I first came across the concept of literature review whilst writing my dissertation – it was not the easiest idea to comprehend initially and some of my peers felt the same way. Since it was considered the most challenging element of the dissertation, I started with this, as the researching side of it can take time.
My understanding of literature review is reviewing secondary research that is related to your topic and synthesizing the data then applying your evaluative and critical analysis. The sources of such research can stem from books, magazine articles, journals, reports, websites etc.
Academic Support online had a resource available for students on writing a dissertation, which covers research questions, methodology, literature, abstract and so forth. It states the following, which now makes perfect sense to me:
“Some, but not all, dissertations use a literature review. If this applies to your project, your literature review might be included within the introduction alongside your research methodology. Alternatively, you could be asked to write your literature review as a separate section. In essence, the literature review should reflect your confidence within a field of study, synthesising and summarising prior research in a critical and organised way.
Pat Thompson (University of Nottingham) asks us to use the metaphor of a sorting through items in a wardrobe when composing a literature review. We have an entire wardrobe of research, but there are certain configurations or outfits that suit our dissertation best. Some reading might be sent to the charity shop or the back of a drawer, whilst other books are foundational to our research and need to be displayed.”
There are 3 distinct stages to creating a literature review:
- Identify and collect.
- Deconstruct and evaluate.
- Reformulate and synthesise.
The one thing a literature review should not be is a list!
In hindsight, I did understand what was expected from a literature review and I enjoyed the process.