1Lo2: Understand how to review the literature on a research topic.A literature review surveys books, scholarly articles, and any other sources relevant to aparticular issue, area of research, or theory, and by so doing, provides a description, summary,and critical evaluation of these works in relation to the research problem being investigated.Literature reviews are designed to provide an overview of sources you have.A literature review may consist of simply a summary of key sources, but in the social sciences,a literature review usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary andsynthesis, often within specific conceptual categories. A summary is a recap of the importantinformation of the source, but a synthesis is a re-organization, or a reshuffling, of thatinformation in a way that informs how you are planning to investigate a research problem. Theanalytical features of a literature review might:• Give a new interpretation of old material or combine new with old interpretations,• Trace the intellectual progression of the field, including major debates,• Depending on the situation, evaluate the sources and advise the reader on the mostpertinent or relevant research, or• Usually in the conclusion of a literature review, identify where gaps exist in how aproblem has been researched to date.The purpose of a literature review is to:• Place each work in the context of its contribution to understanding the researchproblem being studied.• Describe the relationship of each work to the others under consideration.• Identify new ways to interpret prior research.• Reveal any gaps that exist in the literature.• Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies.• Identify areas of prior scholarship to prevent duplication of effort.• Point the way in fulfilling a need for additional research.2• Locate your own research within the context of existing literature [very important].• It is important to think of knowledge in a given field as consisting of three layers. First,there are the primary studies that researchers conduct and publish. Second are thereviews of those studies that summarize and offer new interpretations built from andoften extending beyond the primary studies. Third, there are the perceptions,conclusions, opinion, and interpretations that are shared informally that become part ofthe lore of field.• In composing a literature review, it is important to note that it is often this third layer ofknowledge that is cited as “true” even though it often has only a loose relationship tothe primary studies and secondary literature reviews. Given this, while literaturereviews are designed to provide an overview and synthesis of pertinent sources youhave explored, there are a number of approaches you could adopt depending upon thetype of analysis underpinning your study.• Types of Literature Reviews• Argumentative ReviewThis form examines literature selectively in order to support or refute an argument,deeply imbedded assumption, or philosophical problem already established in theliterature. The purpose is to develop a body of literature that establishes a contrarianviewpoint. Given the value-laden nature of some social science research [e.g.,educational reform; immigration control], argumentative approaches to analyzing theliterature can be a legitimate and important form of discourse. However, note that theycan also introduce problems of bias when they are used to make summary claims of thesort found in systematic reviews [see below].• Integrative ReviewConsidered a form of research that reviews, critiques, and synthesizes representativeliterature on a topic in an integrated way such that new frameworks and perspectiveson the topic are generated. The body of literature includes all studies that addressrelated or identical hypotheses or research problems. A well-done integrative review3meets the same standards as primary research in regard to clarity, rigor, and replication.This is the most common form of review in the social sciences.• Historical Reviewfew things rest in isolation from historical precedent. Historical literature reviews focuson examining research throughout a period of time, often starting with the first time anissue, concept, theory; phenomena emerged in the literature, then tracing its evolutionwithin the scholarship of a discipline. The purpose is to place research in a historicalcontext to show familiarity with state-of-the-art developments and to identify the likelydirections for future research.• Methodological ReviewA review does not always focus on what someone said [findings], but how they cameabout saying what they say [method of analysis]. Reviewing methods of analysisprovides a framework of understanding at different levels [i.e. those of theory,substantive fields, research approaches, and data collection and analysis techniques],how researchers draw upon a wide variety of knowledge ranging from the conceptuallevel to practical documents for use in fieldwork in the areas of ontological andepistemological consideration, quantitative and qualitative integration, sampling,interviewing, data collection, and data analysis. This approach helps highlight ethicalissues which you should be aware of and consider as you go through your own study.• Systematic ReviewThis form consists of an overview of existing evidence pertinent to a clearly formulatedresearch question, which uses pre-specified and standardized methods to identify andcritically appraise relevant research, and to collect, report, and analyze data from thestudies that are included in the review. The goal is to deliberately document, criticallyevaluate, and summarize scientifically all of the research about a clearly definedresearch problem. Typically it focuses on a very specific empirical question, often posedin a cause-and-effect form, such as “To what extent does A contribute to B?” This type4of literature review is primarily applied to examining prior research studies in clinicalmedicine and allied health fields, but it is increasingly being used in the social sciences.