Can a literature review be a master thesis?
Are you tired of hearing the phrase 'literature review' every five minutes at university and having no idea what it means, let alone where to start? Not to worry - we've got you covered with this step-by-step guide to creating a great dissertation literature review. What is a literature review?In short, a dissertation literature review provides a critical assessment of the sources (literature) you have gathered and read surrounding your subject area, and then identifies a gap in that literature that your research will attempt to address. There are a lot of misunderstandings about what exactly a dissertation literature review entails, as it can vary. Whilst in some cases a dissertation literature review can be a simple summary of important sources, most often it requires you to critically engage with the text to convey your positive or negative opinions of it. What is your interpretation of a particular source? Does this interpretation differ considerably from other viewpoints in the literature? This is the sort of critical engagement expected from you in a literature review. Whereas a summary will most likely provide a simple recap of the general arguments of the source(s), the expectations concerning a literature review extend beyond this. A literature review may provide a new perspective on a classic research paper or it may combine both new and old interpretations (this is the gap more on this later). A literature review may also provide a thorough and critical outline of the intellectual developments in a field with a focus on major, and often polemical, debates. In other scenarios, a literature review may also provide an assessment of a source and inform a reader about its validity, pertinence and relevance to the research subject. "In a literature review, you're aiming to summarise and provide a critical analysis of the research arguments you have found in your readings, without making new contributions to the literature. Hence the term: literature review." There tends to be confusion between literature reviews and academic papers in general, but they are not one and the same. Generally, academic papers aim to provide new research material about a particular subject, and a literature review features as part of this objective. In a research paper, the literature review forms the basis of the research it helps to highlight any research gaps as support for a new argument or insights you intend to provide. In a literature review, you're aiming to summarise and provide a critical analysis of the research arguments you have found in your readings, without making new contributions to the literature. Hence the term: literature review. Is a literature review really necessary?Now that we know what a literature review is, the next step is to understand the point of writing one in the first place. Like it or not, a literature review is an essential part of any academic piece of writing, as it demonstrates to your tutor or reader that you have a nuanced understanding of the sources concerning your research area or question. Although it may seem arbitrary, the literature review helps to persuade the person reading and marking your assignment that what you have written about is relevant and your arguments are justified and worthwhile. So, in short, a literature review is essential, and you need to put the necessary time into getting it right. How do you write a dissertation literature review?As the next section of this blog is quite lengthy, we've broken it down into several key steps which should make it easier to follow when writing your own dissertation literature review. You start by identifying your sources, then you read and re-read them. Next, you think about any gaps in the research or literature you have used, and finally, you write your review using all the preparation and information gathered in the steps prior. Identify sourcesTo write a good dissertation literature review, you need to have a fair idea of what sources you would like to review. If you havent been given a formal reference list by your tutor, refer back to the techniques we recommended earlier. Make sure that your sources are balanced; include enough books and academic journals and any useful published work from reputable scholars. To help you choose your sources appropriately, you might want to think about the parameters and objectives of your research. What are you hoping to find out? In your literature review, what theoretical issues or perspectives do you aim to tackle? How about your methodology? Will you focus on mainly qualitative or quantitative studies, or a mixture of both? These general questions should help guide you in selecting your sources and again, remember that the abstract of a source is a very useful tool. Having a quick scan of the abstract and its keywords will often give you an indication of the whether the source will be useful for your research or not. As youre identifying your sources, ensure you a keep a list as its very easy to lose focus given the wide scope of the Internet. Reference tools such as Mendeley allow you to store your sources online and via a desktop app, and are a great way to keep your bibliography organised. The citation tools attached to these programmes will also allow you to simply export citations in a format of your choice when required later. They will save you countless hours trying to figure out how to use Harvard or APA referencing correctly. Read your sourcesNow that you have organised your sources efficiently, its time to read through them. As unnatural as it may feel, its most effective to read in a few stages, as detailed below: First, go through all the texts to get a sense of their general content and arguments. This will also help you judge which sources you mainly want to focus on in your review. During the second stage of your reading, you can then take a more critical, in-depth look at your sources. Make a lot of notes, be critical, ask questions. What is your academic opinion on the text? Do you have any comments on the methodological approach, the theoretical argument or the general hypothesis? Note