RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT

(LESSON 5)

BY

MR SHADRECK PEARSON

(SHAPE RESEARCH AND SKILLS CONSULTANCY)

ORGANIZED BY

STEVEN CHIWAYA SUKALI

 LITERATURE REVIEW
 Literature review is a comprehensive summary of previous research on a topic. The
literature review surveys scholarly articles, books, and other sources relevant to a
particular area of research.

 The review should enumerate, describe, summarize, objectively evaluate and clarify this
previous research. It should give a theoretical base for the research and help you (the
author) determine the nature of your research.

 The literature review acknowledges the work of previous researchers, and in so doing,
assures the reader that your work has been well conceived.

 It is assumed that by mentioning a previous work in the field of study, that the author has
read, evaluated, and assimilated that work into the work at hand.

 A literature review creates a "landscape" for the reader, giving her or him a full
understanding of the developments in the field. This landscape informs the reader that
the author has indeed assimilated all (or the vast majority of) previous, significant works
in the field into her or his research.

 "In writing the literature review, the purpose is to convey to the reader what knowledge
and ideas have been established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are.
The literature review must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g. your research objective,
the problem or issue you are discussing, or your argumentative thesis). It is not just a
descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A LITERATURE REVIEW?

 When you write a thesis, dissertation, or research paper, you will likely have to conduct a
literature review to situate your research within existing knowledge.

 The literature review gives you a chance to:

1. Demonstrate your familiarity with the topic and its scholarly context.

2. Develop a theoretical framework and methodology for your research.

3. Position your work in relation to other researchers and theorists.

4. Show how your research addresses a gap or contributes to a debate.

5. Evaluate the current state of research and demonstrate your knowledge of the scholarly
debates around your topic.

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Writing literature reviews is a particularly important skill if you want to apply for graduate
school or pursue a career in research.

KEY STEPS TO FOLLOW WHEN WRITING LITERATURE REVIEW

 A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources on a specific topic.

 It provides an overview of current knowledge, allowing you to identify relevant theories,

methods, and gaps in the existing research that you can later apply to your paper, thesis,
or dissertation topic.

 There are five key steps to writing a literature review:

1. Search for relevant literature

2. Evaluate sources

3. Identify themes, debates, and gaps

4. Outline the structure

5. Write your literature review

 A good literature review doesn’t just summarize sources—it analyzes, synthesizes, and
critically evaluates to give a clear picture of the state of knowledge on the subject.

DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE FIVE KEY STEPS TO FOLLOW WHEN WRITING

A LITERATURE REVIEW

Step 1– Search for relevant literature

 Before you begin searching for literature, you need a clearly defined topic.

 If you are writing the literature review section of a dissertation or research paper, you will
search for literature related to your research problem and questions.

Literature review research question

Example:

 What is the impact of social media on body image among Generation Z?

 Make a list of keywords.

 Start by creating a list of keywords related to your research question.

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  Include each of the key concepts or variables you’re interested in, and list any synonyms
and related terms. You can add to this list as you discover new keywords in the process of
your literature search.

Keywords example:

 Social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok

 Body image, self-perception, self-esteem, mental health

 Generation Z, teenagers, adolescents, youth

 Search for relevant sources

 Use your keywords to begin searching for sources. Some useful databases to search for
journals and articles include:

 Your university’s library catalogue

 Google Scholar

 JSTOR

 EBSCO

 Project Muse (humanities and social sciences)

 Medline (life sciences and biomedicine)

 EconLit (economics)

 Inspec (physics, engineering and computer science)

 Make sure to read the abstract to find out whether an article is relevant to your question.
When you find a useful book or article, you can check the bibliography to find other
relevant sources.

Step 2 – Evaluate and select sources

 You likely won’t be able to read absolutely everything that has been written on your topic,
so it will be necessary to evaluate which sources are most relevant to your research
question.

 For each publication, ask yourself:

 What question or problem is the author addressing?

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  What are the key concepts and how are they defined?

 What are the key theories, models, and methods?

 Does the research use established frameworks or take an innovative approach?

 What are the results and conclusions of the study?

 How does the publication relate to other literature in the field? Does it confirm, add to, or
challenge established knowledge?

 What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research?

 Make sure the sources you use are credible, and make sure you read any landmark studies
and major theories in your field of research.

 You can use our template to summarize and evaluate sources you’re thinking about using.

 Take notes and cite your sources

 As you read, you should also begin the writing process. Take notes that you can later
incorporate into the text of your literature review.

