How to Write a Literature Review for Dissertation?
A literature review dissertation is an evaluation of published studies on a certain subject from a critical standpoint. It entails looking over and evaluating a variety of materials, including books, papers, and scholarly publications. Prior to writing a research paper or dissertation, students read the literature to see what is already known and to identify areas that need more investigation.
Scholarly work evaluation is an essential component of academic work since it lays the groundwork for research and identifies new data or gaps in the literature. As a result, it must be developed and structured properly.
What is literature review in dissertation
Are you searching what is literature review in dissertation? One of your tasks as a researcher may be to impartially summarize, investigate, and assess previously published research projects. A literature review for dissertation aids in pointing out any gaps or areas that need more research. It all comes down to sorting through and interpreting a vast amount of information.
Since this is the most efficient way to interact with texts, it is imperative that you remain critical during the entire procedure. You must communicate your opinions—whether favorable or unfavorable—while objectively pointing out their advantages and disadvantages.
Stated differently, literature review in dissertation involves drawing conclusions from certain sources and contrasting pertinent research to identify patterns and discrepancies. This procedure could provide fresh insights or a comprehensive blueprint for future advancements in a certain industry. Additionally, it can educate readers on the applicability and relevancy of previously published works to the issue statement.
To gain a general understanding of the ideas related to your topic, stay current with developments in your industry, and build your credibility, you perform a literature study. Additionally, it provides a strong backdrop for a thesis, dissertation, or research paper.
Step by step Guide to write literature review
Step 1: Specify the area of your research
Which particular research question is it that your literature review structure dissertation helps to define?
Is there a minimal or maximum number of sources that you should include in your review?
If you have any questions regarding editing your work, search strategies, writing advice, or citation handling, contact us.
Step 2: List the relevant literature
Start with a wide search. Generally, you will find the dissertation literature review template in academic books, journal articles, and/or dissertations. Learn what is available, what terms are useful and correct, etc., and use citation management tools to keep track of it all. Ask us for assistance if you need it determining the best search phrases and locations.
To keep track of how academics engage with and expand upon earlier research, use citation searching:
Look for more important sources by going through each relevant source’s references cited section.
To locate more sources that have referenced a specific work, use Google Scholar or Scopus.
Step 3: Evaluate the literature critically
Analyzing the literature gathered on your topic critically is essential to your literature evaluation. The analysis will look at the connections between the main themes and research gaps that the work expresses. Analyze authority, currency, inspection, methodology, and relationship to other works as you read and summarize each source.
Step 4: Sort your resources into four categories.
Sort the resources that are accessible for your study into groups according to how they will help you answer your research topic. Among the potential classification schemes for resources are those based on:
chronological order, theme, methodology, theoretical and philosophical framework
Irrespective of the arrangement, every category needs to have comprehensive dialogues and elucidations regarding its advantages and disadvantages, significance to the entire survey, and contrasts with analogous resources. When might you have sufficient resources?
You have obtained a range of viewpoints on the research topic by utilizing a number of databases and additional resources (online portals, repositories, etc.).
Multiple databases are displaying the same citations.
What Does a Literature Review Aim to Do?
A literature study should demonstrate your general understanding of a research topic and assist you in formulating an argument, primarily by addressing a particular query. It goes beyond merely summarizing what you have read.
A literature review’s typical goal is to assist you in:
- Recognize and communicate the state of the literature on your study topic as it stands today.
- Locate sufficient sources to help you shape your opinion.
- Based on the objectives of your research, develop a paper framework.
- Determine study gaps and create original research questions.
- Find tried-and-true approaches and choose the ones that work best.
- When doing the review, bear in mind that it is crucial to keep all of these things in mind in order to get the most out of the evaluation process.
Different Kinds of Literature Reviews
There are several kinds of literary reviews, and each has particular requirements regarding their scope, length, depth, and structure. These are the principal ones:
Separate review of the literature.
This kind entails a thorough examination of earlier studies pertaining to a certain topic. Your job is to assess and contrast previous research, spot patterns, and pinpoint any gaps, flaws, and hot-button issues in the area.
Review of the literature for a scholarly essay.
In this instance, giving background material for the investigation under investigation is the main goal of the literature study. It usually appears in the introduction or alongside the finding’s discussion.
Task on a literature review
One way to acquaint students with a concept and studies in their field is through chosen projects. Identifying gaps in the body of current knowledge in order to formulate novel research questions, create a theoretical framework, or choose an appropriate research approach could also be the goal. This kind covers a limited portion of the subject’s research and is considered a comprehensive work.
Literature review for research paper
Here, the primary goal is to assist academics in compiling, distilling, analyzing, and assessing recent research on a certain topic. Researchers looking to delve deeper into uncharted territory or academics wishing to consult on less researched subjects may find this very helpful.
literature review of dissertation
This is a stand-alone chapter that comes before the dissertation methodology section and after the introduction to the doctoral thesis. It aids in the author’s comprehension of the body of prior research and knowledge gaps. A researcher can make sure their study is unique and important by evaluating the literature to find areas that need more research.
What's the Ideal Length for a Literature Review?
Your literature review dissertation length will vary depending on a number of criteria, such as the nature and intent of your study. Generally speaking, the review’s length ought to correspond with the length of the entire work. If your dissertation is fifty thousand words, for instance, your literature review will probably be a whole chapter, roughly twenty pages long. You may simply need to write a few pages for your literature review if it is for a 15-page research paper.
The following variables may influence how long your literature review is:
Institutional guidelines: Make sure to refer to the guidelines issued by your organization or publication (like an APA journal). For publication, there can be a word count or length requirement.
