LITERATURE REVIEW

Sony Sulaksono Wibowo

LITERATURE REVIEW
 It’s an integral part of the thesis
 It sets the scene for the research presented in the
thesis
 It provides justification for the research
presented in the thesis
 Some examiners claim they can judge the quality
of a thesis from its literature review (it is true!!)
LITERATURE REVIEW
 An account of what has been published on a topic
by accredited scholars and researchers
 To convey to the reader what knowledge and
ideas have been established on the research topic
that have been chosen, and what their strengths
and weaknesses are
LITERATURE REVIEW
 The review describes theoretical perspective and
previous research findings regarding the problem
at hand.
 Related to the research topic, in literature
review, it is required to present:
 Established findings
 Conflicting evidence
 Gaps
LITERATURE REVIEW
 To demonstrate professional competence in the
area of the research
 knowing the background to research topic and the
present state of the art
 the breakthroughs, the controversies, what’s ‘hot’ in
the field
 To justify the need for the research undertaken
 To establish the theoretical framework of the
research
LITERATURE REVIEW
 information seeking: the ability to scan the
literature efficiently, using manual or
computerized methods, to identify a set of useful
articles and books
 critical appraisal: the ability to apply
principles of analysis to identify unbiased and
valid studies.
LITERATURE REVIEW
 not a list of studies presented one after another
 need to focus on ideas, theories, issues, and results
 not at sources!!

 not a catalogue of facts

GOOD LITERATURE REVIEW

 Focused - The topic should be narrow. You

should only present ideas and only report on
studies that are closely related to topic.
 Concise - Ideas should be presented
economically. Don’t take any more space than
you need to present your ideas.
 Logical - The flow within and among paragraphs
should be a smooth, logical progression from one
idea to the next
GOOD LITERATURE REVIEW

 Developed - Don’t leave the story half told.

 Integrative - Your paper should stress how the
ideas in the studies are related. Focus on the big
picture.
 What commonality do all the studies share?
 How are some studies different than others?
 Your paper should stress how all the studies
reviewed contribute to your topic.
 Current - Your review should focus on work
being done on the cutting edge of your topic
LITERATURE REVIEW..
• What makes a good literature review?
– clearly delimits the subject matter to be reviewed
– covers all important relevant literature
– is up-to-date
– provides an insightful analysis of the ideas and
conclusions in the literature
– points out similarities and differences, strengths and
weaknesses in the literature
– identifies gaps in the literature for future research
– identifies the context for which the literature is
important.
LITERATURE REVIEW
• Number of steps to undertake before to write the
literature review
– formulate a problem in your field of study
– familiarize yourself with a broad range of texts that deal
with that problem
– decide on the texts you wish to include in your review
– decide on the most appropriate way to classify the texts
– identify the key issues
– critically analyze what you have read
– identify important issues that are still unresolved
– write a draft of the review
– read and think about what you have written and then
rewrite
LITERATURE REVIEW
• Deal with some of categories only that are more
appropriate for your research
– Research outcomes
– Research methods
– Theories
– Applications
– Integration of the works of others
– Criticism of previous work
– Building of bridges between related topics
– Identification of central issue(s)
COMMON ERRORS
IN REVIEWING LITERATURE
 Hurrying through review to get started could
mean that you will miss something that will
improve your research.
 Relying too heavily upon secondary sources.

 Concentrating on findings rather than methods.

 Overlooking sources other than academic

journals.
 Don’t forget newspaper articles, magazines, blogs,
etc.
 Searching too broad or too narrow of a topic.
 Inaccuracy in the compiling of bibliographic
information.
END OF PRESENTATION