 It is important to keep track of your sources with citations to avoid plagiarism. It can be
helpful to make an annotated bibliography, where you compile full citation information
and write a paragraph of summary and analysis for each source. This helps you remember
what you read and saves time later in the process.

Step 3 – Identify themes, debates, and gaps.

 To begin organizing your literature review’s argument and structure, be sure you
understand the connections and relationships between the sources you’ve read.

Based on your reading and notes, you can look for:

A. Trends and patterns (in theory, method or results):

 Do certain approaches become more or less popular over time?

B. Themes:

 What questions or concepts recur across the literature?

C. Debates, conflicts and contradictions:

 Where do sources disagree?

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D. Pivotal publications:

 Are there any influential theories or studies that changed the direction of the field?

E. Gaps:

 What is missing from the literature? Are there weaknesses that need to be addressed?

 This step will help you work out the structure of your literature review and (if applicable)
show how your own research will contribute to existing knowledge.

Example of trends and gaps:

 In reviewing the literature on social media and body image, you note that:

 Most research has focused on young women.

 There is an increasing interest in the visual aspects of social media.

 But there is still a lack of robust research on highly visual platforms like Instagram and
Snapchat—this is a gap that you could address in your own research.

Step 4 – Outline your literature review’s structure

 There are various approaches to organizing the body of a literature review.

 Depending on the length of your literature review, you can combine several of these
strategies (for example, your overall structure might be thematic, but each theme is
discussed chronologically).

Chronological

 The simplest approach is to trace the development of the topic over time. However, if you
choose this strategy, be careful to avoid simply listing and summarizing sources in order.

 Try to analyze patterns, turning points and key debates that have shaped the direction of
the field. Give your interpretation of how and why certain developments occurred.

Thematic

 If you have found some recurring central themes, you can organize your literature review
into subsections that address different aspects of the topic.

 For example, if you are reviewing literature about inequalities in migrant health outcomes,
key themes might include healthcare policy, language barriers, cultural attitudes, legal
status, and economic access.
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Methodological

 If you draw your sources from different disciplines or fields that use a variety of research
methods, you might want to compare the results and conclusions that emerge from
different approaches. For example:

 Look at what results have emerged in qualitative versus quantitative research.

 Discuss how the topic has been approached by empirical versus theoretical scholarship.

 Divide the literature into sociological, historical, and cultural sources.

Theoretical

 A literature review is often the foundation for a theoretical framework.

 You can use it to discuss various theories, models, and definitions of key concepts.

 You might argue for the relevance of a specific theoretical approach, or combine various
theoretical concepts to create a framework for your research.

Step 5 – Write your literature review

 Like any other academic text, your literature review should have an introduction, a main
body, and a conclusion. What you include in each depends on the objective of your
literature review.

1. Introduction

 The introduction should clearly establish the focus and purpose of the literature review.

Tip

 If you are writing the literature review as part of your dissertation or thesis, reiterate your
central problem or research question and give a brief summary of the scholarly context.
You can emphasize the timeliness of the topic (―many recent studies have focused on the
problem of x‖) or highlight a gap in the literature (―while there has been much research
on x, few researchers have taken y into consideration‖).

2. Body

 You can follow these tips: Depending on the length of your literature review, you might
want to divide the body into subsections. You can use a subheading for each theme, time
period, or methodological approach.

 As you write
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A. Summarize and synthesize:

 Give an overview of the main points of each source and combine them into a coherent
whole

B. Analyze and interpret:

 Don’t just paraphrase other researchers—add your own interpretations where possible,
discussing the significance of findings in relation to the literature as a whole

C. Critically evaluate:

 Mention the strengths and weaknesses of your sources.

D. Write in well-structured paragraphs:

 Use transition words and topic sentences to draw connections, comparisons and contrasts.

3. Conclusion

 In the conclusion, you should summarize the key findings you have taken from the
literature and emphasize their significance.

Tip

 Be sure to show how your research addresses gaps and contributes new knowledge, or
discuss how you have drawn on existing theories and methods to build a framework for
your research.

 When you’ve finished writing and revising your literature review, don’t forget to
proofread thoroughly before submitting.

IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD LITERATURE REVIEW

 A literature review may consist of simply a summary of key sources, but in the social
sciences, a literature review usually has an organizational pattern and combines both
summary and synthesis, often within specific conceptual categories.

 A summary is a recap of the important information of the source, but a synthesis is a re-
organization, or a reshuffling, of that information in a way that informs how you are
planning to investigate a research problem.

