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What is a Literature Review?
A thorough and comprehensive examination of the research and/or theory relevant to a topic. A literature review analyzes and integrates scholarly research and theory in an organized, prose fashion.
Purpose of a Literature Review
As a means of disseminating information to scholars in a particular discipline the literature review has four purposes:
to describe work done on a specific area of research
to evaluate this work
to identify areas of controversy in the literature
to formulate questions that need to be addressed further
Structure of a Literature Review
A literature review has three main parts:
The Introduction
Define the problem or state the thesis.
Identify trends in what has been published on the topic. Identify conflicts, methodology, evidence, gaps in research and new perspectives on the topic.
State the reason for reviewing the literature; explain how you will analyze and compare the articles; explain why certain articles are or are not included.
The Body
Describe the articles or documents in detail.
Group articles together according to types (such as case studies, reviews, empirical studies), the authors' conclusions, or the articles' purposes.
Compare and evaluate the articles or documents.
The Conclusion
Summarize the major contributions of the articles or documents to the topic.
Evaluate the current state of the research for the topic. Explain inconsistencies, gaps in research, and point out issues that need to be studied further.
Provide insight into the relationship between the topic under review and the larger discipline of which it is a part. Provide implications of the studies or documents discussed for the profession or discipline at large.
This concept from Colorado College talks about poetry specifically, but it is a good guide for finding info pertinent to any very narrow or little-known topic or person. Think about the topic:
This worksheet can be used to organize your research articles or book chapters
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