Reference no: EM133538048

Homework: Literature Review

Overview

What Is a Literature Review?

A literature review is a survey and a discussion of the literature in a given area of study. It is a concise overview of what has been studied, argued, and established about a topic; it is generally organized chronologically or thematically. A literature review is also written in essay format.

A literature review is not an annotated bibliography because it groups related works together and discusses trends and developments rather than focusing on one item at a time. It is also not a summary; rather, a literature review evaluates previous and current research in regards to how relevant and/or useful 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 are organizing and presenting your sources in terms of their overall relationship to your problem statement.

A literature review is written to highlight specific arguments and ideas in a field of study. By highlighting these arguments, the writer attempts to show what has been studied in the field and also where there are weaknesses, gaps, or areas needing further study. The literature review must also demonstrate to the reader why the writer's research is useful, necessary, important, and valid.

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

Asking the following questions will assist you in sifting through your sources and organizing your literature review. Remember, your Literature Review: Homework organizes the previous research in light of what you are planning to do in your own project.

Question A. 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?

Question B. On which particular areas of the topic has previous research concentrated? Have there been developments over time? What methodologies have been used?

Question C. 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?

Question D. Are there improved methodologies for researching this subject?

Question E. What future directions should research in this subject take?

Question F. 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?