• Theoretical ReviewThe purpose of this form is to examine the corpus of theory that has accumulated inregard to an issue, concept, theory, phenomena. The theoretical literature review helpsto establish what theories already exist, the relationships between them, to whatdegree the existing theories have been investigated, and to develop new hypotheses tobe tested. Often this form is used to help establish a lack of appropriate theories orreveal that current theories are inadequate for explaining new or emerging researchproblems. The unit of analysis can focus on a theoretical concept or a whole theory orframework.The structure of a literature review should include the following:• An overview of the subject, issue, or theory under consideration, along with theobjectives of the literature review,• Division of works under review into themes or categories [e.g. works that support aparticular position, those against, and those offering alternative approaches entirely],• An explanation of how each work is similar to and how it varies from the others,• Conclusions as to which pieces are best considered in their argument, are mostconvincing of their opinions, and make the greatest contribution to the understandingand development of their area of research.The critical evaluation of each work should consider:• Provenance — what are the author’s credentials? Are the author’s arguments supportedby evidence [e.g. primary historical material, case studies, narratives, statistics, recentscientific findings]?• Methodology — were the techniques used to identify, gather, and analyze the dataappropriate to addressing the research problem? Was the sample size appropriate?Were the results effectively interpreted and reported?5• Objectivity — is the author’s perspective even-handed or prejudicial? Is contrary dataconsidered or is certain pertinent information ignored to prove the author’s point?• Persuasiveness — which of the author’s theses are most convincing or least convincing?• Value — are the author’s arguments and conclusions convincing? Does the workultimately contribute in any significant way to an understanding of the subject?Development of the Literature Review• Four Stages1. Problem formulation — which topic or field is being examined and what are itscomponent issues?2. Literature search — finding materials relevant to the subject being explored.3. Data evaluation — determining which literature makes a significant contribution tothe understanding of the topic.4. Analysis and interpretation — discussing the findings and conclusions of pertinentliterature.• Consider the following issues before writing the literature review:ClarifyIf your assignment is not very specific about what form your literature review shouldtake, seek clarification from your professor by asking these questions:1. Roughly how many sources should I include?2. What types of sources should I review (books, journal articles, websites; scholarlyversus popular sources)?3. Should I summarize, synthesize, or critique sources by discussing a common theme orissue?4. Should I evaluate the sources?65. Should I provide subheadings and other background information, such as definitionsand/or a history?Find ModelsUse the exercise of reviewing the literature to examine how authors in your discipline orarea of interest have composed their literature review sections. Read them to get asense of the types of themes you might want to look for in your own research or toidentify ways to organize your final review. The bibliography or reference section ofsources you’ve already read are also excellent entry points into your own research.Narrow the TopicThe narrower your topic, the easier it will be to limit the number of sources you need toread in order to obtain a good survey of relevant resources. Your professor will probablynot expect you to read everything that’s available about the topic, but you’ll make yourjob easier if you first limit scope of the research problem. A good strategy is to begin bysearching the HOMER catalog for books about the topic and review the table ofcontents for chapters that focuses on specific issues. You can also review the indexes ofbooks to find references to specific issues that can serve as the focus of your research.For example, a book surveying the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may includea chapter on the role Egypt has played in mediating the conflict, or look in the index forthe pages where Egypt is mentioned in the text.Consider Whether Your Sources are CurrentSome disciplines require that you use information that is as current as possible. This isparticularly true in disciplines in medicine and the sciences where research conductedbecomes obsolete very quickly as new discoveries are made. However, when writing a7review in the social sciences, a survey of the history of the literature may be required. Inother words, a complete understanding the research problem requires you todeliberately examine how knowledge and perspectives have changed over time. Sortthrough other current bibliographies or literature reviews in the field to get a sense ofwhat your discipline expects. You can also use this method to explore what isconsidered by scholars to be a “hot topic” and what is not.Ways to Organize Your Literature ReviewChronology of EventsIf your review follows the chronological method, you could write about the materials accordingto when they were published. This approach should only be followed if a clear path of researchbuilding on previous research can be identified and that these trends follow a clearchronological order of development. For example, a literature review that focuses oncontinuing research about the emergence of German economic power after the fall of theSoviet Union.By PublicationOrder your sources by publication chronology, then, only if the order demonstrates a moreimportant trend. For instance, you could order a review of literature