Academic writing session 2
Structure of a literature review and formulation of research questions
Individually formulate a draft research question relevant for your literature review
• The topic
• Target group
• Theories
• Keywords for literature search
The literature review
What is it?
It’s an objective, thorough summary and critical analysis of the relevant and available
research and non-research literature on the topic being studied.
Why?
It’s a powerful learning device
• Expose you to diverse ideas
• Allows you to learn from the successes and failures of previous researches (discussion
or conclusion)
Enables you to demonstrate your scholarly competence
Purpose
It serves as a basis for the study
• Relates the present study to the works of previous researchers
• Highlights important gaps in the field (you can’t find a literature review about your
topic= GAP)
• Indicates where prior studies can be extended
Acts as the basis for comparing & contrasting your findings with previous research results
Why review existing literature
To avoid ‘re-inventing the wheel’
Identifying the gaps on literature
• Emphasis the originality of the study (topic, data, analysis)
• Gaps could be based on knowledge, relationships, goals
Structure of a literature review and formulation of research questions
Individually formulate a draft research question relevant for your literature review
• The topic
• Target group
• Theories
• Keywords for literature search
The literature review
What is it?
It’s an objective, thorough summary and critical analysis of the relevant and available
research and non-research literature on the topic being studied.
Why?
It’s a powerful learning device
• Expose you to diverse ideas
• Allows you to learn from the successes and failures of previous researches (discussion
or conclusion)
Enables you to demonstrate your scholarly competence
Purpose
It serves as a basis for the study
• Relates the present study to the works of previous researchers
• Highlights important gaps in the field (you can’t find a literature review about your
topic= GAP)
• Indicates where prior studies can be extended
Acts as the basis for comparing & contrasting your findings with previous research results
Why review existing literature
To avoid ‘re-inventing the wheel’
Identifying the gaps on literature
• Emphasis the originality of the study (topic, data, analysis)
• Gaps could be based on knowledge, relationships, goals
