literature review vs annotated bibliography

literature review vs annotated bibliography

Literature Review vs Annotated Bibliography

1. Introduction

Reviewing the literature in a specific field can be an essential aspect of your academic work. A literature review is a comprehensive survey of writings about a definite topic. It provides an outline, a summary, an evaluation, and a critical analysis of those works. It’s neither a chronological description nor an abstract. You are thinking of your literature review as an argument with some works being supportive and some refutational. The variety of work may change from thesis to thesis; however, there are a few fundamental stages that can be useful. It’s frequently helpful to attempt to identify the key ideas and theories connecting successive works. Before you write your review, you need to decide who has written about the topic and what they have found out. You should be able to talk about the theories and evidence of these scholars in greater detail and vitality and in a fashion that works up to a critique of this area. A key aspect to keep in mind is that the goal of the literature review is to convince the reader that your analysis is crucial.

2. Purpose and Scope

Literature Review to be assessed Northern Ireland has experienced sectarian conflict in the form of part-time civil war for over thirty years. During the past decade, there has been increased academic interest in the conflict along the lines of political science, international relations, and more recently theory and a critical analysis of the development of conflict resolution. The situation in Northern Ireland would be a good case to highlight several aspects of contemporary interest in political science and international relations, and I have reasons to think it would be a good topic to gain a clearer understanding of the European Union.

The study of the public display through parades of Northern Irish underground organizations would be an interesting case study in the following contemporary developing concept in the social sciences: deterritorialization. It would be possible to compare the symbolic significance of these parades in relation to their actual geopolitical movement. This event would also provide a good opportunity to evaluate any efficacy of third-party intervention in conflict resolution within Ulster, as it would involve an examination of the governmental policies of both Britain and Ireland and the European Union.

Annotated Bibliography Behrens, Laurence. 1997 “In Northern Ireland, the call goes out for civility” The New York Times, April 30, vol. 146, A4 The author analyzes the origins and implications of the disputed Drumcree parade route in Portadown, Northern Ireland. The opinions of community leaders, British and Irish governments, and the Catholic and Protestant clergy are reported. He finds that the crisis actually raised hopes for an early resolution of the troubles and greater European Union involvement in Ulster.

A literature review investigates the available research on a specific topic. It is often the first step in doing original research, either scientific or otherwise. It is more than a mere summary of the literature, however, and must contain a well-structured critical discussion of the field and its current trends, debates, unanswered questions, and methodologies. In the first example below, an Annotated Bibliography to be assessed, the descriptive paragraph is a very general summary of a newspaper article. This is okay for an Annotated Bibliography sample, but in that case, it does not assist the author in any way to find the sort of information required for his paper. On the other hand, the example contains a clear Literature Review to be assessed.

3. Key Differences

Finally, the evaluative phase of a literature review is an improved version of what is required in the annotated bibliography. The guidelines mention providing a critique of each source and an assessment of each source. However, as opposed to this, the guideline for an annotated bibliography says to provide a brief description or summary. It is aimed at informing the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited. This is far more loosely defined, and for this reason, the evaluative phase of a literature review should constitute a comprehensive assessment of each source, its quality, validity, and its relevance to the topic.

Furthermore, when comparing the descriptive and evaluative phase of a literature review to an annotated bibliography, the descriptive phase of the literature review should be far more in-depth than an annotated bibliography. Descriptors were taken from the guidelines for the assignment task, and it was mentioned that the descriptive phases of a literature review involve a description and summary of the findings of each source. It is important to consider here that this particular section of the annotated bibliography is indeed similar to the descriptive phase of a literature review; however, the annotation only involves a brief summary and will go no further.

Annotated bibliographies, when set as a task, are given for the purpose of assisting the student in finding and recording sources that are relevant to the research topic. This is the first difference when compared to a literature review, based on the fact that whatever type of literature review a student may be writing (descriptive, critical, methodological, theoretical), the literature review will be written with the intent to be a self-contained piece of work, as opposed to a tool that assists the student in locating sources.

With this in mind, the literature review will be written with an excessively descriptive analytical look at the literature, whereas the annotated bibliography is written with the intent to locate sources and provide a brief and critical description and evaluation of the source cited. Let’s look at this aspect in more detail.

Literature review vs annotated bibliography key differences One of the most apparent differences between a literature review and an annotated bibliography lies in the type of work and hence its ultimate purpose. A literature review is a self-contained piece of a deeper dive into the research area, whereas the annotated bibliography will take the form of a research tool which you will revisit during the research process to locate and record sources.

4. Benefits and Limitations

Lastly, the use of research software and annotation facilities can greatly improve the quality of a literature review. This way, it will be stored in a safe, annotated, and cross-referenced with other work, making it easier to access.

Taking a part of the literature out of context and intertwining it with an interpretation will make it easier to digest and understand, taking the confusion from the reader and helping to avoid designating cognitive resources to try to understand the literature and decide what it might mean.

A good literature review will also provide a stepping stone for further research. For instance, the review may highlight a gap in the market that has not been explored before, which prompts research in the topic area. This also provides a good example of how the review could present the information in an organized way, showing how it has led to an outcome. This method has proved efficient and successful for the Ansoff Group.

The analysis and interpretation of the literature in a literature review provides a comprehensive understanding to the reader. It makes it easier for the reader to identify the key aspects of the topic, which saves hours of reading time and avoids information overload. Secondly, it assists the reader in identifying what has been done in a particular area, providing an in-depth understanding of the topic. Further to this, when focusing on a specific category within a topic, the reader can be informed of the quality that has taken place in that area. For instance, using this method, a reader could identify what social implications have come about from an organization’s actions. This could be quite difficult to see in an entire organization’s history.

Benefits and Limitations:

5. Conclusion

In the end, the concluding paragraph should not only summarize the essay’s main point – the importance of studying abroad – but also give a final solution or present new ideas to explore in the future. In this case, the author suggests that it is certainly a feasible option for American students to take a year off to work or travel, but parents and students should plan it together and with the students’ education in mind. He concludes by promoting more funding and support for study abroad programs, as these programs have great potential to enhance the students’ culturally and increase international understanding. The essay shows that the differences between the literary genres of a literature review and an annotated bibliography are not significant, but they do force slightly different approaches, the more complex assignment being the literature review. Written by a student, the essay is a simple comparison of the methods used in undertaking these two assignments.