Literature Reviews.docx

Literature Reviews.docx

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LiteratureReviews

LiteratureReviews

Whatthishandoutisabout

Thishandoutwillexplainwhataliteraturereviewisandofferinsightsintotheformandconstructionofaliteraturereviewinthehumanities,socialsciences,andsciences.

Introduction

OK.You'vegottowritealiteraturereview.Youdustoffanovelandabookofpoetry,settledowninyourchair,andgetreadytoissuea"thumbsup"or"thumbsdown"asyouleafthroughthepages."Literaturereview"done.Right?

Wrong!

The"literature"ofaliteraturereviewreferstoanycollectionofmaterialsonatopic,notnecessarilythegreatliterarytextsoftheworld."Literature"couldbeanythingfromasetofgovernmentpamphletsonBritishcolonialmethodsinAfricatoscholarlyarticlesonthetreatmentofatornACL.Andareviewdoesnotnecessarilymeanthatyourreaderwantsyoutogiveyourpersonalopiniononwhetherornotyoulikedthesesources.

Whatisaliteraturereview,then?

Aliteraturereviewdiscussespublishedinformationinaparticularsubjectarea,andsometimesinformationinaparticularsubjectareawithinacertaintimeperiod.

Aliteraturereviewcanbejustasimplesummaryofthesources,butitusuallyhasanorganizationalpatternandcombinesbothsummaryandsynthesis.Asummaryisarecapoftheimportantinformationofthesource,butasynthesisisare-organization,orareshuffling,ofthatinformation.Itmightgiveanewinterpretationofoldmaterialorcombinenewwitholdinterpretations.Oritmighttracetheintellectualprogressionofthefield,includingmajordebates.Anddependingonthesituation,theliteraturereviewmayevaluatethesourcesandadvisethereaderonthemostpertinentorrelevant.

Buthowisaliteraturereviewdifferentfromanacademicresearchpaper?

Whilethemainfocusofanacademicresearchpaperistosupportyourownargument,thefocusofaliteraturereviewistosummarizeandsynthesizetheargumentsandideasofothers.Theacademicresearchpaperalsocoversarangeofsources,butitisusuallyaselectnumberofsources,becausetheemphasisisontheargument.Likewise,aliteraturereviewcanalsohavean"argument,"butitisnotasimportantascoveringanumberofsources.Inshort,anacademicresearchpaperandaliteraturereviewcontainsomeofthesameelements.Infact,manyacademicresearchpaperswillcontainaliteraturereviewsection.Butitistheaspectofthestudy（theargumentorthesources）thatisemphasizedthatdetermineswhattypeofdocumentitis.

Whydowewriteliteraturereviews?

Literaturereviewsprovideyouwithahandyguidetoaparticulartopic.Ifyouhavelimitedtimetoconductresearch,literaturereviewscangiveyouanovervieworactasasteppingstone.Forprofessionals,theyareusefulreportsthatkeepthemuptodatewithwhatiscurrentinthefield.Forscholars,thedepthandbreadthoftheliteraturereviewemphasizesthecredibilityofthewriterinhisorherfield.Literaturereviewsalsoprovideasolidbackgroundforaresearchpaper'sinvestigation.Comprehensiveknowledgeoftheliteratureofthefieldisessentialtomostresearchpapers.

Whowritesthesethings,anyway?

Literaturereviewsarewrittenoccasionallyinthehumanities,butmostlyinthesciencesandsocialsciences;inexperimentandlabreports,theyconstituteasectionofthepaper.Sometimesaliteraturereviewiswrittenasapaperinitself.

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Let'sgettoit!

WhatshouldIdobeforewritingtheliteraturereview?

Clarify

Ifyourassignmentisnotveryspecific,seekclarificationfromyourinstructor:

∙Roughlyhowmanysourcesshouldyouinclude?

∙Whattypesofsources（books,journalarticles,websites）?

∙Shouldyousummarize,synthesize,orcritiqueyoursourcesbydiscussingacommonthemeorissue?

∙Shouldyouevaluateyoursources?

∙Shouldyouprovidesubheadingsandotherbackgroundinformation,suchasdefinitionsand/orahistory?

Findmodels

Lookforotherliteraturereviewsinyourareaofinterestorinthedisciplineandreadthemtogetasenseofthetypesofthemesyoumightwanttolookforinyourownresearchorwaystoorganizeyourfinalreview.Youcansimplyputtheword"review"inyoursearchenginealongwithyourothertopictermstofindarticlesofthistypeontheInternetorinanelectronicdatabase.Thebibliographyorreferencesectionofsourcesyou'vealreadyreadarealsoexcellententrypointsintoyourownresearch.

Narrowyourtopic

Therearehundredsoreventhousandsofarticlesandbooksonmostareasofstudy.Thenarroweryourtopic,theeasieritwillbetolimitthenumberofsourcesyouneedtoreadinordertogetagoodsurveyofthematerial.Yourinstructorwillprobablynotexpectyoutoreadeverythingthat'soutthereonthetopic,butyou'llmakeyourjobeasierifyoufirstlimityourscope.

