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Research Essentials for the Social Sciences

Essential skills, resources and tools for research in social science disciplines.

Literature Reviews

A literature review may refer to part of a paper/article or a stand-alone publication that discusses the state of knowledge in a specific area, (as well as the act of searching and locating research literature.)

"...one of the first steps in planning a research project is to do a literature review: that is, to trawl through all the available information sources to track down the latest knowledge, and to assess it for relevance, quality, controversy and gaps. 

The review can be used to show where you have gained inspiration to develop your ideas...it should also demonstrate you have a good understanding of the current conceptual frameworks in your subject, and that you can take a stance in placing your work within these."

A successful literature review will present:

    History of developments in research related to your topic
    1. trace the background to current thinking
    2. what are the themes, issues, or sub-topics scholars have focused on?
  2. Research theory & philosophy
    1. establish the intellectual context(s) of your related question(s)  
  3. Latest research and developments in order to:
    1. inform and practice
    2. discuss conflicting arguments
    3. detect the gap(s) in knowledge
  4. Research methods
    1. explore research techniques that have been used, particularly those of relevance to your project
    2. what are the advantages and disadvantages of these techniques?
  5. Your research question/ hypothesis 
    1. how has the existing research led to/ informed the development of your research project?

Adapted from Walliman, Nicholas. 2018. Research Methods : the Basics. Second edition. Abingdon, Oxon.

Reasons for reviewing the literature Reasons for writing a literature review
  • Inform yourself of what is happening in the field
  • Form a foundation of topical and methodological knowledge and expertise
  • Inform your audience of what is happening in the field
  • Evaluate the relationship between state of knowledge and the state of practice in your field
  • Establish your credibility as a knowledgeable and capable researcher
  • Develop skills in critical thinking/analysis
  • Find potential gaps in the literature that may point to potential research questions
  • Explore connections, tensions, and contradictions
  • Address why research gaps might exist
  • Argue the relevance and significance of your research question
  • Critically evaluate common/typical methods
  • Facilitate the development of your own methodological approaches
  • Provide the context for your own methodological approach
  • Argue the relevance and appropriateness of your approach

Table adapted from O'Leary, Z. (Video). (2018).

What exactly do we mean by "reviewing" the literature? Essentially researchers aim to critique or evaluate each source, in relation to one another, and to their own work. A synthesis grid can be helpful in tracking your notes; by entering information about your sources into the same matrix, you can more easily compare sources and discover trends or tensions between sources. 

Critiquing literature involves synthesising your sources, justifying why you think those are the strengths and weaknesses of the paper, identifying the weakness or rejecting a point of view, identifying the strengths of the paper, relating the paper to your study, identifying gaps, comparing and contrasting different sources, strategically selecting your reference sources. A critique is not criticism

Writing a literature review. Charles Darwin University.

Introduce the problem and set the context (broad context) First, fit your specific topic into the big picture. Contextual literature. Set the specific context (specific focus, location, method etc.) Next, narrow down your context, topic, method, etc. Contextual and theoretical literature. Analyse past research. Identify gaps in the research. Then, discuss what it known and what is missing. Related literature. Introduce your research aims and question. Finally, introduce your research objectives and eA literature review is organized around ideas and discusses how sources relate to one another around these ideas; a literature review is not a series of source summaries. 1

Be it your first or 50th review, visit the Vassar Writing Center for support.

Scoping Your Review 2,3
Take time to scope your topic; you will want a narrow enough topic so that the amount of literature can be digested into a review, however you will also need enough literature to place your work into the conversation started by the existing research.

As you read, consider what themes emerge across sources, note consensus, debate, tension or patterns. You will not go into depth regarding every theme, but focus on the major ones central to your work.

Structuring & Organizing Your Review 2

  1. Introduction: Gives a quick idea of the topic of the literature review, such as the central theme or organizational pattern.
  2. Body: Contains your discussion of sources and is organized either chronologically, thematically, or methodologically (see UNC Tools & Tricks for details re: selecting organizational structure.)
  3. Conclusions/Recommendations: Discuss what you have drawn from reviewing literature so far. Where might the discussion proceed?

Synthesis 1
The goal of the review is to synthesize, to make observations about groups of studies. Synthesis may sound like:

  • Much of the literature on [topic x] focuses on [major themes].
  • In recent years, researchers have begun investigating [facets a, b, and c] of [topic x].
  • The studies in this review of [topic x] confirm / suggest / call into question / support [idea / practice / finding / method / theory / guideline y].
  • In the reviewed studies [variable x] was generally associated with higher / lower rates of [outcome y].
  • A limitation of some / most / all of these studies is [y].

Resources
1 Literature Review Overview, JMU Writing Center: literature review structure and examples of source synthesis.
2 Literature Review Tips & Tools, UNC Writing Center: how to get started, focus your question/topic, fantastic guidance for organizing and composing your review.
3 Literature Review, JMU Writing Center: series of questions to potentially address in your review re: project's significance, coverage, state of knowledge, and methods. 
Writing a literature review. Charles Darwin University: source for the graphic above; excellent guidance for everything literature review related.

Use the following evaluation criteria to evaluate your work.

Evaluating Introductions & Literature Reviews

☑ Does the researcher identify a specific problem area?
☑ Does the researcher establish the importance of the problem area?
☑ Are any underlying theories adequately described?
☑ Did the researcher cite sources for "actual statements of facts"?
☑ Has the researcher noted gaps in the literature? 
☑ Does a clear picture emerge of what previous research has accomplished and which questions remain unsolved? 

A Closer Look at Literature Reviews

☑ Does the researcher move from topic to topic instead of from citation to citation?
☑ Does the literature review critically engage with sources instead of summarize?
☑ Has the researcher avoided citing a large number of sources for a single point?
☑ Has the researcher avoided overuse of direct quotations? 
☑ Is current research cited?
☑ Has the researcher distinguished between opinions and research findings? 
☑ Has the researcher interpreted results in light of the inherent limits of empirical research? 
☑ Has the researcher cited both converging and contradictory research findings?

Checklist modified from Pyrczak, F., & Tcherni-Buzzeo, M. (2019). Evaluating research in academic journals : a practical guide to realistic evaluation. (Seventh edition.). Routledge.