Scope: Your literature review might be shorter if your study topic is specific and confined. On the other hand, a big topic that covers a lot of literature can require a lengthy review.
Subject: Various academic disciplines may have varying standards for the duration of literature reviews. literature review dissertation, for instance, may be longer in the humanities than in the natural sciences.
Don’t forget about your audience. You can probably write a shorter, less technical literature review if it’s for a class assignment or intended readership. If it’s intended for an academic audience in your field of study, though, you might have to go into greater detail and offer a comprehensive analysis of the body of current research.
The majority of literary evaluations have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Since they are frequently a part of a longer work, the opening and ending paragraphs will typically be somewhat short.
Your introduction and conclusion, however, will be longer if the review stands alone because you will also need to address your research goals, methodology, and conclusions in addition to providing an analysis of the relevant literature.
Qualities of an Excellent Literature Review
Whatever the nature of your work, writing a strong literature review is a time-consuming procedure that many students, understandably, find difficult. This is due to the possibility that you will have to review a large number of research in order to find gaps, recognize frameworks, cite sources, and guarantee coherence. As a result, it is crucial to take into account the qualities listed below in order to create a work of decent quality. Best of work:
Is more than just a compilation of pertinent research; you should also evaluate the views and arguments put forth by others.
Takes into account a range of trustworthy and pertinent sources: a scientific literature review should show that you are knowledgeable about pertinent readings related to your subject. As a result, make sure you have read through relevant, recent, wide, and vital materials. This kind of approach draws attention to other points of view and deepens the analysis you do.
Shows understanding of the theories and principles that guide the work: first and foremost, you need to know why you are doing the evaluation. You cannot write successfully if you are unaware of the process’s goal and operation.
Connects pieces by drawing comparisons and contrasts between them; a literature review in research goes beyond summaries of other people’s writings. Instead, it involves making connections, identifying distinctions and similarities, and understanding ideas.
Provides personal responses and views on manuscripts: you should offer your own interpretation and analysis following the comparison, contrast, and criticism of other people’s works.
highlights the gaps in the literature that your study will attempt to fill.
Uses suitable linking/transition words, such as “similarly,” “however,” “also,” “maintain,” “conclude,” “claim,” and “assert,” to help you organize related ideas, draw attention to opposing viewpoints, and add texts or opinions from others while maintaining objectivity throughout the analysis.
What Includes in a Review of the Literature?
You now comprehend the meanings, functions, and characteristics of a literature review. Presenting information efficiently is now necessary. Your work needs to follow a basic format with an introduction, body, and conclusion, just like any other academic paper.
However, how does it appear? The arrangement extends beyond these sections, as you also need to think about the arrangement of your ideas and arguments.
Below is a thorough explanation of the three primary components of a literature review dissertation structure:
Introduction
Your opening paragraph must to be succinct, precise, and targeted. Describe the primary themes or subjects that will be examined, the arguments you will make, and the underlying assumptions that support your assertions.
Body
Perform a thorough analysis of the chosen sources in this section and arrange them according to a predetermined method, such as themes or subjects. Make sure you provide your points in an understandable manner and provide relevant studies to back up or refute your conclusions. To make your evaluation stronger, don’t forget to provide arguments against your perspective. Please restrict the number of direct quotes you utilize and cite the works of the numerous authors you are critically examining. Rather, rephrase and add citations.
In summary
Write a summary of your literature review that emphasizes the findings you came to during your investigation. You might reiterate the knowledge gaps, describe how your study will fill them, and suggest additional research on the subject that is necessary.
Dissertation literature review example
Writing critiques of the literature might be really difficult! Depending on the type of literature review you want to write, looking at some dissertation literature review examples could be a good place to start.
Example of the first literature review: “Why Do People Move? An Overview of Theoretical Literature: (A study of theoretical works concerning the evolution of economic migration theory from the 1950s to the present.)
“Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines” is the second example of a literature review. (Methodological literature review on the creation and acquisition of interdisciplinary knowledge.)
“The Use of Computers in the Course of English Learning: A Literature Review” is the third example of a literature review. (Thematic review of research on how technology affects language learning.)
“Learners’ Listening Understanding Difficulties in English Language Studying: A Literature Review” is an example of a literature review #4. (A survey of the chronological literature on the evolution of the idea of listening abilities.
What is the Format for a Literature Review?
When you are prepared to start writing a literature review, you must consider the information organization you will use. By doing this, you lessen the chance that your work will become a disorganized collection of summaries rather than a coherent, comprehensive analysis.
The style of your body section should guide your choice of literature review structure. These are the main strategies you can employ:
Subject-specific
Using this method, you arrange your analysis according to themes, subjects, or problems. It allows you to draw attention to important discussions within sub-themes and is especially helpful when concentrating on a single main issue.
Chronological
By arranging studies according to their publication dates, chronological literature reviews follow this style. They usually start with earlier works and progress to more recent ones in order to examine the evolution of the subject over time. It is crucial to evaluate sources by taking into account any arguments and turning moments that affected the topic and providing your own view.
Approaching
The approaches taken by other researchers are the main emphasis of this design. Using this format, a literature review dissertation takes into account the methods employed to address a certain subject or the viewpoint from which a specific theme was investigated. It may employ these two general methodologies in combination with qualitative, quantitative, or other strategies.
Conceptual
A theoretical approach entails a methodical and critical analysis of current frameworks, models, and theories that are pertinent to the study issue or topic. This method aids in setting the scene, pointing out holes, and laying the groundwork for your own investigation.
