literature review paper example

literature review paper example

The Importance of Literature Review in Academic Research

1. Introduction

After having collected and organized the information, it is time to write the review. A review should be composed in the form of a distinct essay or article. The first step is to decide on the topic for the review and the theme which leads to the work being done. Doing all of this is only a prerequisite of the literature review. But why is this needed, you may ask? There are many reasons as to why a literature review is conducted. If one may be related to academics, it could help students in providing them a better understanding of different concepts of a specific topic. This could, in return, help them greatly when it comes to solving problems in that field of study. It allows for further research on the topic and may help in organizing research projects on the same, or related topics. Students are not the only ones who benefit from a literature review. It can also be helpful for scholars and researchers as it lays a foundation for understanding what other researchers have achieved and can provide greater insights on their subscribers. It is obvious that a literature review will be needed to be done again and again as the field of interest grows and changes. This is done in order to keep oneself updated with the current state of the art.

A literature review presents and synthesizes the views of people in relation to a specific question, topic or phenomenon. It documents the state of the art with respect to the topic or question. It is a critical, analytical account of what has been published on a selected topic by accredited scholars and researchers. This is just a fancy way of saying that a literature review is a report (often a big report) where you have to analyze relevant works by other researchers who have done research in the same specific field of your interest. This review is a collection of work published by accredited scholars and researchers on a specific topic or question. This does not simply mean gathering a set of summaries. It is more than a description, it is a critical analysis and therefore, there should be more writing than summarizing. It should state the understanding of the published works that are being reviewed while also pointing out the weaknesses and flaws. Each work should be critically summarized and then compared with other works to understand the views of different people on the specific topic.

2. Benefits of Conducting a Literature Review

The nature and purpose of a literature review are specified. Various sources have been recommended for carrying out a literature review, such as library catalogues and electronic databases. Techniques for improving the effectiveness and reliability of the search are identified. For instance, it is now widely acknowledged that the use of just one database is a limiting factor, and potentially a biased one, to reaching a balanced understanding of existing knowledge. As the research process has so many influences, the risk of making a false move or being diverted from a relevant path is ever present. Keeping a research diary has been mentioned as a way to keep track of the route taken in the review, providing a record to assist retrospective assessment of the influences that led to pivotal decisions. Literary research work has no clear boundaries, and people of a higher academic ability also use intuitions and hunches as guidance. The capability to trace how these intuitions were formed often determines whether findings can be replicated at a later date. It has been mentioned that an evaluation of the evidential status of all retrieved information needs to be documented, rating information in terms of conjectured truth, or the stance of the person providing the information. All these factors must be taken into account if the review is to serve as a platform for the furthering of understanding within a particular field. Time expended carrying out the above activities needs to be viewed as an investment in ensuring that effective use is made of subsequent research data. Failure to adequately filter and process information can lead to a research proposal being rejected, or a research project abandoned, due to a lack of confidence in the existence of adequate data on the relevant subject area. The literature review thus far decidedly pushes research activity into the inductive sphere.

Researchers of various specializations have emphasized the importance of conducting a literature review in the academic research process. It is also through their works that we were able to come up with a guideline on the benefits of conducting a literature review, which essentially helps researchers in the academic realm. According to the proponent, it is never too late to undertake a literature review. It is an ongoing, organic act, which at its best helps us to see the place of our own study in the wider landscape of research and scholarship. We should, therefore, strive to document our understanding at various stages of the research process and in so doing move towards a theoretical sampling which is more integrative rather than aggregative.

3. Steps to Conduct an Effective Literature Review

Secondly, one should determine the criteria for inclusion and exclusion of the information to be reviewed. In other words, one needs to set what are the factors or limits behind the information reviewed to whether include or exclude it. This is done in order to leave out any bias from the writer on information that is viewed as appropriate. The final steps for this phase is to develop a flow diagram of information and finally to write an explicit statement about the results of the phase. These methods will be useful to monitor the work done in order to stay focus on the research and to leave a trail of how the research question was answered step by step.

Define your research question. You should start with a specific research question in order to conduct a precise search. A research question forms the basic and core unit for any review of the literature. It helps by discovering the nature of any specific problem, explaining the details of the problem, to evaluate previous work in point of the problem and to discover the relationship among the works under review. This is important since by having a specific and concise research question, it will make a review as accurate and concise as possible.

4. Common Mistakes to Avoid in Literature Review

4.2 Lack of understanding of the subject A literature review often forms a part of a bigger research work. The nature of the review can change with a change in the subject or topic. Many times, one tends to pick up methods and approaches from a previous research study on a similar topic without realizing that the same may not be applicable to his special case. This may be due to inadequate information about the specific research area or the researcher being too casual in his approach to the review. This can lead to a lot of confusion and wastage of time and effort later. A good review of the literature, with a stress on its relevance to the special case, can avoid this.

4.1 Incomplete literature survey Many times, research work is undertaken without a detailed literature survey. The result is a research work of poor quality with little or no value. The problem that is addressed may have already been tackled in an earlier research study or it may not be a problem at all! A thorough literature survey is the only way to avoid this pitfall. This has to be conducted at the very initial stage of research to ensure that there is no replication of work already done and to put the research work into a significant context. The survey should be revisited at various stages of the research.

Literature review is one of the most important segments of comprehensive research work. It is done to gain knowledge about various aspects that are covered in the research work and which directly or indirectly influence the same. The main purpose of the review is to get an insight into the area which will help in developing the research question. It is undertaken so that the research done can prove to be beneficial for society and add a significant new or innovative dimension to the already existing area.

5. Conclusion

The next step is the most boring step of them all where the student should search for information from various resources. Easier methods to obtain information are not always the best way to obtain information. Methods such as browsing the internet, asking information from friends, or repeating something that was once heard or read may not be completely accurate. An academic library is still a very good way to obtain information. A librarian can further provide information, especially through the use of the library’s online catalogues. When using the internet, one should not just simply use a search engine, but it should have a specific known website in which the address is known. If the internet must be used to search, a virtual library is usually more credible because it is linked with many academic libraries that have been mentioned. Next, one should check information from primary or secondary resources. Primary resources are documents that have not been interpreted by anyone else, whereas secondary resources are documents that build on primary resources. This will allow a student to learn from other people’s experiences and mistakes in the study of a similar topic. It is important for a student to take notes and make sure to write the source of each information. This will prevent the student from plagiarizing. This step may take a very long time.

The first step is to create a well-formulated research question which the student would like to research on. This is important as it gives clear guidelines on what information is required. The research question will determine the kinds of resources that are available and the type of studies that have been conducted. This will help the student to decide which types of resources to use and will enable ease of access to such information.

Therefore, it is necessary for a scholar to know the types of information that need to be collected, where and how to collect such information. A well-done literature review, which is conducted with a good study design, is the most important part of any research.