Writing literature review for thesis
It would be safer and probably more realistic to say that your research will ‘address a gap’, rather than that it will ‘fill a gap’. This work may be in any format, including online sources. A literature review is a piece of discursive prose, not a list describing or summarizing one piece of literature after another. One way of doing this is to examine each paragraph in turn, and to write in the margin a very brief summary of the content, and the type of content e. The overall structure of your review will depend largely on your own thesis or research area. I have integrated some other tips within this guide, particularly in suggesting different technology tools that you might want to consider in helping you organize your review.
Merriam (1988:6) describes the literature review as:. It focuses on a specific topic of interest to you and includes a critical analysis of the relationship among different works, and relating this research to your work. Help is available regarding how to avoid plagiarism and it is worth checking it out. You need to be ready to cross out whole paragraphs or even whole sections if they do not pass the above tests. Looking at this positively, however, you have probably read more widely than you might otherwise have done. A literature review is a piece of discursive prose, not a list describing or summarizing one piece of literature after another.
You may also want to make a clear decision about whether to start with a very narrow focus and work outwards, or to start wide before focussing in. Some sample thesis statements for literature reviews are as follows:. ) Consequently, a great deal of research has focussed on the unreliability of eyewitness testimony (refs. It may be mainly a case of cutting and pasting material into a different order, with some additional explanation and linking. If you are writing an annotated bibliography, you may need to summarize each item briefly, but should still follow through themes and concepts and do some critical assessment of material.
(Supporting evidence) This suggests that the misinformation effect may be due at least partially to memory impairment, rather than just biased guessing. “Traditionally , researchers in memory have aimed to keep procedures free from contamination, such as other people’s memories (ref. A literature review is a piece of discursive prose, not a list describing or summarizing one piece of literature after another. It is not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries. It may be mainly a case of cutting and pasting material into a different order, with some additional explanation and linking.
In the latter cases in particular, the review will be guided by your research objective or by the issue or thesis you are arguing and will provide the framework for your further work. The process of conducting and reporting your literature review can help you clarify your own thoughts about your study. However, don’t promise too much. Both of these are important and need to be critically reviewed.
This handout will explain what literature reviews are and offer insights into the
form and. It is also possible that, in a viva, you will be asked why you didn’t use that method, and you will be well-prepared to answer in detail. The term ‘bibliography’ refers to any source list that you want to place at the end of your writing, including sources you have not referenced, and sources you think readers may want to follow up. Some sample thesis statements for literature reviews are as follows:. Be wary of saying that your research will solve a problem, or that it will change practice.
A bibliography is not usually necessary or relevant, unless you have been asked to produce one. For example, a study of the performance of a clinical team working in gerontology might involve reading literature within medicine; nursing; other allied healthcare specialties; psychology; and sociology; as well as perhaps healthcare policy; and patients’ experiences of healthcare. Make sure you use this help. If you thought something was rubbish, use words such as “inconsistent”, “lacking in certain areas” or “based on false assumptions”. Often, the literature review will end with a statement of the research question(s). Check out whether there is an important reason why the research has not been done, which would make it sensible for you to choose a different focus.
With dissertations, and particularly theses, it will be more down to you to decide. If you do decide to go ahead, then take extra care designing your research, in the absence of guidance from previous studies. A good literature review, therefore, is critical of what has been written, identifies. Because such ‘contamination’ is common to memory, understanding its effects enables greater knowledge of memory itself (ref. Aims to resolve theoretical uncertainties.
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rationale for a research study (such as a thesis or dissertation). In the latter cases in particular, the review will be guided by your research objective or by the issue or thesis you are arguing and will provide the framework for your further work. Writing literature reviews: a guide for students of the behavioral sciences. Because eyewitness information is often conveyed from one witness to another through discussion, it is important to ascertain the effects of co-witness information on the validity of eyewitness testimony. The term ‘bibliography’ can cause confusion, as some people use it interchangeably with the term ‘reference list’; but they are two different things. It is important that your research fits logically within the existing research in your area, and you may have found an ideal study to link with and to extend in some way.Writing a faulty literature review is one of many ways to derail a dissertation
Have you indicated when results were conflicting or inconclusive and discussed possible reasons. The overall structure of your review will depend largely on your own thesis or research area. Your review should be focussed and up to date; it should be concise, yet comprehensive; and your approach should be critical and original. Which years did you exclude. The term ‘bibliography’ can cause confusion, as some people use it interchangeably with the term ‘reference list’; but they are two different things. Group performance should not be compared with individual performance but rather with ‘nominal groups’ comprised of pooled, non-redundant data from the same number of people tested individually.
