Reasons for developing skills in literature review

Comments on improving the guide are welcome.

Prepared by: Romie F. Littrell

National Research University Higher School of Economics

St. Petersburg, The Russian Federation

rlittrell@hse.ru

&

Centre for Cross Cultural Comparisons

crossculturalcentre@yahoo.com

romielittrell@yahoo.com

Developed in support of research and writing at

IBW-Fachhochschule Aalen, Germany from 4 September 2000, & Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand, Revision & Update: 24 February 2016

NRU-HSE-SPb: 2019

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Acknowledgements:

Many students in Germany and New Zealand who have suggested improvements.

Dr. Gayle Morris, Associate Dean, Learning and Teaching, Auckland University of Technology, for suggestions making the document more accessible to students at all levels.

Offered only as a help to students and researchers, summarising information compiled from various sources, sometimes directly quoted without fully cited acknowledgement; check Internet links provided for more information. Major sources should take a look at yourself is the excellent information at the various websites listed below. The links are changed from time to time by their source universities, so you may have to search the overarching website.

Contents

Critically Analysing Information Sources and a Guide for a Literature Review: A General Guide for Term Papers, Producing Information for Presentations, and Theses and Dissertations. 1

INTRODUCTION.. 2

WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW?. 2

REASONS FOR DEVELOPING SKILLS IN LITERATURE REVIEW... 3

Why Do a Literature Review?. 3

THE PROCESS OF PRODUCTION OF THE RESULTS OF YOUR REVIEW... 3

GIVING NAMES TO THE PROCESSES. 4

THIS SECTION IS PRIMARILY A COMPILATION OF INFORMATION FROM THE VARIOUS, PRESENT AND PAST, SOMEWHAT FRAGMENTED WEB SITES, PRIMARILY FROM CORNELL UNIVERSITY, USED WITH PERMISSION.. 7

THE PROCESS OF SELECTING USEFUL INFORMATION.. 9

I. INITIAL APPRAISAL.. 10

DEFINITIONS: 11

SCHOLARLY.. 11

SUBSTANTIVE NEWS OR GENERAL INTEREST. 11

SENSATIONAL.. 12

INCORPORATING A LITERATURE REVIEW IN A RESEARCH ESSAY ASSIGNMENT 14

Appendix A.. 16

YOU MAY FIND THIS USEFUL, MAYBE NOT, PROCESS TO PROVIDE STRUCTURE.. 16

Force Field: Other Uses. 20

Tree Diagram.. 20

 

INTRODUCTION

 

I use literature review generically, with literature indicating existing published information. Prior to switching my career to university teaching, I worked for several decades in sales, marketing, and systems engineering support for information technology companies, including owning and managing a small IT sales and marketing business, and working for IBM, Xerox, Unisys, Docutel/Olivetti, and InterContinental Hotels Group, as well as teaching and research posts at universities. In every one of these organisations I had at various times, career-critical assignments that required locating, accessing, and reading sources of information, analysing and synthesising the information, summarising, drawing conclusions, and making plans and recommendations. This guide is intended to help you prepare for these kinds of tasks.

 

In any research and writing endeavour, a review of prior, relevant literature is an essential feature. An effective review creates a firm foundation for establishing available knowledge and advancing knowledge. In academia it facilitates theory development, closes areas where a large volume of research exists, and uncovers areas where research is needed. In business practice review of prior knowledge can indicate what has worked and failed in the past, and your analysis, synthesis, and conclusions can indicate what might work in the future. Detailed discussion of the definition of a literature review begins on p. 4 below.

 

The results of a literature review in business or academia should not be only a descriptive report, but an analysis of the issues or research topic you have chosen, bringing together the results of the analysis (synthesis), reflection on and discussion of the analysis and synthesis, and drawing and justifying your conclusions, and a plan for the future. See Appendix A for highly structured techniques for analysis.

 

WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW?

 

A literature review summarizes, interprets, and evaluates existing "literature" (or published material) in order to establish current knowledge of a subject. The purpose for doing so relates to ongoing research to develop that knowledge: the literature review may resolve a controversy, establish the need for additional research, and/or define a topic of inquiry.

 

REASONS FOR DEVELOPING SKILLS IN LITERATURE REVIEW

According to Cooper (1988) '... a literature review uses as its database reports of primary or original scholarship, and does not report new primary scholarship itself. The primary reports used in the literature may be verbal, but in the vast majority of cases reports are written documents. The types of scholarship may be empirical, theoretical, critical/analytic, or methodological in nature. Second a literature review seeks to describe, summarise, evaluate, clarify and/or integrate the content of primary reports.' The review of relevant literature is nearly always a standard chapter of a thesis or dissertation. The review forms an important chapter in a thesis where its purpose is to provide the background to and justification for the research undertaken (Bruce 1994). Bruce, who has published widely on the topic of the literature review, has identified six elements of a literature review. These elements comprise a list; a search; a survey; a vehicle for learning; a research facilitator; and a report (Bruce 1994).