 The analytical features of a literature review might:

 Give a new interpretation of old material or combine new with old interpretations.

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  Trace the intellectual progression of the field, including major debates.

 Depending on the situation, evaluate the sources and advise the reader on the most
pertinent or relevant research,

 Usually in the conclusion of a literature review, identify where gaps exist in how a
problem has been researched to date.

Given this, the purpose of a literature review is to:

 Place each work in the context of its contribution to understanding the research problem
being studied.

 Describe the relationship of each work to the others under consideration.

 Identify new ways to interpret prior research.

 Reveal any gaps that exist in the literature.

 Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies.

 Identify areas of prior scholarship to prevent duplication of effort.

 Point the way in fulfilling a need for additional research.

 Locate your own research within the context of existing literature [very important].

TYPES OF LITERATURE REVIEWS

1. Argumentative Review

 This form examines literature selectively in order to support or refute an argument,

deeply embedded assumption, or philosophical problem already established in the
literature. The purpose is to develop a body of literature that establishes a contrarian
viewpoint. Given the value-laden nature of some social science research [e.g.,
educational reform; immigration control], argumentative approaches to analyzing the
literature can be a legitimate and important form of discourse. However, note that they
can also introduce problems of bias when they are used to make summary claims of the
sort found in systematic reviews [see below].

2. Integrative Review

 Considered a form of research that reviews, critiques, and synthesizes representative

literature on a topic in an integrated way such that new frameworks and perspectives on
the topic are generated. The body of literature includes all studies that address related or

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 identical hypotheses or research problems. A well-done integrative review meets the
same standards as primary research in regard to clarity, rigor, and replication. This is the
most common form of review in the social sciences.

3. Historical Review

 Few things rest in isolation from historical precedent. Historical literature reviews focus
on examining research throughout a period of time, often starting with the first time an
issue, concept, theory, phenomena emerged in the literature, then tracing its evolution
within the scholarship of a discipline. The purpose is to place research in a historical
context to show familiarity with state-of-the-art developments and to identify the likely
directions for future research.

4. Methodological Review

 A review does not always focus on what someone said [findings], but how they came
about saying what they say [method of analysis]. Reviewing methods of analysis
provides a framework of understanding at different levels [i.e. those of theory,
substantive fields, research approaches, and data collection and analysis techniques], how
researchers draw upon a wide variety of knowledge ranging from the conceptual level to
practical documents for use in fieldwork in the areas of ontological and epistemological
consideration, quantitative and qualitative integration, sampling, interviewing, data
collection, and data analysis. This approach helps highlight ethical issues which you
should be aware of and consider as you go through your own study.

5. Systematic Review

 This form consists of an overview of existing evidence pertinent to a clearly formulated

research question, which uses pre-specified and standardized methods to identify and
critically appraise relevant research, and to collect, report, and analyze data from the
studies that are included in the review. The goal is to deliberately document, critically
evaluate, and summarize scientifically all of the research about a clearly defined research
problem. Typically it focuses on a very specific empirical question, often posed in a
cause-and-effect form, such as "To what extent does A contribute to B?" This type of
literature review is primarily applied to examining prior research studies in clinical
medicine and allied health fields, but it is increasingly being used in the social sciences.

6. Theoretical Review

 The purpose of this form is to examine the corpus of theory that has accumulated in
regard to an issue, concept, theory, phenomena. The theoretical literature review helps to
establish what theories already exist, the relationships between them, to what degree the

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 existing theories have been investigated, and to develop new hypotheses to be tested.
Often this form is used to help establish a lack of appropriate theories or reveal that
current theories are inadequate for explaining new or emerging research problems. The
unit of analysis can focus on a theoretical concept or a whole theory or framework.

NOTE:

 Most often the literature review will incorporate some combination of types. For example,
a review that examines literature supporting or refuting an argument, assumption, or
philosophical problem related to the research problem will also need to include writing
supported by sources that establish the history of these arguments in the literature.

STRUCTURE AND WRITING STYLE IN LITERATURE REVIEW

I. Thinking about your Literature Review

 The structure of a literature review should include the following in support of

understanding the research problem:

1. An overview of the subject, issue, or theory under consideration, along with the objectives of
the literature review,

2. Division of works under review into themes or categories [e.g. works that support a particular
position, those against, and those offering alternative approaches entirely],

3. An explanation of how each work is similar to and how it varies from the others,

4. Conclusions as to which pieces are best considered in their argument, are most convincing of
their opinions, and make the greatest contribution to the understanding and development of their
area of research.

