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Effective
Learning
Service
Writing a
Literature
Review
For appointments contact:
els@qmu.ac.uk or elsinternational@qmu.ac.uk
web: www.qmu.ac.uk/ELS
What is a review of the literature?
There are different types of literature reviews and different purposes for
writing one. The most common are listed below.
Stand alone literature reviews
• These provide an overview and analysis of the current state of
research on a topic or question.
• The goal is to evaluate and compare previous research on a topic to
provide an analysis of what is currently known; also to reveal
controversies, weaknesses or gaps in current work.
A literature review:
• enlarges your knowledge about the topic
• You may use a range of sources in an essay but these are usually a
select number because the emphasis is on your argument. A literature
review can also have an ‘argument’ but this is not as important as
covering a number of sources.
Remember!
It is usually a bad sign to see every paragraph beginning with the name of a
researcher. Instead, organise the literature review into sections that present
themes or identify trends, including relevant theory.
You are not trying to list all the material published, but to synthesise and
evaluate it according to a guiding concept (e.g. your research objective, the
problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis).
Before you begin reading
Clarify
• Roughly how many sources should you include?
• What types of sources (books, journal articles, websites)?
• Should you summarise, synthesise or critique your sources by discussing
a common theme or issue?
• Should you evaluate your sources?
Find models
Look for literature reviews in your discipline and read them to get a sense of
the types of themes you might want to look for in your own reading or research
or of ways to organise your final review.
The narrower your topic, the easier it will be to limit the number of sources you
need in order to have a good survey of the material. Your tutor will not
expect you to read everything on the topic. You will make your task easier if you
first limit your scope. (However, you may need to broaden the topic if you are
not finding enough sources!)
Ask yourself:
These will help you concentrate and deal with material in an active manner.
These questions will form the basis of your written review. Asking them as you
read will tend to slow your reading process down, because you will be thinking
as you go.
However, doing your critical work early will make the process of writing a
critical review much easier.
Make notes as you read
Your note-taking should reflect your reading questions. Summaries have their
uses, but they aren't the building blocks of a good literature review. Taking notes
and making critical comments is more useful.
Keep in mind that, although taking notes is time consuming, much of it will be
directly usable later. If you take comprehensive notes in your own words as you
read and think, you will have done the really hard work before you start to write.
It doesn't really matter how you organise and write your notes as long as you:
One possible way of recording notes is to use a ‘synthesis’ matrix. This allows you
to sort and categorize the different arguments presented on an issue.
Across the top of the chart are the spaces to record sources, and along the side of
the chart are the spaces to record the main points of argument on the topic at hand.
As you examine your first source, you will work vertically in the column belonging to
that source, recording as much information as possible about each significant idea
presented in the work. Leave a column at the end for your points/comments.
Research aims
Discussion/analysis
Conclusions
Starting thinking about writing
Once you have the basic categories in place, you need to consider how you will
present the sources themselves within the body of your paper. Create an
organisational method to focus this section even further. This could be:
chronological; by theme; or by method used, for example.
Chronological: You write about the materials according to when they were
published; however, there may be relatively no continuity
between sources here.
By method: This approach differs from the two above in that the focus
usually does not have to do with the content of the material.
Instead, it focuses on the ‘methods’ used in the research
being reviewed.
Structure
Like most academic papers, literature reviews also contain at least three basic
elements: an introduction or background information section; the body of the review
containing the discussion of sources; and, finally, a conclusion and/or
recommendations section to end the review.
Introduction: a brief idea of the topic of the literature review, perhaps the
central theme and the organisational pattern
Once you’ve settled on a general pattern of organisation, you’re ready to write each
section. Below are a few guidelines to follow during this stage.
Use evidence:
• A literature review is just like any other academic research paper. Your
interpretation of the available sources must be backed up with evidence to
show that what you are saying is valid.
Be selective:
• Select only the most important points in each source to highlight in the
review. The type of information you choose to mention should relate directly
to the focus of the review.
Look at the synthesis matrix below and then study the paragraph which follows.
Research (A) Smith (B) French (C) Haroon (D) Hope Points to
topic note/comments
Care homes:
residents’
perception of
autonomy
article title/ Care home Nursing Nursing home Enhancing
environments, home residents: the autonomy
details motivation, and environments dependence of nursing
psychological and resident and home
adjustment autonomy independence residents
(2000) (1998) (2000) (2002)
methods A= smaller
Qualitative: Qualitative: Qualitative: number of
residents/staff in 115 residents / 225 residents institutions and
two intermediate 32 nursing various residents
care facilities homes nursing interviewed.
(different homes Also
autonomy interviewed
levels) staff–
significant?
C = different
levels autonomy
– significant?
findings Physical Availability of Privacy not Resources B, C, D disagree
environment private areas only aspect. and also with A – bigger
had minimum = not only Physical location = interview
effects on aspect phys. structures features samples? D
residents’ envir/mt.. that (standardised which are also considers
perception of determines furniture/f important to location is
autonomy (apart autonomy heating/no residents for important.
from personal house key) = their
privacy limited feeling independence
available) of .
independence.
Focus on analysis, not description (cont’d)
This passage below is taking an analytical and evaluative approach to the literature
by comparing and contrasting it. This approach is well signalled by linguistic
markers indicating logical connections: words such as ‘however’, ‘moreover’; and
phrases such as ‘substantiates the claim that’ which indicate supporting evidence
and the writer’s ability to synthesise knowledge.
After studying residents and staff from two intermediate care facilities in
Calgary, Alberta, Smith (2000) came to the conclusion that except for
the amount of personal privacy available to residents, the physical
environment of these institutions had minimal if any effect on their
perceptions of control (autonomy). However, French (1998) and
Haroon (2000) found that availability of private areas is not the only
aspect of the physical environment that determines residents'
autonomy. Haroon interviewed 115 residents from 32 different nursing
homes known to have different levels of autonomy (2000). It was found
that physical structures, such as standardized furniture, heating that
could not be individually regulated, and no possession of a house key
for residents limited their feelings of independence. Moreover, Hope
(2002), who interviewed 225 residents from various nursing homes,
substantiates the claim that characteristics of the institutional
environment such as the extent of resources in the facility, as well as
its location, are features which residents have indicated as being of
great importance to their independence.
As you write
Ask yourself: