Review of literature in research

Review of literature is one of the most important steps in the research process. It is an account of what is already known about a particular phenomenon.
Literature review is a laborious task, but it is essential if the research process is to be successful.

1. ravsa
Review of Literature
By
Mr. Ravi Rai Dangi
Assistant Professor
Fellowship in Neonatal Nursing
MSc. Child Health Nursing

2. ravsa
Review of Literature
Reviewofliteratureisoneofthemostimportantstepsin
theresearchprocess.Itisanaccountofwhatisalready
knownaboutaparticularphenomenon.
Themainpurposeofliteraturereviewistoconveyto
thereadersabouttheworkalreadydone&the
knowledge&ideasthathavebeenalreadyestablished
onaparticulartopicofresearch.
Literaturereviewisalaborioustask,butitisessential
iftheresearchprocessistobesuccessful.

3. ravsa
AccordingtoH.M.Cooper,1988-
Aliteraturereviewusesasitsdatabasereports
ofprimaryororiginalscholarship&doesnotreport
newprimaryscholarshipitself.Theprimaryreports
usedintheliteraturemaybeverbal,butinthevast
majorityofcases,reportarewrittendocuments.The
typesofscholarshipmaybeempirical,theoretical,
critical/analytic,ormethodologicalinnature.Second
aliteraturereviewseekstodescribe,summarize,
evaluate,clarify&/orintegratethecontentofprimary
reports.

4. ravsa
QueenslandUniversity,1999
Aliteraturereviewisanevaluativereportof
informationfoundintheliteraturerelatedtoselected
areaofstudy.Thereviewdescribes,summarizes,
evaluates&clarifiesthisliterature.Itgivesatheoretical
basefortheresearch&helpstodeterminethenatureof
research.

5. ravsa
Aliteraturereviewisabodyoftextthataimsto
reviewthecriticalpointsofknowledgeona
particulartopicofresearch.…(ANM,2000)
Aliteraturereviewisanaccountofwhathasbeen
alreadyestablishedorpublishedonaparticular
researchtopicbyaccreditedscholars&researchers.…
(UniversityofToronto,2001)

6. ravsa
Importance of ROL

7. ravsa
Identificationofaresearchproblem&development
orrefinementofresearchquestions.
Generationofusefulresearchquestionsor
projects/activitiesforthediscipline.
Orientationtowhatisknown&notknownaboutan
areaofinquirytoascertainwhatresearchcanbest
contributetoknowledge.

8. ravsa
Determinationofanygapsorinconsistenciesina
bodyofknowledge.
Discoveryofunansweredquestionsaboutsubjects,
conceptsorproblems.
Determinationofaneedtoreplicateapriorstudy
indifferentstudysettingsordifferentsamplesor
sizeordifferentstudypopulations.

9. ravsa
Identificationofrelevanttheoreticalorconceptual
frameworkforresearchproblems.
Identificationordevelopmentofneworrefined
clinicalinterventionstotestthroughempirical
research.
Descriptionofthestrengths&weaknessesof
design/methodsofinquiry&instrumentsusedin
earlierresearchwork.

10. ravsa
Purpose of Literature Review

11. ravsa
Toconveytothereaderpreviousknowledge&facts
establishedonatopic,&theirstrength&
weakness.
Theliteraturereviewallowsthereadertobe
updatedwiththestateofresearchinafield&any
contradictionsthatmayexistwithchallenges
findingsofotherresearchstudies.
Ithelpstodevelopresearchinvestigativetools&to
improveresearchmethodologies.

12. ravsa
Italsoprovidetheknowledgeabouttheproblems
facedbythepreviousresearchers’whilestudying
sametopic.
Besidesenhancingresearchers’knowledgeabout
thetopic,writingaliteraturereviewhelps.
Placeeachinthecontextofitscontributiontothe
understandingofsubjectunderreview.
Resolveconflictsamongstseeminglycontradictory
previousstudies.

13. ravsa
Describetherelationshipofeachstudytoother
researchstudiesunderconsideration.
Identifynewwaystointerpret&shedlightonany
gapsinpreviousresearch.
Identifyareasofpriorscholarshiptoprevent
duplicationofeffort.
Pointawayforwardforfurtherresearch.
Seewhathas&hasnotbeeninvestigated.

14. ravsa
Developgeneralexplanationforobservedvariationsin
abehaviororphenomenon.
Identifypotentialrelationshipbetweenconcepts&to
identifyresearchablehypothesis.
Learnhowothershavedefined&measuredkey
concepts.
Identifydatasourcesthatotherresearchershaveused.