The critical evaluation of each work should consider:

1. Provenance

 What are the author's credentials? Are the author's arguments supported by evidence [e.g.
primary historical material, case studies, narratives, statistics, and recent scientific
findings]?

2. Methodology

 Were the techniques used to identify, gather, and analyze the data appropriate to
addressing the research problem? Was the sample size appropriate? Were the results
effectively interpreted and reported?

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 3. Objectivity

 Is the author's perspective even-handed or prejudicial? Is contrary data considered or is

certain pertinent information ignored to prove the author's point?

4. Persuasiveness

 Which of the author's theses are most convincing or least convincing?

5. Validity

 Are the author's arguments and conclusions convincing? Does the work ultimately
contribute in any significant way to an understanding of the subject?

II. Development of the Literature Review

There are four Basic Stages of Writing:

1. Problem formulation

 Which topic or field is being examined and what are its component issues?

2. Literature search

 Finding materials relevant to the subject being explored.

3. Data evaluation

 Determining which literature makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the

topic.

4. Analysis and interpretation

 Discussing the findings and conclusions of pertinent literature.

Consider the following issues before writing the literature review:

Clarify

 If your assignment is not specific about what form your literature review should take,
seek clarification from your professor by asking these questions:

1. Roughly how many sources would be appropriate to include?

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2. What types of sources should I review (books, journal articles, websites; scholarly versus
popular sources)?

3. Should I summarize, synthesize, or critique sources by discussing a common theme or issue?

4. Should I evaluate the sources in any way beyond evaluating how they relate to understanding
the research problem?

5. Should I provide subheadings and other background information, such as definitions and/or a
history?

Find Models

 Use the exercise of reviewing the literature to examine how authors in your discipline or
area of interest have composed their literature review sections. Read them to get a sense
of the types of themes you might want to look for in your own research or to identify
ways to organize your final review. The bibliography or reference section of sources
you've already read, such as required readings in the course syllabus, are also excellent
entry points into your own research.

Narrow the Topic

 The narrower your topic, the easier it will be to limit the number of sources you need to
read in order to obtain a good survey of relevant resources. Your professor will probably
not expect you to read everything that's available about the topic, but you'll make the act
of reviewing easier if you first limit scope of the research problem. A good strategy is to
begin by searching the USC Libraries Catalog for recent books about the topic and
review the table of contents for chapters that focuses on specific issues. You can also
review the indexes of books to find references to specific issues that can serve as the
focus of your research. For example, a book surveying the history of the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict may include a chapter on the role Egypt has played in mediating the
conflict, or look in the index for the pages where Egypt is mentioned in the text.

Consider Whether Your Sources are Current

 Some disciplines require that you use information that is as current as possible. This is
particularly true in disciplines in medicine and the sciences where research conducted
becomes obsolete very quickly as new discoveries are made. However, when writing a
review in the social sciences, a survey of the history of the literature may be required. In
other words, a complete understanding the research problem requires you to deliberately
examine how knowledge and perspectives have changed over time. Sort through other
current bibliographies or literature reviews in the field to get a sense of what your

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 discipline expects. You can also use this method to explore what is considered by
scholars to be a "hot topic" and what is not.

Consider Whether Your Sources are Current

 Some disciplines require that you use information that is as current as possible. This is
particularly true in disciplines in medicine and the sciences where research conducted
becomes obsolete very quickly as new discoveries are made.

 However, when writing a review in the social sciences, a survey of the history of the
literature may be required. In other words, a complete understanding the research
problem requires you to deliberately examine how knowledge and perspectives have
changed over time. Sort through other current bibliographies or literature reviews in the
field to get a sense of what your discipline expects. You can also use this method to
explore what is considered by scholars to be a "hot topic" and what is not.

III. Ways to Organize Your Literature Review

A. Chronology of Events

 If your review follows the chronological method, you could write about the materials
according to when they were published. This approach should only be followed if a clear
path of research building on previous research can be identified and that these trends
follow a clear chronological order of development. For example, a literature review that
focuses on continuing research about the emergence of German economic power after the
fall of the Soviet Union.

B. By Publication

 Order your sources by publication chronology, then, only if the order demonstrates a
more important trend. For instance, you could order a review of literature on
environmental studies of brown fields if the progression revealed, for example, a change
in the soil collection practices of the researchers who wrote and/or conducted the studies.

