Paper writting - 5 - Literature review

Literature Review Chapter

The purpose of a literature review chapter

According to Murray (2002, p. 106), there are seven reasonsfor the existence of a literature review.

• To give an overview of the ‘big issues’
• To select some of these for your study
• To summarize other people’s work
• To evaluate other people’s work
• To provide a context for your study
• To identify gaps
• To develop an understanding of theory and method

Cottrell and McKenzie (2005, pp. 38-39) state that the purpose of a literature review in quantitative research is to:

• Justify the importance of the study
• Place the study in historical perspective
• Refine the research questions
• Identify appropriate methodology and instrumentation

They believe that in qualitative research, the literature review provides information that “will be utilized at the end of the study to compare and contrast findings and to place the new study in the context of the body of knowledge in that area or field.”

In Mauch and Birch’s view (1993, p.238), a review of the literature should show:

• Thorough knowledge of the research, theory, concepts, ideology, and opinion related to the topic.
• A critical assessment of the reviewed literature
• The relation between what has previous been done by others and what is proposed in the current study
• The use of sections with appropriate headings and a summary at the end of each section
• A final summary that presents the need to do the current study, including the gaps in the literature that the current study aims to fill

Advanced organizer

It is important that you do not jump into the first point of your literature review right at the beginning of the chapter. Make sure that you situate the reader by providing them with an overview of the chapter – what you are going to talk about and in what order. This cognitive strategy is sometimes called an advanced organizer.

Constructing arguments in your literature review chapter

Graff and Birkenstein (2006) explain that constructing an argument is like entering a conversation, in which the writer

• Starts with what others say, then
• Responds with his/her own ideas; and
• Thins of (1) and (2) together.

Summarizing others’ views in the literature helps to frame your study and clarify the issues discussed in your thesis. While you central argument must be clear in you literature review, you need to remind the reader of the larger conversation that your thesis is situated in, including others’ arguments that you

Support / Oppose / Amend / Complicate / Qualify

Be careful when summarizing / paraphrasing literature

• Make sure that you single out the correct focus/foci of the articles you have read and report others’ views accurately.
• Do not use biased language. This will undermine your credibility.
• Make it clear to the reader the specific issues that you want to focus on, and do not simply summarize lists of points that seem to lead nowhere. Otherwise, your reader/examiners will ask “So what?!”

1. Phrases that introduce what other researchers have done

• A large number of studies have been conducted into …
• A great deal of research has explored …
• Investigations in the field / area of … have been carried out in the last decade.
• Numerous scholars have recently suggested that Y’s theory has several fundamental flaws…
• The challenges / problem(s) of … have been the focus of research …

2. Phrases that introduce conflicting views

• In their 2005 article, M and N offered critiques of Z’s claim that …
• In discussion of …, one controversial issue has been …. While X argues that …, Y contends that …. Others, such as P and Q, maintain that ….
• The effectiveness of … remains a controversy. Whereas some are convinced that … (A, 2003; B, 2004), others believe that … (C, 2005; D, 2006).
• Defenders of … assert that … (E, 2000; F, 2001). These assertions are refuted by G (2002) who states that …

3. Verbs that report others’ views

• Making a claim

Z (2006) asserts / argues / believes / claims / contends / emphasizes / insists / maintains / states / suggests that …

• Expressing agreement

Z (2006) acknowledges / agrees (that/with) / confirms / corroborates / endorses / reaffirms / supports / verifies …

• Expressing disagreement or doubt

Z (2006) challenges / denies / questions / refutes / rejects …

Z’s findings (2006) contradict …

• Making recommendations

Z (2006) advocates / calls for / encourages / implores (+ noun, or + person to ….) / recommends / suggests / urges …

4. Verbs that report the methods others used

Z (2006) analyzed / surveyed / examined / explored / investigated / studied / measured / attempted to /sought to / tried to determine … by ….

5. Verbs that report others’ findings

Z (2006) found / discovered / observed / noted / demonstrated that …

Z’s findings (2006) reveal / show / indicate / demonstrate / establish that …