What Should Be in a Lit Review Masters Thesis

Are y'all tired of hearing the phrase 'literature review' every v minutes at academy and having no idea what it means, allow alone where to start? Non to worry - nosotros've got yous covered with this footstep-by-footstep guide to creating a smashing dissertation literature review.

What is a literature review?

In brusk, a dissertation literature review provides a critical cess of the sources (literature) yous have gathered and read surrounding your subject, and then identifies a "gap" in that literature that your research will effort to address.

There are a lot of misunderstandings about what exactly a dissertation literature review entails, as it can vary. Whilst in some cases a dissertation literature review can be a unproblematic summary of important sources, near ofttimes information technology requires y'all to critically engage with the text to convey your positive or negative opinions of it. What is your interpretation of a particular source? Does this interpretation differ considerably from other viewpoints in the literature? This is the sort of disquisitional engagement expected from you lot in a literature review.

Whereas a summary will most probable provide a simple recap of the general arguments of the source(due south), the expectations concerning a literature review extend beyond this. A literature review may provide a new perspective on a classic research newspaper or it may combine both new and old interpretations (this is the "gap" – more on this later). A literature review may as well provide a thorough and critical outline of the intellectual developments in a field with a focus on major, and ofttimes polemical, debates. In other scenarios, a literature review may besides provide an assessment of a source and inform a reader about its validity, pertinence and relevance to the enquiry subject.

"In a literature review, you're aiming to summarise and provide a critical analysis of the enquiry arguments you have found in your readings, without making new contributions to the literature. Hence the term: "literature review"."

There tends to be confusion betwixt literature reviews and academic papers in general, but they are not one and the aforementioned. More often than not, academic papers aim to provide new research material about a detail subject, and a literature review features as function of this objective. In a research paper, the literature review forms the basis of the research – information technology helps to highlight whatever research gaps as support for a new argument or insights you intend to provide. In a literature review, you lot're aiming to summarise and provide a critical analysis of the research arguments you have found in your readings, without making new contributions to the literature. Hence the term: "literature review ".

Is a literature review really necessary?

Now that we know what a literature review is, the next step is to sympathize the point of writing ane in the commencement place. Like information technology or non, a literature review is an essential office of whatever academic slice of writing, as it demonstrates to your tutor or reader that you have a nuanced agreement of the sources concerning your enquiry area or question.

Although it may seem arbitrary, the literature review helps to persuade the person reading and marking your consignment that what you have written about is relevant and your arguments are justified and worthwhile. And so, in short, a literature review is essential, and you need to put the necessary time into getting it right.

How practise you write a dissertation literature review?

Every bit the next section of this blog is quite lengthy, we've cleaved it downward into several key steps which should make it easier to follow when writing your own dissertation literature review. You showtime by identifying your sources, and so you read and re-read them. Next, you think about whatsoever gaps in the research or literature yous have used, and finally, you lot write your review using all the preparation and information gathered in the steps prior.

Identify sources

To write a good dissertation literature review, you need to have a fair idea of what sources y'all would like to review. If you haven't been given a formal reference list by your tutor, refer dorsum to the techniques we recommended before.

Make sure that your sources are balanced; include enough books and academic journals and whatsoever useful published work from reputable scholars. To assistance you choose your sources accordingly, you lot might desire to think about the parameters and objectives of your research. What are y'all hoping to detect out? In your literature review, what theoretical issues or perspectives practice yous aim to tackle? How nigh your methodology? Will you focus on mainly qualitative or quantitative studies, or a mixture of both? These general questions should assistance guide you in selecting your sources and once more, remember that the abstract of a source is a very useful tool. Having a quick scan of the abstract and its 'keywords' will often give you an indication of the whether the source will be useful for your enquiry or not.

Every bit you're identifying your sources, ensure you a keep a listing as information technology'southward very easy to lose focus given the wide scope of the Internet. Reference tools such as Mendeley allow you to store your sources online and via a desktop app, and are a dandy way to go along your bibliography organised. The citation tools fastened to these programmes will also allow you to simply export citations in a format of your choice when required later on. They will save yous countless hours trying to figure out how to use Harvard or APA referencing correctly.

Read your sources

Now that yous accept organised your sources efficiently, information technology'southward time to read through them. As unnatural as it may feel, it's most constructive to read in a few stages, equally detailed below:

Start, go through all the texts to get a sense of their general content and arguments. This volition also assist you estimate which sources you mainly want to focus on in your review. During the second phase of your reading, you lot can then take a more critical, in-depth expect at your sources. Brand a lot of notes, be critical, inquire questions. What is your academic stance on the text? Do yous have whatsoever comments on the methodological arroyo, the theoretical argument or the full general hypothesis? Note these down. It will ensure that your literature review is not merely a summary of your readings, and will encourage a articulate line of argument so that your work is logical and coherent.

