Reference no: EM133640840 , Length: 13 pages

Advanced Research Based Learning

Learning Outcome 1: Develop formal project plans, literature reviews and project methods using appropriate technical and academic skills (SILO 2)

Learning Outcome 2: Apply design, problem-solving and creative skills to create solutions to complex engineering problems (SILO 3)

Learning Outcome 3: Communicate effectively orally and in writing to an expert and non-expert audience (SILO 4)

The Task:
You are required to write a literature review for your proposed thesis. Your literature review can build on the research you conducted for your Thesis Proposal, and have the same title and research question, as well as add to your references. You are required to have 20-30 references for your literature review, and 40-50 references for your Completed Thesis.

A literature review makes connections between your research objectives and the available, relevant research in your topic area. It demonstrates to your audience that your intended research is grounded in the accepted knowledge of your discipline, and where it will make its contribution to what is already known about the topic. In doing so, it places your research question in the research context for your topic.

Your Literature Review must:

Demonstrate an awareness of the relevant literature (and/or theory) for your chosen topic, and the evolution of the topic area, i.e. how it has developed to this point

Identify the gap in the literature or field to which your work will respond - this might also be an extension of what is known or a new method for testing what is known

Show how your research question relates to the literature in your research area

Demonstrate a knowledge of the approaches (methods, techniques, analytical approaches) used thus far to address research questions similar to your own in your topic area

Speculate about the benefits of your research approach to the area - new knowledge contribution, extension of what is known, theoretical shifts etc.

The research skills you will demonstrate through your literature review include:

Locating, evaluating and referencing relevant research

Categorising information through identifying similarities and differences in assumptions, theoretical bases and approaches to research and methods in the relevant literature

Comparing and contrasting the positions and assertions of different studies and their authors in your research topic area

Accounting for divergence or contrary points of view through explanation and analysis

Synthesising different points of view and approaches by identifying convergence in research approaches in your topic area through critical evaluation and analysis.