Dr. chandana kasturiarachchi literature review 1

Literature Review
Research Methodology
By
Dr. Chandana Kasturi Arachchi
(PhD, MPhil, PGDE, Dip. in Eng., B.Sc. Business Admin., Cert. in Leadership,
HETC)
chacmb@gmail.com 0094 702845514
Dr. C. Kasturiarachchi -chacmb@gmail.com 1

Lesson objectives
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
1. Critically analyse research articles and resources in the area of
concentration;
2. Demonstrate the use of a variety of techniques and tools to organise
and manage information related to their area of concentration;
3. Apply the conventions of academic writing when writing the review
of literature for their area of concentration; and
4. Evaluate various strategies and techniques to write up their analysis
and synthesis of ideas with clarity, coherence and intelligibility.

Topic 1
introduces the concept and features of academic writing which includes
the literature review (LR). Each feature of an academic writing is
discussed with examples and practice to lay the foundation. It is followed
by an introduction to the LR which addresses the fundamentals related to
doing a LR.
Topic 2
expands on the purposes of writing a LR to prepare you to do research.
You are systematically brought through the steps in doing the literature
review with an understanding of the purposes, planning stage, reviewing
of relevant extracts and finally its execution.

Topic 3
attempts to describe sourcing for information as one important aspect in
the process of doing LR. It provides useful advice and strategies that will
help you to kick start a meaningful literature review process.
Topic 4
relates LR to reading, specifically reading of academic texts. The materials
will help you develop critical reading skills through an understanding of
the reading process, the strategies, note making and summary writing.

Topic 5
explores the managing of the literature search. It details the use of a
concept map, various data bases relevant to educational research, strategies that
will help in managing data, keeping records of the search and refining the
literature search.
Topic 6
focuses on how to organize a LR effectively through the use of two
approaches, arranging by chronology and by themes. You will be guided step by
step on the use of the two approaches.

Share your previous
experience on
Research & Literature
Review

Contextualizing
Literature Review

ACADEMIC WRITING
Academic writing is clear, concise, focused,
structured and backed up by evidence.
Its purpose is to aid the reader’s understanding.
It has a formal tone and style, but it is not complex
and does not require the use of long sentences
and complicated vocabulary.

Characteristics of academic writing
Planned and focused: answers the question and
demonstrates an understanding of the subject.
Structured: is coherent, written in a logical order, and
brings together related points and material.
Evidenced: demonstrates knowledge of the subject
area, supports opinions and arguments with evidence,
and is referenced accurately.
Formal in tone and style: uses appropriate language
and tenses, and is clear, concise and balanced.

FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING

complexity
By complexity, we mean that written language is
relatively more complex especially when it is
compared to spoken language.
This is because the sentences in a written text can
be more varied.
You are expected to write using a variety of
sentence structures.

Vocabulary
Are you aware that added to the complexities in writing
is the varied choice of vocabulary?
For example, instead of using the word, “said” all the
time, you can vary the meaning by using reported verbs
such as “illustrated”, “postulated” “emphasized”
“indicated” “mentioned” and so on.
Again this helps to give a smooth flow to reading and
also engages the reader who would not be bored about
reading the writing.

formality
Are you aware that writing is also very different from speaking in terms
of formality? So do not write the way you speak as they are two different
types.
Spoken –
You can control the trains this way and if you do that you can be quite
sure that they will be able to run more safely and more quickly than they
would otherwise, no matter how bad the weather gets.
Written-
The use of this method of control unquestionably leads to safer and faster
train running in the most adverse weather conditions.

precision
Instead of saying “the questionnaire is good”, be precise and say
something like “the questionnaire is reliable”.
Do not hide behind vague words.
(a) This study was carried out some years back (five years ago).
(b) A good number of (80 per cent of the) questionnaires were returned.
(c) There are a few things that prevented the researcher from getting a
bigger sample size (among the problems encountered in getting a bigger
sample size were time constraints, distance and finance.)
parenthesis are recommended over those that are italicized

objectivity
Writing objectively means that the writer takes a attitude that shows that
the information presented is based on evidence rather than on hearsay or
opinions without support. Whatever that is conveyed should therefore be
based on readings or reliable sources. For this reason, the use of I or you
is often avoided.
Instead, the term the researcher is preferred when you are referring to
yourself and rather than using you to address the reader, use an it
expression instead as in: It is clear from the data that.