Consider gaps in the research

When writing a dissertation literature review, an essential matter to consider is identifying the research gap. Identifying the gap is particularly important if your review forms office of a research proposal, equally it will highlight the pertinence of your research – bold that your inquiry has been designed to fill this gap. In other instances, identifying the gap is an indication of adept disquisitional assay and can score you extra points.

To identify the "gap" it is of import that we know what this "gap" is. A research gap is essentially the existence of a inquiry question, perspective or problem that has non been answered in the existing literature on whatsoever field of study. Identifying the research gap is important for highlighting the originality of your enquiry; it proves you're not simply recounting or regurgitating existing research. It also shows that you are very much aware of the status of the literature in your chosen discipline, which in turn, demonstrates the amount of research and endeavor you have put into your review.

Many students, peculiarly at mail service-graduate level, find it extremely difficult to identify research gaps in their bailiwick area. For post-graduate research papers, identifying research gaps and formulating enquiry questions that tin can address these gaps form the very essence of a research newspaper. Identifying research gaps does not take to be a difficult endeavour and there are several ways to overcome this difficulty:

Start by reading
A simple approach will be to read important parts of cardinal articles in your research area. Commencement, note that yous'll take to sift through many articles to identify the ones that are most suitable for your research. A quick search using keywords on Google Scholar will often give you a quick overview of the available literature. Other useful sources include databases such as JSTOR or Wiley Online Library. You can then snowball boosted articles past clicking on 'related articles' or checking out which other papers have cited your source.

Abstracts and recommendations
Whichever avenue you choose, reading the abstruse is oft a good starting bespeak to go a sense of what the articles entails. You should also do a quick examination of the introductory and terminal paragraphs of the paper equally these sections always provide some information on the aims and outcomes of the research, likewise as 'recommendations for future studies.' These recommendations typically provide some insight on the enquiry gaps in the literature. Another route would exist to simply read every bit much as you tin on your research subject while because which research areas however need addressing in the literature – this is commonly an indication of research gaps.

Write your review

Now y'all're well prepared to start putting fingers to keyboard. Consider the following pointers:

1. Employ sample literature reviews
Have a look at sample dissertation literature reviews in your subject area area and read them thoroughly to familiarise yourself with existing key debates and themes. This can be a skillful starting point for framing and structuring your own review. If you are non familiar with academic writing, going through samples will help you to go a sense of what is expected in this regard. Pay attention to the bookish language and formal style used. Also, remember that the bibliography or reference section of your selected texts volition help you to snowball further references if you demand any.

two. Continue it elementary
Keep your topic every bit narrowed downward as possible. Remember that there are hundreds – or in some instances, thousands – of sources or perspectives concerning any subject area or topic. Researchers investigate research bug in many divergent ways and the literature bachelor on any given discipline is extremely wide. In your literature review, you won't be expected to address every argument or perspective concerning your topic – this might actually undermine your ability to write a coherent and focused piece. Y'all'll make your work easier if you limit the telescopic of your work. In your review, ensure that you clearly state what the focus of your piece of work will be.

3. Brand sure your sources are equally current equally possible
If you are reviewing scientific work, information technology's essential your sources are every bit current as possible given the advancements in the field over the years. In the medical field peculiarly, research is constantly evolving and a source that'due south only three years old may be even out-dated. In the social sciences this dominion may non employ, as many theoretical works are classics and you volition be expected to exist familiar with these perspectives. Y'all might have to the review the piece of work of Marx, or Hobbes, or any other archetype scholar. You lot still need to balance theory with current approaches, as you lot will need to demonstrate the means in which perspectives in the literature have changed over the years, or you lot may fifty-fifty want to demonstrate how scholars have used classic theories to inform their work.

4. Consider the organisation of your work
In a dissertation literature review, organising your work goes beyond having an introduction, body and conclusion. You'll exist reviewing a number of texts, and then you'll also have to remember clearly about how to organise themes, topics and your statement in general. Below is a detailed guide on how to do this:

• Think nearly the bones structure offset

  Similar whatever other academic paper, a dissertation literature review volition comprise a bones introduction, body, and conclusion.

  The introduction of a literature review should be articulate, brusque and focused. It should outline the focus of the review – in other words, it should conspicuously state the main topics to exist covered. A good literature review will also state the arguments to be made, as well every bit underlying rationale that underpins these arguments.

