How To Write

A Literature Review

Lecture by Prof. B.C. Bautista

Review of Related Literature

• Is the systematic identification, location, and analysis of

documents containing information related to research
problem

• Serves as foundation of the proposed study

A literature review

is a concise overview of what has been

studied, argued, and established about
a topic,

and it is usually organized thematically.

A literature review surveys
scholarly articles, books
and other sources relevant
to a particular issue,
area of research, or theory,

provides a description, summary,

and critical evaluation of each work.
• Related Literature is composed of discussion of facts and
principles to which the present study is related
2 kinds
• 1. Conceptual literature: articles or books written by
authorities on their opinions, experiences, theories, ideas
in the problem areas

 2. Research literature or related studies: published or

unpublished reports of actual research studies,
investigations, theses and dissertations done previously or
already conducted
The purposes of a literature review

1. To add value to all those papers you have

read,

--to explain how the many salient ideas

of others (often gathered from many
disparate sources) have contributed
to your research problem.

-- It is not just a catalog of papers you have

read.
 NB
• Effective research is based upon past
knowledge which tells us of what is
already known, and what is still
unknown.
2. To give a feeling of confidence since you get mastery of
related concepts

3. To give your readers background to understand your

work.
– Review provides findings and
conclusions of past investigation
which you may relate to your own
findings and conclusions
4. To give you information about the research methods
used, the population and sampling, the instrument
used in gathering data, and the statistical treatment
in the previous research.

5. Also, to find a suitable topic.

Guidelines to review related literature
1. Flitting visit to the library will not be beneficial.
2. Your main concern as you see a piece of literature is the
question of relevance.
3. Take down notes on both directly and indirectly related
literature.
4. Start with conceptual literature. It is more readily
available and comprehensive.
5. Read abstracts of theses and dissertations. They may
give you bird’s eye view of the materials so you can
judge if they are related to your study.
Reviewing Related Literature

• As a thesis topic is chosen, look for theory linking your

topic to an available body of knowledge

• Theory is “a set of interrelated concepts, definitions,

propositions that presents a systematic view of
phenomena by specifying relations among variables to
explain and predict the phenomena” (Kerlinger, 1973)
• In search of the theory, gathered mostly from
conceptual/related literature
• Theory provides conceptual framework, justifying the
need for investigation
• Leads to specific questions
• Presents relationship among investigated variables
Theoretical Framework
Theories are central to research as they provide a
framework with which a problem can be more
thoroughly defined, and offer useful suggestions as to
how to resolve it. Thus, a researcher must choose
carefully which theories to apply to his study, as the
flow and outcome of the research can be affected
significantly by the theories applied.
How to Review Research Literature

• First reading is exploratory, to find out if the study bears

relation to your thesis topic

• Outline salient areas of investigation; take note of

bibliographical entry, note down the problems,
methodology, specific techniques, sampling, instrument,
statistical tools
• Review results, conclusions, and recommendations to
find gaps and inconsistencies among the constructs
being reviewed or similarities in the findings of other
investigations.

• Formulate a theory based on your massive review of

related research literature
Guide questions to a fruitful survey
of related studies

1. Do you think that the problem questions stated in

study you are reviewing are researchable
2. Do the hypotheses lend themselves to testing?
3. Do the accumulated literature indicate gaps and
inconsistencies which the researcher of the thesis
hopes to fill?
4. Are the variables adequately described?
5. What data gathering tools have been used? Are they
reliable and valid?
6. Are the target and sampling populations presented?
7. Were the hypotheses correctly interpreted?
8. Are the results logical?
9. Are the conclusions and recommendations data-based?
Writing the review reveals your knowlege of your topic.

How to write the review

1. Present sufficient background for the problem in form
of well-tied up pertinent facts.
2. Fox suggests that the earliest time to state the
hypothesis is at the end of related literature.
Hypothesis needs theory to spell it out. Related
literature provides this theory.
3. Provide systematic treatment to the
gathered literature.

Systems of organization:
• chronological presentation
• foreign-local literature
• conceptual-research literature
• discussing similarities and
inconsistencies in past
• least related to most related
• thematic approach
4. Include the following points:
• Conflicting viewpoints of various authors and
researchers linked together

• Statement of the way each research investigation

relates to the thesis topic of the present research.
• Avoiding duplication by putting together references
saying the same thing

• Indicating how the literatures have been linked

together leading to the hypothesis of the present
study.
5. Avoid the following errors:

• Writing the review as mere listing of investigations or of

opinions of experts without regard to associating each
entry with the present study.
• Writing all literature that is related to your study.
Exercise discrimination on what to include to prevent
bulkiness of this part.

• Writing literature from very old source, unless the entries

are classics
Keep in mind that the literature review
should provide the context for your
research by looking at what work
has already been done in your research area.

It is not supposed to be just a summary of other people's

work
Here are some of the questions your literature review
should answer:

1. What do we already know in the

immediate area concerned?
2. What are the characteristics of the key
concepts or the main factors
or variables?
3. What are the relationships between these key
concepts, factors or variables?
4. What are the existing theories?
5. Where are the inconsistencies or other
shortcomings in our knowledge and
understanding?
6. What views need to be (further) tested?
7. What evidence is lacking, inconclusive,
contradictory or too limited?
8. Why study (further) the research problem?
9. What contribution can the present study
be expected to make?
10. What research designs or methods seem
unsatisfactory?
HOW CAN I WRITE A GOOD
LITERATURE REVIEW?

Remember the purpose: it should

answer the questions we looked at
above.
-- You should use the literature to
explain your research - after all,
you are not writing a literature review
just to tell your reader what other
researchers have done.
- Your aim should be
– to show why your research needs to be
carried out,
– how you came to choose certain
methodologies or theories to work with,
– how your work adds to the research already
carried out, etc.
Read with a purpose: you need to summarize the
work you read but you must also decide which ideas
or information are important to your research (for
emphasize), and which are less important and can be
covered briefly..
--You should also look for the major concepts,
conclusions, theories, arguments, etc. that underlie
the work, and look for similarities and differences
with closely related work. This is difficult when you
first start reading, but should become easier the
more you read in your area.
Write with a purpose: your aim should
be to evaluate and show relationships
between the works already done.

-- Is Researcher Y's theory more

convincing than Researcher X's?
-- Did Researcher X build on the work
of Researcher Y? between this work
and your own?
-- In order to do this effectively
you should carefully plan how you are
going to organize your work.
When you read for your literature review,
you are actually doing two things
at the same time:

-- you are trying to define your research

problem: finding a gap, asking a question,
continuing previous research,
counter-claiming; and

-- you are trying to read every source

relevant to your research problem.
Naturally, until you have defined your
problem, you will find that there are
hundreds of sources that seem relevant.

However, you cannot define your problem

until you read around your research area.

What should happen is that as you read,

you define your problem, and as you
define your problem, you will more easily
be able to decide what to read and what to
ignore.
Mutual support

The statement of the research problem and the

literature review are mutually supportive.

The statement of the research problem clearly

defines the subject area to be treated.

The literature review demonstrates that the

research problem has received prior attention,
and shows that further research is needed to
resolve the problem.
James B. Fisher states,
"To be EFFECTIVE, a
literature review must
be a CLEAR,
COHERENT, and
PERSUASIVE analysis
of the current state of
the literature."
 STRATEGIES:

Find a focus
Construct working thesis
Consider organization
Organize the body
Begin Composing
Use evidence
Be selective
Use quotes sparingly
Summarize and synthesize
Keep your own voice
Use caution when paragraphing
Revise, revise, revise