C. Thematic [Conceptual Categories]

 Thematic reviews of literature are organized around a topic or issue, rather than the
progression of time. However, progression of time may still be an important factor in a
thematic review. For example, a review of the Internet’s impact on American presidential
politics could focus on the development of online political satire. While the study focuses
on one topic, the Internet’s impact on American presidential politics, it will still be
organized chronologically reflecting technological developments in media. The only
difference here between a "chronological" and a "thematic" approach is what is

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 emphasized the most: the role of the Internet in presidential politics. Note however that
more authentic thematic reviews tend to break away from chronological order. A review
organized in this manner would shift between time periods within each section according
to the point made. Note that this is the most common approach in the social and
behavioral sciences.

D. Methodological

 A methodological approach focuses on the methods utilized by the researcher. For the
Internet in American presidential politics project, one methodological approach would be
to look at cultural differences between the portrayal of American presidents on American,
British, and French websites. Or the review might focus on the fundraising impact of the
Internet on a particular political party. A methodological scope will influence either the
types of documents in the review or the way in which these documents are discussed.

Other Sections of Your Literature Review

 Once you've decided on the organizational method for your literature review, the sections
you need to include in the paper should be easy to figure out because they arise from your
organizational strategy. In other words, a chronological review would have subsections
for each vital time period; a thematic review would have subtopics based upon factors
that relate to the theme or issue. However, sometimes you may need to add additional
sections that are necessary for your study, but do not fit in the organizational strategy of
the body. What other sections you include in the body is up to you. However, only
include what is necessary for the reader to locate your study within the larger scholarship
about the research problem.

 Here are examples of other sections, usually in the form of a single paragraph, you may
need to include depending on the type of review you write:

Current Situation:

 Information necessary to understand the current topic or focus of the literature review

Sources Used:

 Describes the methods and resources [e.g., databases] you used to identify the literature
you reviewed.

History:

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  The chronological progression of the field, the literature, or an idea that is necessary to
understand the literature review, if the body of the literature review is not already a
chronology.

Selection Methods:

 Criteria you used to select (and perhaps exclude) sources in your literature review. For
instance, you might explain that your review includes only peer-reviewed articles and
journals.

Standards:

 Description of the way in which you present your information.

Questions for Further Research:

 What questions about the field has the review sparked? How will you further your
research as a result of the review?

IV. Writing Your Literature Review

 Once you've settled on how to organize your literature review, you're ready to write each
section. When writing your review, keep in mind these issues.

Use Evidence

 A literature review section is, in this sense, just like any other academic research paper.
Your interpretation of the available sources must be backed up with evidence [citations]
that demonstrates 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 research problem,
whether it is thematic, methodological, or chronological. Related items that provide
additional information but that are not key to understanding the research problem can be
included in a list of further readings.

Use Quotes Sparingly

 Some short quotes are appropriate if you want to emphasize a point, or if what an author
stated cannot be easily paraphrased. Sometimes you may need to quote certain
terminology that was coined by the author, is not common knowledge, or taken directly
from the study. Do not use extensive quotes as a substitute for using your own words in
reviewing the literature.
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Summarize and Synthesize

 Remember to summarize and synthesize your sources within each thematic paragraph as
well as throughout the review. Recapitulate important features of a research study, but
then synthesize it by rephrasing the study's significance and relating it to your own work,
and the work of others.

Keep Your Own Voice

 While the literature review presents others' ideas, your voice [the writer's] should remain
front and center. For example, weave references to other sources into what you are
writing but maintain your own voice by starting and ending the paragraph with your own
ideas and wording.

Use Caution When Paraphrasing

 When paraphrasing a source that is not your own, be sure to represent the author's
information or opinions accurately and in your own words. Even when paraphrasing an
author’s work, you still must provide a citation to that work.

V. Common Mistakes to Avoid

 These are the most common mistakes made in reviewing social science research literature.

 Sources in your literature review do not clearly relate to the research problem.

 You do not take sufficient time to define and identify the most relevant sources to use in
the literature review related to the research problem.

 Relies exclusively on secondary analytical sources rather than including relevant primary
research studies or data.

 Uncritically accepts another researcher's findings and interpretations as valid, rather than
examining critically all aspects of the research design and analysis.

 Does not describe the search procedures that were used in identifying the literature to
review.

 Reports isolated statistical results rather than synthesizing them in chi-squared or meta-
analytic methods.

 Only includes research that validates assumptions and does not consider contrary findings
and alternative interpretations found in the literature.

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