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Literature review. RESEARCH METHOD FOR ACADEMIC PROJECT I. Introduction. Literature Review is a very important chapter to show that you have studied what others have done and the research gap that will be the focus of your project.
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Literature review RESEARCH METHOD FOR ACADEMIC PROJECT I
Introduction • Literature Review • is a very important chapter to show that you have studied what others have done and the research gap that will be the focus of your project. • describes what others have done and hence sets a benchmark for the current project. • provides a solid background for a research paper's investigation. Comprehensive knowledge of the literature of the field is essential to most research papers. • The purpose of a literature review is for you to take a critical look at the literature (facts and views) that already exists in the area you are researching.
The contents of this chapter mostly based on published material include books, journal articles, internet (electronic journals), newspapers, magazines, theses and dissertations, conference proceedings, reports, and documentaries.
In the context of a research paper on a thesis, the literature review provides a background to the study being proposed. • The background may consider one or more of the following aspects depending on the research question being posed: • Theoretical background – past, present or future • Methodology and/or research methods • Previous works/findings • Rationale and/or relevance of the current study
The whole process of reviewing includes: a. Searching for literatureb. Sorting and prioritising the retrieved literaturec. Analytical reading of papersd. Evaluative reading of paperse. Comparison across studiesf. Organising the contentg. Writing the review
Key features of a literature review • The literature review needs to be relevant and focused. • It is impossible to cover all that have been written within the field. • Hence, it is important to be selective in the works that we cite. • Only papers that are directly relevant to our topic need to be included in the LR. • The literature review should be up to date. • Some disciplines require that you use information that is as current as possible.
The literature review needs to be critical. • It is not sufficient for you to say ‘who said what’ and expect your readers to make the judgements as to the value of works you are citing. • The research gap should arise from the literature review. • From the analysis of the literature, it should have become apparent that there are certain limitation in previous research or certain areas that have not yet been studied fully. • When you have finished your review, you need to state what is missing from the previous studies to explain what your study intends to do to fill the gap.
activities • Please collect a copy of a poor and a very good paper relevant to your research topic. • Critically analyze the poor and the very good paper and summarize the analysis.