15. ravsa
Developalternativeresearchprojects.
Discoverhowaresearchprojectisrelatedtothe
workofothers.
Placeone’soriginalwork(incaseofthesisor
dissertation)contextoftheexistingliterature.

16. ravsa
Sources
Primary sources
Secondary source

17. ravsa
Primary Sources
Literaturereviewmostlyreliesonprimarysources,
i.e.researchreports,whicharedescriptionofstudies
writtenbyresearcherswhoconductedthem.
Aprimarysourcesiswrittenbyapersonwho
developedthetheoryorconductedtheresearch,oris
thedescriptionofaninvestigationwrittenbythe
personwhoconductedit.
Mostprimarysourcesarefoundinpublished
literature.

18. ravsa
Secondary Sources
Secondarysourceresearchdocumentsare
descriptionofstudiespreparedbysomeoneother
thantheoriginalresearcher.
Theyarewrittenbypeopleotherthantheindividuals
whodevelopedthetheoryorconductedtheresearch.
Thesecondarysourcesmaybeusedwhenprimary
sourcesarenotavailableorifresearcherswant
externalopinionsonanissueorproblemoreventhe
resultsoftheirownresearch.

19. ravsa
Resources of literature review
Encyclopedia
Dictionary
Electronic database
Books
Journals
Conference
Research reports
Magazines
Newspapers

20. ravsa
Steps
of literature review

21. ravsa
Understandingtheconceptsofresearchproblemsand
identifyingthekeyresearchterms

22. ravsa
Identifyingtherelevantsources

23. ravsa
Searchingforliterature

24. ravsa
Analyzingandsynthesizingtheliterature

25. ravsa
Writing the literature review
Introduction
Body
Conclusion

26. ravsa
Points to be considered for
literature review

27. ravsa
Bespecific
Brieflystatespecificfindingslistedinanarticle,
specificmethodologiesusedinastudy,orother
importantpoints.
Literaturereviewsarenottheplaceforlongquotesor
in-depthanalysisofeachpoint.

28. ravsa
Beselective:
Researchershouldnarrowdownalotof
informationintoasmallspaceforliteraturereview.
Justthemostimportantpoints(i.e.thosemost
relevanttothereview’sfocus)mustbementioned
ineachworkofreview.

29. ravsa
Focusofcurrenttopics:
Researcherneedstoanalyzepointssuchasifitisa
currentarticle,&ifnot,howolditis:hasitsclaims,
evidenceorargumentsbeensupersededbymore
recentwork;ifitisnotcurrent,thenifitis
importantforhistoricalbackground;etc.
2019 2018

30. ravsa
Ensureevidenceforclaims:
Researchershouldfocusonwhatsupportisgivenfor
claimsmadeinliterature.Whatevidence&what
type(experimental,statistical,anecdotal,etc.)of
evidencesareoffered?Istheevidencerelevant&
sufficient?Whatargumentsaregiven?What
assumptionsaremade,&aretheywarranted?

31. ravsa
Focusonsourcesofevidences:
Researchersshouldensurethereliabilityofthesources
oftheevidenceorotherinformation–iftheyarefrom
author’sownexperiments,surveys,historicalrecords,
governmentdocuments,etc.Heshouldcheckhow
reliablethose

32. ravsa
Accountofcontraryevidences:
Doestheauthortakeintoaccountcontraryor
conflictingevidence&arguments?Howdoesthe
authoraddressdisagreementswithother
researchers?
Oppositeinnature

33. ravsa
Referencecitation:
Anyreferencescitedintheliteraturereviewmustbe
includedinthebibliography.

34. ravsa
Avoidabbreviations:
Avoidtechnicalterms,jargons&abbreviations.

35. ravsa
Simple&accuratesentencestructure:
Aresearchershouldusesimplesentences&
mustavoiderrorsofgrammar&punctuation

36. ravsa
Organizationofliteraturereview:
Aliteraturereviewisorganizedbysubtopic,notby
individualreferences.Inatypicalliteraturereview,
thewritersmayciteseveralreferencesinthesame
paragraph&maycitethesamereferenceinmore
thanoneparagraph,ifthatsourceaddressmore
thanoneofthesubtopicsintheliteraturereview.

37. ravsa
Referringoriginalsource:
Thereviewershouldfocusoncitingthematerial
thatoriginateswitheachreference.Thismayrequire
acarefulreadingofthereference.Ifthereference
authorreferstoanothersourcewhoseideasare
relevantorinteresting,itisbettertotrack&usethat
originalreference.