STUDENT_ID: 1810743

STUDENT NAME: ISAIAH MUSENGA

LECTURER’S NAME: NATALIA MBAMBO ZULU (MRS)

DUE DATE: 20TH MARCH 2020

ASSIGNMEN NO: 01

COURSE NAME: RESEARCH METHODS

COURSE CODE: BIT - 330

YEAR OF STUDY: 2020

A literature review refers to surveys books, scholarly articles, and any other sources relevant to a
particular issue, area of research, or theory, and by so doing, provides a description, summary,
and critical evaluation of these works in relation to the research problem being investigated.
Literature reviews are designed to provide an overview of sources you have explored while
researching a particular topic and to demonstrate to your readers how your research fits within a
larger field of study.

To begin with, the literature review is integral to the success of academic research. It ensures the
researchability of the topic. It is designed to identify related research, to set the current research
project within a conceptual and theoretical context.

A literature review helps you create a sense of rapport with your audience or readers so they
can trust that you have done your homework. As a result, they can give you credit for your due
diligence: you have done your fact-finding and fact-checking mission, one of the initial steps of
any research writing. As a student, you may not be an expert in a given field; however, by listing
a thorough review in your research paper, you are telling the audience, in essence, that you know
what you are talking about. As a result, the more books, articles, and other sources you can list in
the literature review, the more trustworthy your scholarship and expertise will be. Depending on
the nature of your research paper, each entry can be long or short. For example, if you are
writing a doctoral dissertation or master’s thesis, the entries can be longer than the ones in a term
paper. The key is to stick to the gist of the sources as you synthesize the source in the review: its
thesis, research methods, findings, issues, and further discussions mentioned in the source.

One of the importance of literature review is that, it helps to avoid incidental

plagiarism Imagine this scenario. You have written a research paper, an original paper in your
area of specialization, without a literature review. When you are about to publish the paper, you
soon learn that someone has already published a paper on a topic very similar to yours. Of
course, you have not plagiarized anything from that publication; however, if and when you
publish your work, people will be suspicious of your authenticity. They will ask further about the
significance of repeating similar research. In short, you could have utilized the time, money, and
other resources you have wasted on your research on something else. Had you prepared a
literature review at the onset of your research, you could have easily avoided such mishap.
During the compilation of your review, you could have noticed how someone else has done
similar research on your topic. By knowing this fact, you can tailor or tweak your own research
in such a way that it is not a mere rehashing of someone else’s original or old idea.

Literature review adds value and legitimacy to the study through providing the
interpretation of existing literature in the light of updated developments in the field; this helps in
establishing the consistency in knowledge and relevancy of existing material. In a layman’s term
we can safely say that by review existing literature we are increasing the stock of knowledge that
is already in existence.[ CITATION Pub19 \l 1033 ].

A review of literature also contributes to the development of the researcher’s intellectual

capacity and practical skills as it engenders a research attitude, thus encouraging the researcher
to think rigorously. Time and effort carefully spent at this particular stage helps to save a great
deal of effort and vague search.

Another purpose of reviewing the literature is to analyze the different methodologies and data
collection methods used by previous researchers in similar issues. This would help the researcher
to identify the various strengths and lacunas of the used methods. A thorough review of literature
may enable the researcher to answer the several pertinent questions.

A literature review is a systematic, explicit and reproducible method for identifying evaluating
and interpreting the existing body of recorded work produced by researches, scholars and
practitioners.

The significance of any results you achieve will depend to some extent on how they compare to
those reported in the existing literature. When you come to write up your findings, your literature
review will therefore provide a crucial point of reference. If your results replicate past research,
for instance, you can say that your work supports existing theories. If your results are different,
though, you’ll need to discuss why and whether the difference is important.

Conducting a literature review before beginning research also lets you see how similar studies
have been conducted in the past. By examining the strengths and weaknesses of existing
research, you can thus make sure you adopt the most appropriate methods, data sources and
analytical techniques for your own work.

The review helps to place the research in the context of what has already been done, thus,
allowing comparisons to be made. It is a critical summary and assessment of the range of
existing materials dealing with knowledge and understanding in a given field. Its main purposes
are as follows: to locate the research project, to provide a rationale for the research, forming its
context or background, to provide insights into previous work, and to identify a gap, a problem
in the existing literature and thus providing a framework for further research.

It also promotes authenticity and integrity of research. Whether stand alone or part of a paper,
study, or project the Academic Literature Review requires accuracy, quality resources,
objectivity thoroughness and quality analysis but unlike the other two styles the Academic
Review requires a depth the others do not. Academic sources not popular should be used and a
summery and synthesis of sources usually within a conceptual framework.

The literature review allows the reader to be updated with the state of research in a field & any
contradictions that may exist with challenges findings of other research studies.
It helps to develop research investigative tools & to improve research methodologies.
It also provides the knowledge about the problems faced by the previous researchers’ while
studying same topic.

Conclusively we can say It describes how the proposed research is related to prior research in
statistics. It shows the originality and relevance of your research problem. Specifically, your
research is different from other statisticians. It justifies your proposed methodology.
References
Kim, Y. S. (2018, January 11). The Importance of Literature Review in Research Writing. Retrieved from
www.owlcation.com: https://owlcation.com/humanities/literature_review

Proofed, G. (2019, March 12). guidlines and benefits of literature review. Retrieved from
getproofed.com: https://getproofed.com/writing-tips/5-reasons-the-literature-review-is-crucial/

Pubrica.com. (2019, May 16). Importance of Literature Review in Scientific Research Writing. Retrieved
from www.pubrica.com: https://medium.com/@pubricahealthcare/importance-of-literature-
review-in-scientific-research-writing-41d8ea3812c6

Slideshare.net. (2013, May 7). Literature Review in Research. Retrieved from www.slideshare.net:
https://www.slideshare.net/drjayeshpatidar/literature-review-in-research?from_action=save

USC Libraries Research Guides on Literature Review and its importance. (2020, Mrach 3). Retrieved from
ww.usclibaries.com: https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide

Zulu, N. M. (2020). Research Methods. Literature review and its importance, 4.