Chapter 3: Reviewing the literature
Why is a literature review important?
-to find and understand current knowledge (prevent redundancy) -to identify what you can contribute that is new
Challenges with using an academic library
-locating materials -overcoming the frustration of the materials you need already being checked out
Steps of Reviewing Literature
1.identify key terms 2.locate literature 3.critically evaluate and select the literature 4.organize the literature 5.synthesize the literature 6.write a literature review
style manual
A guide to a particular writing style outlining required rules and conventions related to the preparation of papers
Thematic review of the literature
Is a literature review written so that it presents the literature in broad categories or themes and provides citations to the literature to document the major results from studies about this theme without providing the details of any single study
Secondary source literature
Literature that summarizes the primary sources
Literature Map
a visual summary of existing research on a topic
literature review
a written summary and evaluation of the existing literature on a specific topic
research synthesis
large number of studies synthesized
Primary source literature
original research or theory
Study-by-study review of the literature
provides a detailed summary of each study grouped under a broad theme.
