Do you have a literature review in your dissertation? Do you have a great literature review? Writing effective literature reviews is essential for any field of study but becomes even more so if the literature on your topic continues to grow. This article focuses on literature reviews for dissertations and reports focused on quantitative studies, though qualitative literature reviews may also benefit from suggestions.
The literature review is an opportunity to show that you know your area of research. Most importantly, literature reviews give you time to think about the literature before writing the actual dissertation or thesis. This reflection is important since it allows you to ask questions about trends in literature and trends in theory.
It also gives you time to develop your literature search skills, which will help you locate literature on new topics.
Writing during (or even before) the literature review is also beneficial. It allows you to see what literature exists on your topic, where that literature might have gaps, and where literature may need further bolstering. This information helps keep the literature review focused, so it does not grow too large.
The literature review is also an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of the literature related to your topic and allow you to present that literature in a way that shows your knowledge of its significance for future research. This presentation helps establish the committee that you are well prepared for writing the dissertation or thesis since you can take the literature in the direction you choose.
It is not always easy to show these aspects of literature in the literature review, but with the right approach, it is possible. In this article, we discuss literature reviews for dissertations and reports focused on quantitative studies. However, much of the information here may also apply to literature reviews for qualitative literature reviews.
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The first component of a literature review is to identify what literature is included in the literature review, where that literature came from (e.g., published literature, unpublished literature, personal experience), and if needed, why specific literature was excluded. This component may also include the identification of gaps in literature or how existing literature may be improved for future researchers.
Once literature has been identified as part of the literature review, literature should be presented in a way that shows the context of literature, including information on when literature was published, by whom it was published (e.g., individual researchers or groups), and how literature fits into the overall picture of literature related to your topic. For example, suppose you are interested in literature focused on exercise interventions for obese individuals with cancer. In that case, the literature presented should show how literature fits into the general context of literature related to the topic.
In some cases, literature is included in a literature review and critiqued or discussed to show more significant implications for future research. For example, suppose a literature review shows that a specific theory fails to apply in some context. In that case, this literature review may discuss literature that has supported the view, literature that has been unable to support the idea, and literature that could expand on findings related to the literature being discussed.
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