on environmental studiesof brown fields if the progression revealed, for example, a change in the soil collection practicesof the researchers who wrote and/or conducted the studies.Thematic [“conceptual categories”]Thematic reviews of literature are organized around a topic or issue, rather than theprogression of time. However, progression of time may still be an important factor in athematic review. For example, a review of the Internet’s impact on American presidentialpolitics could focus on the development of online political satire. While the study focuses onone topic, the Internet’s impact on American presidential politics, it will still be organizedchronologically reflecting technological developments in media. The only difference herebetween a “chronological” and a “thematic” approach is what is emphasized the most: the role8of the Internet in presidential politics. Note however that more authentic thematic reviewstend to break away from chronological order. A review organized in this manner would shiftbetween time periods within each section according to the point made.MethodologicalA methodological approach focuses on the methods utilized by the researcher. For the Internetin American presidential politics project, one methodological approach would be to look atcultural differences between the portrayal of American presidents on American, British, andFrench websites. Or the review might focus on the fundraising impact of the Internet on aparticular political party. A methodological scope will influence either the types of documentsin the review or the way in which these documents are discussed.Other Sections of Your Literature ReviewOnce you’ve decided on the organizational method for your literature review, the sections youneed to include in the paper should be easy to figure out because they arise from yourorganizational strategy. In other words, a chronological review would have subsections for eachvital time period; a thematic review would have subtopics based upon factors that relate to thetheme or issue. However, sometimes you may need to add additional sections that arenecessary for your study, but do not fit in the organizational strategy of the body. What othersections you include in the body is up to you but include only what is necessary for the readerto locate your study within the larger scholarship framework.Here are examples of other sections you may need to include depending on the type of reviewyou write:• Current Situation: information necessary to understand the topic or focus of theliterature review.• History: the chronological progression of the field, the literature, or an idea that isnecessary to understand the literature review, if the body of the literature review is notalready a chronology.9• Selection Methods: the criteria you used to select (and perhaps exclude) sources in yourliterature review. For instance, you might explain that your review includes only peerreviewed articles and journals.• Standards: the way in which you present your information.• Questions for Further Research: What questions about the field has the reviewsparked? How will you further your research as a result of the review?Writing Your Literature ReviewOnce you’ve settled on how to organize your literature review, you’re ready to write eachsection. When writing your review, keep in mind these issues. UseEvidenceA literature review section is, in this sense, just like any other academic research paper. Yourinterpretation of the available sources must be backed up with evidence [citations] thatdemonstratesthatwhatyouaresayingisvalid. BeSelectiveSelect only the most important points in each source to highlight in the review. The type ofinformation you choose to mention should relate directly to the research problem, whether it isthematic,Usemethodological,Quotesorchronological.Sparingly Some short quotes are okay if you want to emphasize a point, or if what an author statedcannot be easily paraphrased. Sometimes you may need to quote certain terminology that wascoined by the author, not common knowledge, or taken directly from the study. Do not useextensive quotes as a substitute for your own summary and interpretation of the literature.Summarize and SynthesizeRemember to summarize and synthesize your sources within each thematic paragraph as wellas throughout the review. Recapitulate important features of a research study, but then10synthesize it by rephrasing the study’s significance and relating it to your own work.Keep Your Own VoiceWhile the literature review presents others’ ideas, your voice [the writer’s] should remain frontand center. For example, weave references to other sources into what you are writing butmaintain your own voice by starting and ending the paragraph with your own ideas andwording.Use Caution When ParaphrasingWhen paraphrasing a source that is not your own, be sure to represent the author’sinformation or opinions accurately and in your own words. Even when paraphrasing an author’swork, you still must provide a citation to that work.These are the most common mistakes made in reviewing social science research literature.• Sources in your literature review do not clearly relate to the research problem;• You do not take sufficient time to define and identify the most relevent sources to use inthe literature review related to the research problem;• Relies exclusively on secondary analytical sources rather than including relevant primaryresearch studies or data;• Uncritically accepts another researcher’s findings and interpretations as valid, ratherthan examining critically all aspects of the research design and analysis;• Does not describe the search procedures that were used in identifying the literature toreview;• Reports isolated statistical results rather than synthesizing them in chi-squared or metaanalytic methods; and,• Only includes research that validates assumptions and does not consider contraryfindings and alternative interpretations found in the literature.
