Objective
When trying to answer a technical question, identifying and obtaining the relevant literature is only
part of the solution process. The next step is to consolidate that information into a form that is
maximally useful – the review should summarize and critically evaluate the information. For this
project, you will write a literature review using the sources you accumulated before.
Background*
A literature review is meant to ask and answer: what do we know – or not know – about this
particular topic? How well you answer this question depends upon:
• • the effectiveness of your search for information,
• • the quality and reliability of the sources you choose, and
• • your ability to synthesize the sources you select.
To assess the quality and reliability of your sources, consider the following four aspects of the
literature you found:
• 1. Author a. Assess the authors’ expertise and credibility by looking at citations, articles, and
books by this author to find information about who the author is, what his/her credentials are, and
what occupation or position s/he holds.
•
• 2. Publication and Audience a. Examine the publication for which the author is writing to
determine the author’s intended audience, and the publication’s reputation, credibility, and target
reader/researcher.
• b. Look in the text for clues to what audience the author is addressing, e.g., specialized or
general vocabulary, types of sources cited, explicit references to the audience.
• c. Look at the publication itself: front/back cover, submission guidelines, editorial board,
etc., for an indication of audience and types of articles. Once you’re satisfied that your source is
credible and reliable, you are ready to analyze the text itself.
•
• 3. Argument/Evidence a. Carefully read the text, looking at the evidence the author is using
and the structure of the argument (e.g., whether it moves logically from point to point).
•
*This information comes from the Virginia Commonwealth University Library’s “Write a Literature Review” research guide
(http://guides.library.vcu.edu/lit-review/101).
b. Identify the range of evidence (personal opinions or observations, research, case studies,
analogies, statistics, facts, quotations, etc.).
c. Assess how the author presents and discusses alternative perspectives in relation to his/her
thesis?
d. Locate any gaps or inconsistencies in the development of the argument.
a. Analyze the text in relation to your question and developing thesis, and in relation to other
sources you’ve been reading.
b. If it supports your thinking, identify the assumptions/biases/perspectives influencing the writer,
and how they compare to your own and those of other writers with whom this one agrees.
c. If it is an opposing perspective, identify the assumptions/biases/perspectives influencing the
writer, and how they compare to your own and those of other writers with whom this one agrees?
d. Determine how this source contributes to your understanding or to generating new questions in
your thinking.
- Relevance/Consistency
Assignment
Write a 3-page (single-spaced) literature review that - Describes the kind of search that was conducted. (Consult your writeup for Project 02, here.)
- Summarizes, analyzes, and organizes the various ideas you read about in the papers you found.
- Explains why different scholars provide different answers for the same or related questions if
necessary. - Concludes by stating the outlook for future research in these areas.
As a result, the literature review does more than report the conclusions of researchers; it accounts
for HOW those conclusions are reached.
You might use the following steps in writing your literature review: - Organize your sources by detecting a pattern that helps you explain why one group of sources
comes up with one answer and another group comes up with another answer. - Summarize these different groups of sources in terms of how they address the question: what
methodology, evidence, critical concepts, etc. do they employ? - Analyze the content of these sources in terms of the answer they provide to your central
question or in terms of the question they raise (which may be slightly different from your
question). Show how they offer important insights. Show how they neglect particular areas.
Sample Solution
