Deck 7: Literature Reviews

Question 1

Name one key structuring technique in a literature review.

Answer 1

The most straightforward way to structure a review is to look for major themes and sub-themes. Caution students against trying to write literature reviews by writing abstracts of every article they've found, as this approach leads to the 'haphazard collection of summaries' review.

Question 2

How extensive a search of the literature is required?

Answer 2

Literature reviews must be thorough. As indicated above, the main difficulty is being confident that no important sources have been missed. Finding good articles on the topic does not mean others don't exist. Sound, methodical search strategies will minimise the risk of not finding important articles, but the rate at which you find these articles will act as a guide to whether the review is sufficiently thorough. Put simply, when further searching turns up no important new articles, you've probably found everything important; however, be aware that a slight change in the focus of the search strategy might reveal other relevant articles.

Question 3

Do you need to argue a point of view in a literature review?

Answer 3

No, but the review should still have a clear logic. Because most reviews are extensive, clear headings will help the reader locate relevant information and a logical arrangement where each section links clearly to the next will tell a more compelling story than a series of sections arranged in no apparent order.

Question 4

Name one major error some writers of a literature review make.

Question 5

What are the main purposes of a literature review?