literature review introduction examples

literature review introduction examples

The Importance of Literature Review in Research

1. Introduction to Literature Review

It is essential to conduct a literature review for these reasons: – To ensure the research problem is not duplicative in nature. – To locate the areas of prior work in the research area. – To confirm that the researcher is aware of all the relevant work done in the area. – To identify the relationship of the work to the work of others.

Literature review is an important part of any research because it helps to identify the scope of works that have been done so far in the research area. Its main purpose is to identify the weaknesses and strengths of works done previously. The process of reviewing the literature helps the researcher to gather information which will help in defining a framework of the issues or problem to be resolved. Literature review also helps in understanding the nature of the research work as well as helps in defining the methodology to be used for the research work. For instance, if the research topic is to be compared with similar research topics, the use of methodology can be in the form of comparing the two different topics or to identify what are the contributions done in the current research topic from the other. Last but not least, the literature review helps the researcher to enhance his knowledge on the research topic as well as it can provide guidelines to the researcher for planning and implementing the research.

2. Purpose and Objectives of Literature Review

In an educational context, no piece of writing can claim to be considered a recognized piece of work unless it is graded. Lit around a discussion, piece of true or a hypothetical piece will require a degree of credibility; it has to be reliable and valid and must usually seek to prove or disprove a hypothesis. This sort of work often has deadlines set for publications. In such cases, a literature review becomes too relevant to ignore, and its scope being so wide, it is possible to treat it as a lifelong undertaking.

A literature review is useful in many ways and can strengthen the knowledge on a subject; it helps to practice to pinpoint a writing in terms of strengths and weaknesses and it pinpoints gaps of where further research is required. The review furthers one’s knowledge as it requires a number of viewpoints and interpretations to be said, and identifies trends. It also requires a number of specific questions to be answered pertaining to a narrow analysis topic usually. A methodological scope will also assist to build frameworks and classifications. This information will be kept in a scrapbook of detailed notes, providing a foundation for the rest of the study. At the very same time, the review assists the future readers of the study, in that they have a brief description of what has been achieved, summarizing the main points in the literature in terms of the field of study. Finally, it is a requirement for the research proposal and thesis.

The aim of a literature review is to show the chosen authors’ familiarity with the subject and their grasp of the existing writing. This may involve defining key terms, providing tips on theoretical approaches and/or analytical models, outlining synthesis and qualitative or quantitative findings, gathering insights, or having a history to the whole subject. It is additionally in telling your research associates what you may be doing in this review. Why is it so necessary? The importance of a literature review is derived from its basis in the scientific system. It’s a document where current knowledge is evaluated, and the body of understanding then accumulates, subject to the preservation of future retrieval of information.

3. Methods and Approaches for Conducting Literature Review

Throughout the review, it is important to keep detailed logs. This will help to clearly document the process and can be beneficial to presenting the findings of the review. Logs can be written in the form of notes on what the researcher has done, or entries pertaining to databases and libraries that have been searched.

When organizing a literature review around a complex issue, a matrix of literature can be a helpful way to store the information relevant to the review. This involves organizing the information with comparison between different pieces of literature being presented in a table format. Although it requires more time and effort, a matrix of literature can help to design a research project in the future.

If the purpose is to examine the literature in order to critically evaluate the material and then assess the value of literature on a particular topic, then the following method would be more appropriate. With this type of review, the first step is the assessment of the value of the piece of literature. For this purpose, it is beneficial to create annotated notes for each piece of literature being reviewed. This means that the researcher must write a paragraph that is a brief summary and assessment of the article, including the major findings and key methodological design. This method helps with the selection of literature to review. By looking at the notes, the researcher can then make a decision based on the notes as to whether to review the article in more depth. The information from the article can then be coded into the set of themes to which the researcher has decided. This allows the comparison of the information between different pieces of literature.

There are many different methods and approaches to conducting a literature review, depending on the purpose of the review. It may be helpful to employ a different strategy. For instance, the review may be conducted as a preliminary review before a new piece of research, in which case the main aim would be identifying relevant pieces of research. If this is the case, the researcher will have to be selective when choosing the pieces of literature to review. When making final choices, it is useful to make a list of all included works and then eliminate the less relevant items using clear exclusion criteria.

4. Benefits and Significance of Literature Review

First and foremost, you must better understand and appreciate the research and its far-reaching implications. It has been acknowledged by many researchers and writers that the role and significance of the literature review in advancing all of human knowledge is critical. It is imperative for a researcher to understand this in order to attain success in his chosen endeavor. First of all, it is important to articulate that the review will hone the researcher’s keen sense of understanding the subject, and it will sharpen his analytical and intellectual capabilities. This is achieved through the identification of what is known and unknown, and this will be accomplished through the search for the relevant literature. By preparing and examining the literature review, a researcher is able to avoid following in the previous investigator’s footsteps. Too often, research is stopped short due to an investigator claiming that either there is insufficient data to support an argument or that the question has not been answered. This can be discouraging, but with a well-prepared literature review, the researcher will never feel that the effort was in vain. With the insight gained from the review, the researcher will be aligned in a position to showcase data or a hypothesis looking for an answer, and he will be able to recognize when the question has been answered. This will all serve as a confidence booster for the researcher and will increase his motivation. Confidence and motivation are crucial considering that the majority of investigators that give up on research are those that are not confident in their own abilities to attain the desired results. Confidence is a strong factor determining the success of research, and it is the linkage for many beneficial attributes to the research task at hand aimed sky high.

5. Tips for Writing an Effective Literature Review

This will involve discussion with an academic tutor in your department. It is advised that the student begin to develop a research file on the sources that will eventually be used in the review. This will be a good way of ensuring that an adequate amount of time and effort is devoted to the review. Setting a goal at the early stages of the student’s writing will be a good way of ensuring that you are committed to the work and that you produce a high-quality piece on the due date.

This last point is very important as many literature reviews fail to make clear distinctions between the findings from a source and the inferences made by the source based on analysis of the findings. If your review can successfully show that you are an expert in the source material, you can move on to the next stage: that of writing the review in the first place.

In this regard, a literature review can be seen as a creative act with a particular goal (i.e., the advancement of a particular idea) in a specific context. The ability to review and report on relevant literature is a key academic skill. An effective literature review will present your readers with a clear understanding of the sources that you have found. It should also show that you can interpret evidence from your sources and that you have an understanding of how your sources relate to one another.

A literature review is an argument, just like any other academic text. It should adopt a stance and argue for a particular perspective. This does not mean that you should make strong, explicit arguments. Instead, your perspective on the topic should be implicit throughout. This will be most effective if you can identify a theme or an overarching idea that runs through the sources but which has not been recognized or addressed in full by any of them.

A common mistake in writing a literature review is to get bogged down in a flat description of the content of the many books, journal articles, and reports that you have been reading. Relate only the directly relevant content, and spend as much time analyzing the comparative significance of various sources for your argument.

There are a set of guidelines that determine the quality of a literature review. It should be in the form of an essay, not a list of points. It is important to make an argument from your literature. The purpose here is to relate your argument to other work in the field. Therefore, it is important that your writing is coherent. That is, it is clear and logical, and the reader can follow your argument.