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Literature Review

Research and technical

communication
ISM, DHANBAD
 What is Literature
Review?
The review of the literature is
defined as a broad,
comprehensive, in-depth,
systematic, and critical review
of DATA BASE on the particular
topic.

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 The Literature
Review
The review of the literature is traditionally
considered a systematic and critical review
of the most important published scholarly
literature on a particular topic.
Scholarly literature refer to published and
unpublished data based literature and
conceptual literature materials found in print
and non print forms. (audiovisual, samples,
interview)
Data based literature reports of
completed research
Conceptual research reports of 4
theories, concepts
 Literature Review
Conceptual literature Data Based
Literature
Theoretical literature Empirical Literature

Scholarly non research Scientific Literature

literature Research Literature

Scholarly work Scholarly Research
Review of the literature Literature

article Research Study

Concept analysis Study
article
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 Relationship Of Literature
Review To Theory, Research,
Education And Practice
Research

Review of
Literature

Educatio Practice
n

Theory

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 What is a Literature
Review
A Lit Review is NOT: A Lit Review IS :
a report that surveys scholarly
summarizes articles, books, and
journals relevant to
a research paper, your narrow topic.
articles and books provides a description,
about many summary, and critical
different topics evaluation of each
a list of important scholarly work.
research, presented, provides an overview
of the significant
chronologically (in
literature published on
most cases) your topic

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 Why Literature
Review?
A guide for the reader to understand
Theoretical background past, present or future
Practice previous or contemporary
Methodology and/or research methods (old ones)
Previous findings
Rationale and/or relevance of the current study
Where reality may be different to what is
believed
Where more research is needed
How research in the area has been carried
out strengths and limitations
The main theories and issues on your
topic and critique of these
 Why Literature
Review?
Determines what is known about a
subject, concept or problem
Determines gaps, consistencies &
inconsistencies about a subject,
concept or problem
Discovers unanswered questions
about a subject, concept or
problem
Describes strengths & weaknesses
of designs, methods of inquiry and
instruments used in earlier works
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 Primary Steps of
Searching the Literature
Determine concept/issue/topic/problem

Conduct computer (and/or hand) search

Weed out irrelevant sources before

printing
Organize sources from printout for
retrieval
Retrieve relevant sources

Conduct preliminary reading and weed out irrelev

sources
Critically read each source (summarize &
critique each source)
Synthesize critical summaries
Advance Steps to a
Lit Review
Problem formulation:

which topic or field is being examined and
what are
its component issues?
Literature search:
Find materials relevant to the
subject being
explored
Data evaluation:
determine which literature makes a
significant
contribution to the understanding of11
 Questions to raise
during reading
Questions to consider:
What is the issue ?
What is the conceptual approach?
What is the authors theoretical
approach?
How good is the study design?
How valid are the results?
Are there flaws in the logic of the
discussion?
How does the work contribute to the 12
 Writing LR And Answers
To Make (Hart 14)
What are the key
theories,
concepts and
ideas? What are the
epistemological
What are the key
sources?
and ontological
grounds for the
How have
discipline? approaches to
these
What are the
Literature search
What are the
main questions questions
major issues and and problems that
debates about the
and review on
your topic
have been increased our
topic? addressed to
date? understanding
and
What are the
How is knowledge knowledge?
on the topic
political
structured and
standpoints?
organised?
What are the
origins and
definitions of the
topic?
 Preparing Write UP
(for thesis)
Prepare a plan of your review
Introduction (name of the data base,
author, publication )
Summarising the research
Theoretical background dealt in the data
base
Practical paraphernalia
Relation to the topic you are working on
What is so important in the data base
that can help your research
What are the loopholes of the data base
(why a new research)
Conclusion
Preparing Write UP (for
paper)
Organize according to topic and themes.
Provide context by defining or introducing
the problem/issue to be discussed.
Identify trends in publications, problems in
research, conflicting theories.
Establish your purpose in reviewing the
literature.
(Group studies according to commonalities)
approach, attitude, findings.
Summarize individual studies (main source).
Summarize major schools of thought or
perspectives.
Evaluate the current body of knowledge. 15
 Example (paper)
Most of the professional and scholarly literature on
downtown development has neglected small cities. Frieden
and Sagalyn's (1999) widely cited book Downtown, Inc.
concentrates on large scale projects in Seattle, Boston, St.
Paul, and San Diego, while Loukaitou-Sideris and Banerjee
(1998) profile Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego in
their book on downtown design. Almost all the examples
provided in Whyte (1988), Abbott (1993), and Robertson
(1995) are from large cities, and Brooks and Young (1993)
use New Orleans as their case study. The Downtown
Development Handbook (McBee, 1992), considered by
many to be the bible of downtown development, is heavily
dependent on projects in large cities to illustrate key
points. Articles addressing a particular downtown
development strategy such as retailing (Robertson, 1997;
Sawicki, 1989), stadiums (Noll & Zimbalist, 1997;
Rosentraub, Swindell, Pryzbylski, &
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Mullins, 1994), pedestrianization (Byers, 1998; Robertson,
 Primary and
Secondary Sources
Primary source: is written by a person(s)
who developed the theory or conducted
the research
By Alan Turing
_________________________________________
Secondary source: is written by a
person(s) other than the individual who
developed the theory or conducted the
research
On Alan Turing / On The Cryptanalysis 17
 The Role of Secondary
Sources
Two general reasons for using
secondary sources:
1. A primary sources is literally
unavailable
2. A secondary source can provide
different ways of looking at an issue or
problem

Secondary sources should not be

overused 18
 Pitfalls of Secondary
Sources
All of the theorys concepts or aspects
of the study and/or definitions may not
be fully presented
If all concepts or aspects are included,
the definitions may be collapsed or
paraphrased to such a degree that it no
longer represents the theorists actual
work
The critique (whether positive or
negative) is based on the presentation
of incomplete or interpreted data and
therefore less useful to the consumer 19
 Common Problems
DO NOT:
Include every source found relevant to
the topic
Include source in an odd sequential
order
> (always Chronology/ primary-
secondary)
Summarize without relating the source
to the topic
Organize the discussion in an
ineffective manner 20
Thank You

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