WhatIs a Literature Review? Aliterature review is a survey and a discussion of the literature in a givenarea of study. I

Literature Review: Final Assignment Instructions

Overview

WhatIs a Literature Review?

Aliterature review is a survey and a discussion of the literature in a givenarea of study. It is a concise overview of what has been studied, argued, andestablished about a topic; it is generally organized chronologically orthematically. A literature review is also written in essay format.

Aliterature review is not an annotated bibliography because it groups relatedworks together and discusses trends and developments rather than focusing onone item at a time. It is also not a summary; rather, a literature reviewevaluates previous and current research in regards to how relevant and/oruseful it is and how it relates to your own research. Therefore, a literature review is more than an annotated bibliography or a summary because you areorganizing and presenting your sources in terms of their overall relationshipto your problem statement.

Aliterature review is written to highlight specific arguments and ideas in a fieldof study. By highlighting these arguments, the writer attempts to show what hasbeen studied in the field and also where there are weaknesses, gaps, or areasneeding further study. The literature review must also demonstrate to thereader why the writers research is useful, necessary, important, and valid.

Literaturereviews can have different types of audiences, so consider why and for whom youare writing your review. For example, many literature reviews are written as achapter for a thesis or dissertation in order to support a proposal or arewritten in order to help the writer develop a base of knowledge in a particularbusiness area.

Askingthe following questions will assist you in sifting through your sources andorganizing your literature review. Remember, your Literature Review: FinalAssignment organizes the previous research in light of what you areplanning to do in your own project.

• What’s been done in this topic area to date? What are the significant discoveries, key concepts, arguments, and/or theories that scholars have put forward? Which are the important works?
• On which particular areas of the topic has previous research concentrated? Have there been developments over time? What methodologies have been used?
• Are there any gaps in the research? Are there areas that have not been looked at closely yet but should be? Are there new ways of looking at the topic?
• Are there improved methodologies for researching this subject?
• What future directions should research in this subject take?
• How will your research build on or depart from current and previous research on the topic? What contribution will your research make to the field?

HowDo I Organize and Structure the Literature Review?

Thereare several ways to organize and structure a literature review. Two common waysare chronologically and thematically. You will be using the thematic structurein this review. In a thematic review, you will group and discuss your sourcesin terms of the themes or topics they cover. This method is often a strongerone organizationally, and it can also assist you in resisting the urge tosummarize your sources. By grouping themes or topics of research together, youwill be able to demonstrate the types of topics that are important to yourresearch. For example, if the topic of the literature review is improvingproductivity in organizations, then there might be separate sections ofresearch involving service-oriented businesses, production-oriented businesses,non-profit organizations, governmental organizations, etc. Within each sectionof a thematic literature review, it is important to discuss how the researchrelates to other studies (how is it similar or different, what other studieshave been done, etc.) as well as to demonstrate how it relates to your own work.This is what the review is for; do not leave this connection out!