  The body of your literature review will include an in-depth discussion of the academic sources you take called to review. Yous may choose to organise your sources co-ordinate to themes, methodology or even based on a chronological order. In the torso of your review, ensure that your arguments are presented clearly and that you link these arguments with the literature. Is at that place a scholar that agrees with your view? Say and so, in a way that the reader will sympathise easily. This demonstrates that y'all are very familiar with the academic inquiry in your field. Remember to also make note of any views that practise not hold with your position; excluding these arguments will reduce the methodological robustness of your piece. Y'all can use direct quotations in your literature review, however exercise then sparingly then you don't appear lazy. Most tutors volition not approach it kindly; the purpose of a literature review is to demonstrate your power to critically engage with a piece of text, and littering your review with direct quotes isn't a good indication of this. Instead, try to paraphrase quotations and only apply directly quotes if information technology really helps to illustrate your argument.

  In the summary of your dissertation literature review, it'due south important to give a summary of the conclusions you've drawn from your readings. If your literature review forms function of a broader research proposal, reiterate the gaps in the literature here, and clearly state how your proposed inquiry will make full these gaps. Brand recommendations for time to come inquiry in this section too, which demonstrates your belittling skills and will score you some extra points.

• Pay extra attending to the structure of the body

  Y'all now have the basic construction of your research in identify, however it's worth dedicating some fourth dimension to what the body of your work should entail. The body is the primary core of your work, so it's important to consider how you will frame and organise it. You have options here – you lot can choose to organise the content of your work based on a chronological method, based on themes, trends or methodology, or based on arguments.

  To structure the trunk of work chronologically, you lot will have to organise your sources based on when they were published. A limitation of this approach is that it inhibits continuity in your arguments and in some instances, tin undermine the coherence of your work. Use with caution.

  A more coherent way of organising your piece of work is to grouping your sources based on the arguments they make in a 'for versus confronting' manner. This enables you to present your work in a more than dynamic way and what'southward more, makes the fundamental debates in the literature more obvious. Say you were trying to convey the debates on European migration policy, you might want to start by writing something along these lines:

  "While scholars such as X argue that migration policies must be made more stringent to counteract the increased menstruum of Syrian refugees to Europe, other scholars such as Y offering a divergent perspective. They specifically espouse a perspective based on a homo rights approach…"

  This approach also leaves room for you to insert your phonation into the literature. Consider this statement:

  "While Ten argues for the enactment of more than stringent migration policies, this paper argues forth the lines of Y that migration policies should exist based on human being rights considerations."

  Using this technique likewise allows you to introduce additional literature that supports your position.

  Another mode of organising your content is co-ordinate to theme; or sub-themes, if your review focuses on one overarching topic. This method of organisation yet allows you to nowadays an overview of any polemical debates inside these sub-themes. A thematic review tin easily shift between chronological periods inside each sub-section too.

  Structuring work using a methodological approach is quite a common approach, withal it's often used in tandem with other ways of organising sources. This method is particularly axiomatic in introductory sections whereby researchers may simply want to land that a particular subject has been mostly studied from a qualitative or quantitative perspective (they will often then cite a number of scholars or studies to support this merits). In scientific reviews however, a methodological approach may form the ground of the discussions in the body. If this is the example for y'all, focus on the methods used by various researchers. How did they go about answering a item research question? Were there any limitations to this method? If so, what method(s) would have been improve?

Yous'll soon realise that organising the trunk of your literature review is an iterative procedure and you'll more often than not utilize all of these approaches in your write-up. The body of your research may also include additional sections that do not necessarily grade a part of its organisational structure. For instance, you might desire to include a 'context section' that provides some insight on whatsoever groundwork item required for understanding the focus of the literature review. It may also focus on historical considerations. You could include a brusque methodology section that details the approach you used in selecting and analysing your sources.

5. Write the paragraphs of the body
In one case you have settled on the approach to writing your body, you must now write each of its paragraphs in a manner that is in keeping with academic conventions. Consider this paragraph from a literature review about stakeholder participation for environmental management, to clarify the discussion that follows:

• Despite the rhetoric and the concerns that accept been expressed, there have been few attempts to investigate the validity of the many claims that have been fabricated for stake-holder participation (Webler, 1999; Beierle, 2002; Brody, 2003; Blackstock et al., 2007). The few attempts that have been made accept tended to focus on evaluating the process rather than the outcomes (east.g. Beierle, 2002; Renn et al., 1995; Rowe and Frewer, 2000). This may be partly due to the claiming of selecting appropriate evaluation criteria and data collection methods. Blackstock et al., 2007 contend that the evaluation of participatory processes should itself be participatory, with stakeholders selecting and applying the evaluation criteria. However, this is not straightforward. Webler and Tuler (2006) institute stiff differences of opinion betwixt participants that they selected from ten case studies, about what constituted a "good" participatory process. (Source: Reed, M.S., 2008. Stakeholder participation for environmental direction: a literature review. Biological conservation, 141(10), pp.2417-2431).

