1. C Hart 2009 (www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature_review.html)
Literature Reviews
C Hart 2009 (

2. Definitions
“its an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers”
Must be defined by a guiding concept e.g. your research objective, problem)
It’s not just a set of summaries – must have logical & coherent flow
Lets you gain skills in two areas:
Information seeking
Critical appraisal of studies

3. NB’s for Literature Reviews
Literature review must:
Be organized around and related directly to the research question
Synthesize results into a summary of what is and is not known
Identify areas of controversy in the literature
Formulate questions that need further research

4. Questions for each Resource
Has author formulated problem/issue?
Is it clearly defined & significance clearly established?
Could problem been approached more effectively from another perspective?
What’s author’s research orientation?
What’s author’s theoretical framework?
Has author evaluated literature relevant to the issue
In a study – Validity issues?
How does author structure the argument – can you deconstruct the flow of argument to check for logic?
How does ref contribute to our understanding of the issue?
How does the ref relate to your question you are developing?