Carrying Out a Literature Review

What is a literature review?

• Overview of existing knowledge of major
questions or themes within a topic area;
• Present state of knowledge in insightful
manner;
• Organized according to research objective,
research question, research theme;
• Carefully structured to suit your own
purposes.
 A literature review is not:
• An annotated bibliography or historical listing
of authors;
• A listing of every article and author in the
area;
• A reference to every piece of literature or
theory in an area.
 Why is it important?
• Prevents duplication of work;
• Identifies gaps in the literature;
• Provides convincing arguments as to why the
proposed research is important;
• Presents an objective view;
• Identifies lessons learned from other studies;
• Refines problem statement in research;
• Provides a comparison for your findings.
 Carrying out a literature review
Step one: Literature search
• Develop concepts and keywords
• Select sources and perform search
• 1st cut - review titles
• 2nd cut - review abstracts
• Refine search concepts and search again
• Multi-disciplinary sources may be required
 Types of literature
• Journal articles, published papers, reports and
books
• Conference papers
• Dissertations
• Research and program reports – published
and unpublished
 Locating literature
• Library holdings
• Databases and CD-Roms – (i.e.,Medline, JSTOR)
• Indexes
• International agencies (WHO, UN, World Bank)
• NGOs
• Government Departments
• Internet
Searching on the Internet
 Carrying out a literature review
Step two: Review the literature
• Be selective!

• Read reference listings and bibliographies

• Summarize the development and rationale for

research topic

• Arrange by key themes or findings

 General critique questions
• Is the author knowledgeable?
• Is discussion objective and balanced?
• Is article up-to-date and relevant?
• Are findings substantiated?
• Does author provide counter evidence and
alternative explanations?
 Methodological critique
• Sample size
• Validity
• Generalizability
• Confounding variables
 Carrying out a literature review
Step three: Organizing the review
• Based on initial reading of research review and
reconsider keywords to categorize the literature

• Use as headings to organize summaries of

research

• Be open and flexible in this process

 Carrying out a literature review
Step four: Crafting your story
• Identify areas of consensus
• Identify areas of disagreement
• Provide summaries throughout the review
• Refer to other’s findings
– Include specific details (i.e., criteria for inclusion,
sample size, type of study, findings)

• Cover seminal work and concepts

 Important things to remember

• Careful in use of verbs

• Avoid repetition
• Keep a search journal
• Cannot cover entire literature
• Make sure your review supports your research
question and approach
 Citing your work
• Provide careful citations – attribution
important
• Most widely used reference styles are Harvard
Style; Vancouver Style; Turabian Style
• Check which style is required in advance
 References
• Natilene Bowker. 2006. Student Learning Centre,
Massey University, Palmerston North.

• Faizunnisa, A. “Use of Internet for Literature Review”.

Powerpoint Presentation. Population Council.

• Davies, M. 2005. “Critical thinking: Making an

argument and reviewing literature.” University of
Melbourne.

• Hofmann. 2006. “The Literature Review, a.k.a. lit

review.”
• Fishbain et Al (2013) concluded that there is an
association between fatigue and pain. The data also
consistently indicate that fatigue etiology was related
to the presence of pain.
• Murphy et Al (2013) examined how fatigue in daily
life is related to subsequent physical activity among
fatigued people with knee and hip OA and concludes
that daily experiences of fatigue were negatively and
robustly related to subsequent physical activity.
Further analyses revealed that the effect was
strongest for people with the highest functional
mobility, providing some support for a tailored
approach to fatigue management in OA based on
functional mobility.
• Khan et al reported that the prolonged use of mobile
phones is associated with a greater frequency of
neck pain and a higher NDI score. There is a
significant positive correlation exist between text
neck syndrome and mobile phone usage. Initially, the
musculoskeletal changes are short term but can
cause disabilities in later life if proper care and
prevention are not taken
• Parmakovska et al (2016) highlighted in her
research that 62.5% patients undergoing
haemodialysis experienced muscle cramps
usually in lower legs at least once weekly and
most commonly experienced severity score
being 5 i.e. in 26.15% patients.
• . In a study conducted by Brita et al (2014) concluded
that 15.3% of respondents said that their work as a
Physical therapist interfered with their private and
family life. Of the respondents, 61% said they often
felt exhausted at the end of a working day.
Approximately one third had often considered
leaving their profession during the previous twelve
months, with 55% citing physical problems as the
main reason for leaving. This was followed by poor
pay (32%) and mental stress (24%).
Thanks