervisor of a student undertaking such research.

After working through the guide, I hope that you will have extended your awareness of the issues involved and be able to navigate your way through the maze of identifying and efficiently reading the pertinent literature, and then writing an effective literature review which blends in with your own research.

In this initial chapter, I define the term ‘literature review’; discuss the significance of the literature review in research; and suggest alternative ways that the literature review can be positioned in the final draft of a dissertation or thesis, giving the contents pages of dissertation and thesis case studies as examples.

What is a literature review?

When attempting a definition of this complex phenomenon, it is helpful to break it down into two parts: first, the finished product of the literature review which appears in the final draft of the dissertation or thesis, and second, the process that is involved in conducting a review of the literature.

The ‘literature review’ is the part of the thesis where there is extensive reference to related research and theory in your field; it is where connections are made between the source texts that you draw on and where you position yourself and your research among these sources. It is your opportunity to engage in a written dialogue with researchers in your area while at the same time showing that you have engaged with, understood and responded to the relevant body of knowledge underpinning your research. The literature review is where you identify the theories and previous research which have influenced your choice of research topic and the methodology you are choosing to adopt. You can use the literature to support your identification of a problem to research and to illustrate that there is a gap in previous research which needs to be filled. The literature review, therefore, serves as the driving force and jumping-off point for your own research investigation.

The term ‘literature review’ also refers to the process involved in creating the review that appears in your dissertation or thesis. It is an ongoing activity which begins when you pick up the first book or article related to your research and continues until the day you finish the final draft. Initially, your literature review helps you to formulate your research questions; at the same time, you begin to identify the relevant theories and related research studies to your own and the methodology that you might adopt for your research. Later, the literature assists you in the analysis and interpretation of your data. This book explores all aspects of the process including literature search strategies, systems for storing your key sources and notes, reading strategies, and techniques for writing the review.

Some additional definitions of the literature review from other authors are given below to show the varying emphases that different study guides put on its role and purpose.

Literature reviews should be succinct and … give a picture of the state of knowledge and of major questions in your topic area.

(Bell, 2010: 112)

[A literature review can be defined as] the selection of available documents (both published and unpublished) on the topic, which contain information, ideas, data and evidence written from a particular standpoint to fulfil certain aims or express certain views on the nature of the topic and how it is to be investigated, and the effective evaluation of these documents in relation to the research being proposed.

(Hart, 1998: 13)

Typically, the literature review forms an important chapter in the thesis, where its purpose is to provide the background to and justification for the research undertaken.

(Bruce, 1994: 218)

[The purpose of the literature review] is to locate the research project, to form its context or background, and to provide insights into previous work.

(Blaxter et al...