As the example above suggests, a dissertation literature review must be written using a formal and academic way. Besides, annotation how sources have been grouped co-ordinate to both arguments and themes. Retrieve we noted that the process of grouping sources in the torso of your literature review is never a linear one? You will often utilize a combination of the approaches that we have discussed. Ensure that your writing is concise, coherent and devoid of any personal or stiff linguistic communication. Avoid whatsoever phrases like, "I hate Ten's work"; a more academic way of stating your disagreement would be to just state: "I would contend confronting Ten'southward position that…", or "X'south argument is inconsistent with the prove because...", or "X'southward arguments are based on false assumptions because...".

In the sample paragraph in a higher place, discover the utilize of words like "fence" – this is a good academic alternative to more commonplace words such equally "says". Other good alternatives include "states", "asserts", "proposes" or "claims". More academic options include "opine", "posit", "postulate", or "promulgate", even so some tutors and readers notice these words to be too 'heavy' and archaic, so ensure that you are familiar with the writing standards in your establishment.

If your writing is tailored to a peer-reviewed journal, it's worth having a await at articles within that journal to get a sense of the writing style. Well-nigh tutors will provide a guideline on writing styles, and it's important you adhere to this brief. You will oft be required to too apply the third person when writing a literature review, thus phrases such every bit "this paper argues" or "this paper is of the view that…" are appropriate.

There are exceptions at postal service-graduate level or mostly – like when you have conducted your own principal research or published your work widely – which requite you the bookish authority to boldly make claims. In cases similar these, the apply of beginning person is suitable and you may use phrases such every bit "I fence" or "I propose".

Remember too to generally use present tense when referring to opinions and theories (although in the context of specific research experiments, the apply of the by tense is better).

Beyond the employ of the bookish terms suggested above, 'linking' words are also specially important when writing a literature review, since you'll be grouping a lot of writers together with either similar or divergent opinions. Useful linking words and phrases include: similarly, there are parallels, in convergence with…

When at that place is disagreement, you lot may want to use any of the following: All the same, conversely, on the other hand, diverges from, antithetical to, differential from…

6. Write the conclusion
The conclusion of a dissertation literature review should always include a summary of the implications of the literature, which you should then link to your argument or general research question.

Some final notes

The overall structure of your literature review will be largely based on your research area and the academic conventions that are in line with it. However, at that place are some essential steps that apply across all disciplines and that you should ensure you lot follow:

Do not but describe the opinions of writers
Analyse, analyse, analyse, and ensure that your analysis is disquisitional (what accept the writers missed; where does your opinion sit down with theirs, etc.).

Structure the body of your argument using various techniques
Your structure should be organised based on thematic areas, key debates or controversial issues, and according to methodological approaches. Keep your review dynamic, only coherent. Retrieve to identify literature gaps and link this to your own research.

Use ample evidence
This is extremely important and forms the very essence of a dissertation literature review. You must refer to various sources when making a point; see the sample paragraph higher up for an example of this. Your arguments and estimation of a enquiry topic must be backed by testify. Do not make baseless claims, as a literature review is an academic slice of writing and not an opinion piece.

Exist very selective
Not every piece of inquiry has to be reviewed. If y'all are determined to show that you aware of the available literature out in that location, try writing techniques such equally: There is robust literature available concerning the migration patterns of Syrian refugees. Notable works include: X(2015), y (2013), Z (2014). Once yous have acknowledged these works, y'all do not have to review them in particular. Be selective most the sources that y'all will discuss in detail in your review.

Do not rely too much on direct quotes
Only utilise them to emphasise a point. Similarly, don't rely too heavily on the piece of work of a single writer. Instead, highlight the importance of that author in your inquiry and motion on. If y'all need to keep going back to the piece of work of that writer, then you lot demand to link those discussions with your work. Do not simply provide a summary of the writer'south work. In what ways does your work concord or disagree with his/hers? Be critical.

Make your voice heard
Yes, the whole point of the literature review is to provide a critical analysis and summary of the viewpoints out there, but a critical analysis does include the fact that y'all need to brand your opinion known in the context of the literature. Notation how skilfully, in the earlier sample paragraph by Reed (2008), he weaves his opinions with references. Read back over the sample and effort to perfect this skill.

Ensure that you reference your work correctly
And brand sure you lot utilize the advisable referencing fashion. For more help on this, click here.

Feeling overwhelmed by your literature review? You lot're not alone.

A dissertation literature review tin be a fourth dimension-consuming and challenging affiliate to write, especially given all the research and detailed assay involved. Our expert academic writers tin can help.

shatzerbres1944.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.oxbridgeessays.com/blog/write-dissertation-literature-review-depth-guide/

Share this post