Anddon'tforgettotapintoyourprofessor's（orotherprofessors'）knowledgeinthefield.Askyourprofessorquestionssuchas:

"Ifyouhadtoreadonlyonebookfromthe70'sontopicX,whatwoulditbe?

"Questionssuchasthishelpyoutofindanddeterminequicklythemostseminalpiecesinthefield.

Considerwhetheryoursourcesarecurrent

Somedisciplinesrequirethatyouuseinformationthatisascurrentaspossible.Inthesciences,forinstance,treatmentsformedicalproblemsareconstantlychangingaccordingtothelateststudies.Informationeventwoyearsoldcouldbeobsolete.However,ifyouarewritingareviewinthehumanities,history,orsocialsciences,asurveyofthehistoryoftheliteraturemaybewhatisneeded,becausewhatisimportantishowperspectiveshavechangedthroughtheyearsorwithinacertaintimeperiod.Trysortingthroughsomeothercurrentbibliographiesorliteraturereviewsinthefieldtogetasenseofwhatyourdisciplineexpects.Youcanalsousethismethodtoconsiderwhatis"hot"andwhatisnot.

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Strategiesforwritingtheliteraturereview

Findafocus

Aliteraturereview,likeatermpaper,isusuallyorganizedaroundideas,notthesourcesthemselvesasanannotatedbibliographywouldbeorganized.Thismeansthatyouwillnotjustsimplylistyoursourcesandgointodetailabouteachoneofthem,oneatatime.No.Asyoureadwidelybutselectivelyinyourtopicarea,considerinsteadwhatthemesorissuesconnectyoursourcestogether.Dotheypresentoneordifferentsolutions?

Isthereanaspectofthefieldthatismissing?

Howwelldotheypresentthematerialanddotheyportrayitaccordingtoanappropriatetheory?

Dotheyrevealatrendinthefield?

Aragingdebate?

Pickoneofthesethemestofocustheorganizationofyourreview.

Constructaworkingthesisstatement

Thenusethefocusyou'vefoundtoconstructathesisstatement.Yes!

Literaturereviewshavethesisstatementsaswell!

However,yourthesisstatementwillnotnecessarilyargueforapositionoranopinion;ratheritwillargueforaparticularperspectiveonthematerial.Somesamplethesisstatementsforliteraturereviewsareasfollows:

Thecurrenttrendintreatmentforcongestiveheartfailurecombinessurgeryandmedicine.

Moreandmoreculturalstudiesscholarsareacceptingpopularmediaasasubjectworthyofacademicconsideration.

Seeourhandoutformoreinformationonhowtoconstructthesisstatements.

Considerorganization

You'vegotafocus,andyou'venarroweditdowntoathesisstatement.Nowwhatisthemosteffectivewayofpresentingtheinformation?

Whatarethemostimportanttopics,subtopics,etc.,thatyourreviewneedstoinclude?

Andinwhatordershouldyoupresentthem?

Developanorganizationforyourreviewatbothaglobalandlocallevel:

First,coverthebasiccategories

Justlikemostacademicpapers,literaturereviewsalsomustcontainatleastthreebasicelements:

anintroductionorbackgroundinformationsection;thebodyofthereviewcontainingthediscussionofsources;and,finally,aconclusionand/orrecommendationssectiontoendthepaper.

Introduction:

Givesaquickideaofthetopicoftheliteraturereview,suchasthecentralthemeororganizationalpattern.

Body:

Containsyourdiscussionofsourcesandisorganizedeitherchronologically,thematically,ormethodologically（seebelowformoreinformationoneach）.

Conclusions/Recommendations:

Discusswhatyouhavedrawnfromreviewingliteraturesofar.Wheremightthediscussionproceed?

Organizingthebody

Onceyouhavethebasiccategoriesinplace,thenyoumustconsiderhowyouwillpresentthesourcesthemselveswithinthebodyofyourpaper.Createanorganizationalmethodtofocusthissectionevenfurther.

Tohelpyoucomeupwithanoverallorganizationalframeworkforyourreview,considerthefollowingscenarioandthenthreetypicalwaysoforganizingthesourcesintoareview:

You'vedecidedtofocusyourliteraturereviewonmaterialsdealingwithspermwhales.Thisisbecauseyou'vejustfinishedreadingMobyDick,andyouwonderifthatwhale'sportrayalisreallyreal.Youstartwithsomearticlesaboutthephysiologyofspermwhalesinbiologyjournalswritteninthe1980's.ButthesearticlesrefertosomeBritishbiologicalstudiesperformedonwhalesintheearly18thcentury.Soyoucheckthoseout.Thenyoulookupabookwrittenin1968withinformationonhowspermwhaleshavebeenportrayedinotherformsofart,suchasinAlaskanpoetry,inFrenchpainting,oronwhalebone,asthewhalehuntersinthelate19thcenturyusedtodo.ThismakesyouwonderaboutAmericanwhalingmethodsduringthetimeportrayedinMobyDick,soyoufindsomeacademicarticlespublishedinthelastfiveyearsonhowaccuratelyHermanMelvilleportrayedthewhalingsceneinhisnovel.

Chronological

Ifyourreviewfollowsthechronologicalmethod,you