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Literature ReviewProcess
- Find several articles that deal with your research
topic. Sometimes it is helpful to review the bibliography
of one of the first scholarly sources that you encounter and compare
it to the
bibliographies of other sources on the topic. If the same
source is listed within several of these bibliographies, it is probably
a fundamental,
credible source that will aid you in your review.
- Before you
begin reviewing literature, realize that you are looking to accomplish
two things:
A. Defining your research problem/thesis (examples: finding a
flaw in research, continuing previous research, etc . . .)
B. Reading and evaluating significant works that are relevant to
your research problem.
You will be conducting Steps A and B simultaneously because the
two form a circular pattern. As you read related sources (Step B),
you define your problem,
and as you define your problem (Step A) you will more easily be able to decide
what material is relevant enough to be worthy of reading (Step B).
- Once you
begin reviewing, make an entry with complete bibliographical information
and comments for each work that you are going to include
in the review.
- Compare the articles by evaluating the similarities
and differences among them. This will be the initial stage in
the formulation of your
thesis.
- Form a thesis that is clearly written and can be logically
supported by the literature you will include in your review.
- View
the articles briefly again and jot down any notes that seem to
relate to your thesis.
- Decide which organizational pattern and format
are best for the topic of your review.
- Construct an appropriate
outline for the literature review.
- Write an introduction that
introduces the topic, reveals your thesis statement, and arranges
key issues.
- Organize and write the body of your paper according
to the appropriate format: topical or chronological.
- Write a conclusion
that reconciles similarities and differences on the topic and
reemphasizes the criteria used to arrive at this
conclusion.
- Complete the final draft of the literature review.
- Check over the
final draft for grammar and punctuation errors.
- Use the checklist provided here to make sure that all parts of the literature review
are addressed and focused.
Establishing a Critical Response for a Literature Review
You
may find this section helpful at Steps 3, 4 and 5 of the process.When
reviewing your sources, explore the following areas to help
develop your critical response:
- What is the purpose
of the research
or work?
- What research or literary methods are used?
- How do the major
concepts operate?
- In a research study, how accurate
are the measurements?
- In a literary work, is
the author’s
position objective or biased?
- What are the
different interpretations of the results of the study
or of the
literary work itself?
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REVIEW
What do you consider to be the most crucial step(s) in the process
of your literature review? Why? Justify your response(s).
Continue to Literature Review: Organization
Copyright 2003 by the Academic Center and the
University of Houston-Victoria.
Created 2003 by Candice Chovanec Melzow. |
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