these down. It will ensure that your literature review is not merely a summary of your readings, and will encourage a clear line of argument so that your work is logical and coherent. Consider gaps in the researchWhen writing a dissertation literature review, an essential thing to consider is identifying the research gap. Identifying the gap is particularly important if your review forms part of a research proposal, as it will highlight the pertinence of your research assuming that your research has been designed to fill this gap. In other instances, identifying the gap is an indication of good critical analysis and can score you extra points. To identify the gap it is important that we know what this gap is. A research gap is essentially the existence of a research question, perspective or problem that has not been answered in the existing literature on any field of study. Identifying the research gap is important for highlighting the originality of your research; it proves youre not simply recounting or regurgitating existing research. It also shows that you are very much aware of the status of the literature in your chosen field of study, which in turn, demonstrates the amount of research and effort you have put into your review. Many students, especially at post-graduate level, find it extremely difficult to identify research gaps in their subject area. For post-graduate research papers, identifying research gaps and formulating research questions that can address these gaps form the very essence of a research paper. Identifying research gaps does not have to be a difficult endeavour and there are several ways to overcome this difficulty: Start by reading Abstracts and recommendations Write your reviewNow youre well prepared to start putting fingers to keyboard. Consider the following pointers: 1. Use sample literature reviews 2. Keep it simple 3. Make sure your sources are as current as possible 4. Consider the organisation of your work
Youll soon realise that organising the body of your literature review is an iterative process and youll more often than not use all of these approaches in your write-up. The body of your research may also include additional sections that do not necessarily form a part of its organisational structure. For instance, you might want to include a context section that provides some insight on any background detail required for understanding the focus of the literature review. It may also focus on historical considerations. You could include a short methodology section that details the approach you used in selecting and analysing your sources. 5. Write the paragraphs of the body
As the example above suggests, a dissertation literature review must be written using a formal and academic style. Also, note how sources have been grouped according to both arguments and themes. Remember we noted that the process of grouping sources in the body of your literature review is never a linear one? You will often use a combination of the approaches that we have discussed. Ensure that your writing is concise, coherent and devoid of any personal or strong language. Avoid any phrases like, I hate Xs work; a more academic way of stating your disagreement would be to simply state: I would argue against Xs position that, or Xs argument is inconsistent with the evidence because..., or Xs arguments are based on false assumptions because.... In the sample paragraph above, notice the use of words like argue this is a good academic alternative to more commonplace words such as says. Other good alternatives include states, asserts, proposes or claims. More academic options include opine, posit, postulate, or promulgate, however some tutors and readers find these words to be too heavy and archaic, so ensure that you are familiar with the writing standards in your institution. If your writing is tailored to a peer-reviewed journal, its worth having a look at articles within that journal to get a sense of the writing style. Most tutors will provide a guideline on writing styles, and its important you adhere to this brief. You will often be required to also use the third person when writing a literature review, thus phrases such as this paper argues or this paper is of the view that are appropriate. There are exceptions at post-graduate level or generally like when you have conducted your own primary research or published your work widely which give you the academic authority to boldly make claims. In cases like these, the use of first person is suitable and you may use phrases such as I argue or I propose. Remember also to generally use present tense when referring to opinions and theories (although in the context of specific research experiments, the use of the past tense is better). Beyond the use of the academic terms suggested above, linking words are also particularly important when writing a literature review, since youll be grouping a lot of writers together with either similar or divergent opinions. Useful linking words and phrases include: similarly, there are parallels, in convergence with When there is disagreement, you may want to use any of the following: However, conversely, on the other hand, diverges from, antithetical to, differential from 6. Write the conclusion Some final notesThe overall structure of your literature review will be largely based on your research area and the academic conventions that are in line with it. Nevertheless, there are some essential steps that apply across all disciplines and that you should ensure you follow: Do not simply describe the opinions of writers Structure the body of your argument using various techniques Use ample evidence Be very selective Do not rely too much on direct quotes Make your voice heard Ensure that you reference your work correctly Feeling overwhelmed by your literature review? You're not alone. A dissertation literature review can be a time-consuming and challenging chapter to write, especially given all the research and detailed analysis involved. Our expert academic writers can help. Find out more about our literature review services for undergraduate essays and postgraduate dissertations |