Explicitness
Are you aware that academic writing is explicit in many
ways? It is explicit in its signposting of the organisation
of the ideas in the text (Biber, Johansson, Leech, Conrad
& Finegan, 1999).
As a writer of academic English, it is your responsibility
to make it clear to your reader on how various parts of
the text are related. These connections can be made
explicit by the use of different signaling words which
enable the reader to follow your argument easily.

Explicitness
The new approach to writing involves the process
approach. This means that thought patterns in the
composing of writing is not linear. For example, we
often write and then go back many steps to an earlier
idea and make changes because you want to improve on
the development of ideas. Thus, the final draft
undergoes several processes before the reader reads the
final writing.
Signposting

accuracy
In writing a thesis, accuracy is also of prior importance. If
your writing is inaccurate, you will lose credibility. Your
goal towards the completion of your thesis will be risked.
Readers will doubt your work as to whether it is worth
reading, or worst still, your examiner may get very
frustrated with your inaccuracies and begin to doubt the
worth of your research.

• accuracy of facts
• spelling and grammar
• inconsistency in style
•APA style manual
• objective reader

LITERATURE
REVIEW

literature review (LR)
➢ Is a critical and in depth evaluation of previous
research.
➢ It is a summary and synopsis of a particular area of
research, allowing anybody reading them to establish
why you are conducting this particular research.

• Are you aware that LR is an encompassing term which is not
limited to a particular chapter?
• The same term, literature review, is usually used to in waiting
Chapter 2 of a thesis,
• but as Ridley (2012) says, LR is more than that. What are the
functions of a LR?

Activity
How Much Reading is Enough?

How Much Reading is Enough?
There is no easy answer to that question.
Sometimes, we get more confused as we
read more and more.
To make it worse, there may be opposing views
and you do not know who to believe to take on an
angle for your research.

Activity
Should I Write Chapter 2 or
Chapter 1 First?

• Should I Write Chapter 2 or Chapter 1 First?
• Whichever you choose, you cannot start to write unless you feel you
have read enough to give the initial start.
• Start with a brief outline which you can build on as you go along in
your readings.
• At the same time, you will want to read some theses in your library to
get a feel of how LR is written and presented.
• You may discover differences in approaches. However, do not worry too
much as you can sort these out with your supervisor.

Activity
How Much Should I Write for My
Literature Review?

• How Much Should I Write for My Literature Review?
• This question comes with the issue of length. The main point is
that you should cover all the key words that are spelt out in
your research questions which are likely stated in Chapter 1.

Activity
Do I Put the Theoretical and
Conceptual Frameworks in Chapter 1
or 2?

Do I Put the Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks in Chapter 1 or 2?
There is no hard and fast rule about the positioning of the frameworks.
Many writers prefer to put the theoretical and conceptual frameworks in
Chapter 1.
They help to explain the formulated research questions which precede
the frameworks

Activity
What Kind of Tense Should I Use in
Writing the LR?

What Kind of Tense Should I Use in Writing the LR?
Tense is often a tricky issue as it depends very much on how the
writer positions the reporting.
In fact, it is perfectly alright to use the present tense even if you
are referring to a piece of work that has been written 20 years
ago as long as the message is still current. For example, you can
say:
Halliday (1975) suggests that functional grammar is an
approach that situates grammar in a meaningful context of use.
Halliday (1975) found in his study that

He conducted the research in three schools, instead of
He had conducted the research in three schools.
The theory emphasizes that students should learn cognitive
strategies to solve problems effectively, instead of
“The theory is emphasizing that students should learn
cognitive strategies to solve problems effectively.

The perfect tense which uses the “have + verb” structure is
applied carefully and so is the continuous form which uses “be
+ verb + ing” structure.
The following are some examples of the perfect forms and the
continuous forms.
• John has provided much insight into quantitative studies.
• The researchers were busy testing the new machines in the lab.
• They are writing their lesson plans for next week.

PURPOSES OF A
LITERATURE REVIEW
(LR)

Dr. chandana kasturiarachchi literature review 1

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