FOUR MAJOR GOALS OF LITERATURE REVIEW

Literature review is a critical discussion and summary of statistical literature that is of

general and specialized relevance to the particular area and topic of the research
problem in statistics. Not only that, dissertation is a substantial and lengthy piece of
professional work that must satisfy a number of academic requirements and
literature review is one of these important academic requirements. Also, a literature
review shows your readers that you have an in-depth grasp of your subject; and that
you understand where your own research fits into and adds to an existing body of
agreed knowledge. A successful scientific literature review will not only identify the
current gap in knowledge, but also position your own research project as a viable
way of addressing it. The researcher thus needs to build a solid argument to
convince the reader that their theoretical and methodological approach is likely to
result in a worthwhile contribution to the construction of scientific knowledge
(Saunders et al, 2003).
O’Leary (2010) indicates that in essence, a literature review identifies, evaluates and
synthesizes the relevant literature within a particular field of research. It illuminates
how knowledge has evolved within the field, highlighting what has already been done
and what is generally accepted. It also does shed light on what is emerging and the
current state of thinking on the topic. Literature is an essential research tool
especially in emerging areas with populations that typically yield small samples or in
areas that represent value laden positions adopted by advocacy groups. Other than
that, literature review is also valuable especially in the light of the knowledge
explosion and the consequent impossibility of reading everything.
Royal Literary Fund’s (2021) study found that one of the goals of literature review is
critical analysis of the gathered information. A literature review critically analyses the
information gathered from different sources by identifying gaps in the current
knowledge, showing limitations of theories and points of view and by formulating
areas for further research and reviewing areas of controversy. Analysis involves
systematically breaking down the relevant literature into its constituent parts. The
University of Melbourne (2013) eloquently explains that the goal of literature review
is to enable a researcher to gain an understanding of the existing research and
debates relevant to a particular topic or area of study and to present that knowledge
in the form of a written report. The other goal of literature review is to synthesize the
information in that literature into a summary. The literature review shows how
previous research is linked to the author’s project by summarizing and synthesizing
what is known while identifying gaps in the knowledge base, facilitating theory
development, closing areas where enough research already exists, and uncovering
areas where more research is needed.
Secondly, the other goal of a literature review is to synthesize the information in the
literature into a summary. Also Webster & Watson (2002) puts forward that a
literature review shows how previous research is linked to the author’s project by
summarizing and synthesizing what is known while identifying gaps in the knowledge
base, facilitating theory development, closing areas where enough research already
exists, and uncovering areas where more research is needed. Other than that,
mounting evidence from Machi & McEvoy’s (2012) study indicates that, a literature
review is a compilation of the most significant previously published research on a
specific topic. Unlike an annotated bibliography or a research paper, your literature
review will outline, evaluate and synthesize relevant research and relate those
sources to your own research question. It is much more than a summary of all the
related literature. The study further disclosed that a good literature review solidifies
the importance of the problem which your study aims to address, define the main
ideas of your research question and demonstrate their interrelationships.
Moreover, Boote and Beile (2005) eloquently explain the third goal of a literature
review in planning primary research. As the foundation of any research project, the
literature review should accomplish several important goals. It sets the broad context
of the study, clearly demarcates what is and what is not within the scope of the
investigation, and justifies those decisions. It also situates an existing literature in a
broader scholarly and historical context. It should not only report the claims made in
the existing literature but also examine critically the research methods used to better
understand whether the claims are warranted. Such an examination of the literature
enables the author to distinguish what has been learned and accomplished in the
area of study and what still needs to be learned and accomplished. Moreover, this
type of review allows the author not only to summarize the existing literature but also
to synthesize it in a way that permits a new perspective. Thus a good literature
review is the basis of both theoretical and methodological sophistication, thereby
improving the quality and usefulness of subsequent research (p. 4).
In addition, the fourth goal of literature review is to survey the literature in the chosen
area of study. Fink & Arlene (2014) uncovers that literature review surveys books,
scholarly articles and any other sources relevant to a particular 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. Not
only that, literature reviews are designed to provide an overview of sources you have
explored while researching a particular topic and to demonstrate to your readers how
your research fits within a larger field of study. In addition, Jury (2016) indicates  the
literature review can be used to help in the design of the study by providing guidance
as to appropriate sample size or identifying promising data collection practices or
instruments that can be used in your study. Familiarity with the literature is useful for
both quantitative and qualitative studies no matter what the researcher’s paradigm.
Everyone who prepares a literature review should do so with a critical eye: What are
the strengths and weaknesses of the prior research? What is missing from the formal
body of scholarly literature that might be necessary in order to formulate an
appropriate research focus and method of investigation?. Kimberley & Crosling’s
(2016) study shows that a review of scholarly literature provides information that can
be used to investigate a topic of importance to learn what is known about the topic
for its own sake or as a good basis for designing a research study. Not only that, the
formulation of a research topic is made possible by reading research that has
already been conducted by other researchers where the reader figures out what is
known and become acquainted with the strengths and weaknesses of prior
research. Not only that, a literature review shows your readers that you have an in-
depth grasp of your subject and that you understand where your own research fits
into and adds to an existing body of agreed knowledge. Literature review is a cyclical
process in that it informs researchers’ question, theory and methods which in turn
help set the parameters of their literature review (P.83).
REFERENCES
Bloomberg, L.D,. & Volpe. M. (2012). Completing your qualitative dissertation: A
road map from beginning to end. (2nd ed). NJ. Sage Publications.
Jury, S. D., (2016). 'For many are called, but few are chosen': Preaching
predestination in Renaissance Florence. (3rd ed). Sage Publications.
Kimberley, N., & Crosling, G. (2016). Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash
University. Retrieved April 20, 2021
from https://www.monash.edu/business/5931328906e0c/pdf_file/current-
students/qmanual.pdf (Links to an external site.)
O'Leary, Z. (2010). The essential guide to doing your research project. (2nd ed.). NJ.
Sage Publications.
Fink & Arlene. (2014). Conducting Research Literature Reviews: From the Internet
to Paper. (4th ed). New York. Sage Publications.
Saunders, M. N., Lewis, P., Thornhill, A., & Jenkins, M. (2003). Research methods
for business students. (4th ed.). New York. Pearson Education.
Royal Literary Fund., (2021). What is a literature review? Retrieved April 22,
2021. from https://www.rlf.org.uk/resources/what-is-a-literature-review/.
University of Melbourne. (2013). Reviewing the literature: a critical review. Retrieved
April 22, 2021.
from http://services.unimelb.edu.au/academicskills/all_resources/writing-resources  (L
inks to an external site.)
McEvoy and Machi. (2012). The Literature Review: Six Steps to Success. 2nd. Corwin
Press.
Boote, D.N., and Beile, P. (2005). Scholars before Researchers: On the Centrality of
the Dissertation Literature Review in Research Preparation. Educational Researcher.
15(34).