literature review Definition: The process of reading, analyzing, evaluating, and summarizing scholarly materials about a specific topic.

The results of a literature review may be compiled in a report or they may serve as part of a research article, thesis, or grant proposal.

relate to that problem, issue or debate in terms that show a balance between the theoretical, methodological and practical aspects of the topic; include a clearly stated research methodology based on the existing literature; provide an analytical and critically evaluative stance to the existing literature on the topic. A master's thesis is therefore a demonstration in research thinking and doing." (Chris Hart, Doing a Literature Review. Sage, 1998)

Observations: "Research literature reviews can be contrasted with more subjective examinations of recorded information. When doing a research review, you systematically examine all sources and describe and justify what you have done. This enables someone else to reproduce your methods and to determine objectively whether to accept the results of the review. "In contrast, subjective reviews tend to be idiosyncratic. Subjective reviewers choose articles without justifying why they are selected, and they may give equal credence to good and poor studies. The results of subjective reviews are often based on a partial examination of the available literature, and their findings may be inaccurate or even false." (Arlene Fink, Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet to Paper. Sage, 2009) "There should be clear links between the aims of your research and the literature review, the choice of research designs and means used to collect data, your discussion of the issues, and your conclusions and recommendations. To summarize, we can say that the research should: focus on a specific problem, issue or debate; The selection of available documents (both published and unpublished) on the topic, which contain information, ideas, data and evidence written from a particular standpoint to fulfil certain aims or express certain views on the nature of the topic and how it is to be investigated, and the effective evaluation of these documents in relation to the research being proposed. Definition of a Literature Review: More Details for You Sure, if you have never made something like a literature review before, you need to start with a definition. Yet, are you sure that one literature review definition will help you understand all aspects of this kind of work? Let us see. Here is a definition of a literature review provided by one of the online dictionaries: A literature review is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge on a particular topic. Well, how do you like this definition of a literature review? Can you get down to writing your own review now? Probably, no! This dry and very specific literature review definition only explains the very gist of the task, but gives no other details. This is exactly why we are here. Let us present you our definitions of a literature review with more details and explanations.

Definition of a literature review: detail #1 To put it into simple words, a literature review can be defined as a description of literature related to a certain topic within a certain field. This description includes an overview of the following: the main theories and hypotheses; scholarly opinions about the topic; names of some reputable researchers in the field, etc.

to the already obtained knowledge or to obtain totally new knowledge. In the later case, you have to make the basic map or structure of the new information so that it is ready to be added with later result of literature review. What can be reviewed? Encyclopedia. This will give you general idea about the topic, but not in details. Books. They will give you details account of the topics, but the content might be not up-to-date. Magazine. This will give you the current situation of the field, but it is not presented scientifically. Research journal. This will give you the latest development of the field (if the journals you read are not outdated) and it is presented scientifically. How to locate the related literature? Go to the library and check the catalog, and get the books or paper journal you want. Go to the library and use the internet to get access to the subscribed e-journal. Go to the internet and search the topic with Google scholar search engine. It is worth trying. How to take a note You can prepare some cards to take a note or just can use your notebook. The important point is that you should write down the title and other data of the literatures, the summary or quotation, and the page. Dont forget to code your cards or note. The main functions of literature review are to help you: Understand the topic better so you know exactly the position of your research within the field of the study, so you know the relation of your research with the other parts of the field of the study. Position your research question in a meaningful way, so you can spell out the contribution of your research.

Definition of a literature review: detail # 2 A literature review can be organized in different ways. It may be either a descriptive piece of writing or critical assessment of literature. Yet, keep in mind that even a descriptive literature review should not be a mere list of the scholarly works. It requires your comments and opinions. Definition of a literature review: detail #3 You should always know the purpose of writing your review. In other words, you have to define a problem that you are going to address. On our weblog, you can also find info about different annotated bibliography types. To write a good paper you need to spend too much time and efforts. Do not hesitate to contact us to get a cheap custom written paper instead! We are always ready to provide you with the most suitable purchase and assistance! Free title page, outline, delivery and a plagiarism report. We are the writing service that cares about customers buying papers. Pay through PayPal multiple options available. Order your help with us get an A+! Review of Related Literature To review means to read. To read means to read aloud or silently the text and think about the content. To think may mean relating the content

Focus the research questions, so that they are not too broad. Avoid unnecessary replication. hoose good research design and methods. The importance of review of related literature in a research paper Every piece of ongoing research needs to be connected with the work already done, to attain an overall relevance and purpose. The review of literature thus becomes a link between the research proposed and the studies already done. It tells the reader about aspects that have been already established or concluded by other authors, and also gives a chance to the reader to appreciate the evidence that has already been collected by previous research, and thus projects the current research work in the proper perspective. A large part of review of literature actually needs to be done even before the research project is formalised. This is essential to make sure that you are not repeating the work that someone has already done earlier. Sometimes, if the research proposed by you has already been undertaken earlier, then it provides you an option of modifying your work by adding a new perspective or altering some of the methods of research to obtain a perspective that will be different from earlier works and thus more valuable. Occasionally, your work may be exact repetition of the work done earlier, but with a different set of data or sources of facts, and purpose of the research may just be see if your results are similar to earlier works or otherwise. A good researcher usually goes through a lot more literature than is actually incorporated in the paper. This is because different literature may have differing relevance for the current project and all of it may not worth reporting in the end, but in the initial phase, when you are looking for all aspects of an issue that could be relevant one would like to extensively explore the literature and see if any relevant findings are already available. Some of the literature reviewed is directly relevant and hence used as a preface to explain the background of work. Then other reports may be relevant from the point of view of the project as they provide some clues to the puzzle by suggesting a hypothesis, which may be the subject matter of your research project.

Lastly, review of literature is also important to highlight difference in opinions, contradictory findings or evidence, and the different explanations given for their conclusions and differences by different authors. In some cases, an analysis of these factors can help one understand may facets of a complex issue and at other times, such analysis can lead to a new possibility that can be researched upon in the current project. Thus review of literature is a very important part of one's research. To summarise, there is hardly any research project which is totally unrelated with research that has already taken place. Usually every individual research project only adds to the plethora of evidence on a particular issue. Unless the existing work, conclusions and controversies are properly brought about, most research work work would not appear relevant, not will it appear important in the whole framework. Thus, review of literature is a very important aspect of any research both for planning your work as well as to show its relevance and significance.