lr

1. Writing your
Literature Review
You will be able to…
Explain the role and purpose of a literature review
Apply and evaluate different strategies for writing your literature review
Reflect on your own writing to start planning your literature review
Rhian Wyn-Williams
Skills@ljmu.ac.uk

2. Before you can start writing your literature
review, you need to know what you are writing
Literature Review Or Not Literature
Review?
On your tables, you have a selection
of cards. Can you decide which
category they fit into?

3. So, a literature review
• A summarises, synthesises, analyses
and evaluates previous research
relevant to your project.
• Places your research in the debate.
• It should address a clearly question or
series of questions.
It is not
• A description, list or simply a
summary of literature
A literature review needs you
to sit at the table and join in
the debate.

4. What is it for?
• Demonstrates an in-depth understanding of your topic
and its thinkers
• Identifies what research has been done in that area
• Identifies main areas of agreement or controversy
• Identifies the main methodologies in your subject area
• Finds gaps in the research to help you formulate your
own research question
• Convinces the reader that your research questions are
significant, important and interesting: it is an argument
This means you need to analyse and
synthesise your reading:
‘Zoom in and zoom out’

5. Analysis: zooming in
To analyse your literature, you need to be reading
critically:
Who is the author?
What is the central point or main argument?
What findings and conclusions are made?
What evidence is used?
What methodology has the author used? What are
the strengths and limitations?
Does the author make any assumptions?
What is not being said?
Is there any explicit or hidden bias?

6. Synthesis: zooming out
To synthesise your literature, you need to:
See the bigger context
Make comparisons and connections
Position key points against each other
Compare methods
Identify themes and trends
Areas of agreement or disagreement

7. A reading grid can help you keep track of your research and analysis, and
think about how you will use or refer to it in your writing: helps synthesis
Author, title Topic Key idea/theme Strengths/
Weaknesses
How to use Further thoughts:
relate to project
Bill Johnston
(2010) The First
Year at University:
Teaching Students
in Transition
(Helping Students
Learn)
Effects of
stress on
university students
during transition
Students need to
have differences in
study practices
made clear at the
outset: this is
primarily the
responsibility of
the university
Very small sample
but longitudinal
study –
appropriate
methods
Rich data – see
transcripts
Compare to Jones
(2001) and Ali
(2002) -
emphasise the
responsibility of
the student in
adapting
Show agreement
with Smith, 2013;
Mohammad et al,
2015; Jackson,
2017
Jackson also uses
longitudinal study
Appears to be part
of a developing
trend in HE student
support – test with
a bigger sample
size
But is longitudinal
a better method?

8. Some alternative approaches:
Adapt headings to your discipline/project:
Author Year Type of
study
Sample Design Data
collection
approach
Key
findings
Sciences/Experimental focus
Humanities/Theoretical focus
Author Year Type of
work
Strengths Weaknesses Relevance to own
study
Taken from The University of Adelaide Writing a literature review
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/learning_guides/learningGuide_writingLiteratureReview.pdf

9. So, you should be able to write a brief summary of your literature review
based on your analysis, synthesis and the argument you want to develop
It could look something like this:
• The study builds on and contributes to work in………………
• Although studies in …………… have examined ………………there has
not been an…………………..
• As such, this study provides an additional insight into ………………….
• The analytic focus on…………………….enables another contribution.
• This study analyses …………………………………………………………
• Although numerous studies ( ) have identified ……………
…………………., little analytic attention has been paid to ……………..
• It will address this issue by demonstrating
……………………………………..
(Kamler & Thompson, 2006, p. 57)
Can you complete at least four
of these statements with
details about your own
dissertation?
Share them with your partner:
are they convinced your
dissertation is contributing to
the debate?

10. Once you are reading analytically and with synthesis, you can start
planning the structure of your literature review
Introduction (scope and
structure)
Your study/current research issues
Distantly related to
your work
Research that is
particularly pertinent
to your work
Background, more to
do with your topic area
than your research
question
Closer to what you’re
doing but not match
directly
Narrow categories you
may deal with sources
in more detail
Categories close to
your research and you
may find you are
looking at a few key
papers in detail

11. The structure of your literature review
Second Homes: Investigating Local Perceptions and
Impacts on Communities in Cornwall
• 2.1 Introduction
• 2.2 Defining Second Homes
• 2. 3 The Growth of Second Homes
• 2.4 The Emergence of Second Homes in Cornwall
• 2.5 The Impacts of Second-Home Ownership
• 2.5.1 Housing Demand and Local Housing
Markets
• 2.5.2 Local Services, Employment and Economic
Demand
• 2.5.3 Community Interactions
• 2.6 Conclusion and Gaps for Further Study
On your worksheet, can you
start to develop a plan for
your own literature review?
Remember to think about
key themes you need to
included first.

12. Writing it up: remember your critical analysis and
synthesis when writing your main paragraphs
• In groups, now evaluate the paragraphs
taken from literature reviews in a range
of subjects at Master’s level.
• Can you see where these students are
showing their critical thinking? How are
they showing criticality?

13. Compare/contrast/
synthesis
Evaluation and
analysis
Notice the range of
reporting verbs
(show close reading
and understanding)
It is within the context of perpetual racial injustice in Britain that a wealth of migrant studies
literature has been focussed. This began in the 1960s with the emergence of bodies such as
the Institute of Race Relations (1958), Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (1964) and
Runnymede Trust (1968). Early studies focussed largely on racial minorities’ structural
disadvantage and reflected a so-called ‘assimilationist’ model of thought. Two local examples
are the Marxist surveys of John Rex and Robert Moore in 1969, and John Rex and Sally
Tomlinson in 1979, which observed the existence of a ‘coloured underclass’ in Birmingham.
They theorised that racial minorities faced continued exclusion from mainstream
employment, housing and welfare – ‘systematically at a disadvantage compared with
working-class whites’ – and so ‘in effect a separate underprivileged class’. This conception of
a racial ‘underclass’, however, reflects the dangerous homogenisation of ‘black’ migrants
common to migrant studies prior to the late-1970s, which fails to account for differences in
experience and the effects of intersectionality. Additionally, their Marxist methodology may
be criticised for resulting in a narrow interpretation born of a clear political agenda. Since
then, encouraged by the thought-provoking racial theories of Stuart Hall and Paul Gilroy,
scholars have increasingly recognised not only the diversity of minority racial groups, but
each group’s heterogeneity in terms of ethnicity and religious affiliation, resulting in richer
analyses. As Ballard and Driver observed: ‘We have ethnic, not just racial diversity in Britain
today. The minorities are not simply black or brown skinned individuals in a white society;
they possess a distinctive community and cultural life as an integral part of their being’.
Ballard himself has contributed greatly to the ever-flourishing field of ethnicity studies,
particularly that of Punjabi Sikh migrants to Britain. Other important contributions to this
field are Gurharpal Singh and Darshan Tatla’s study of Sikhs to Britain, Parminder Bachu’s
work on East African Sikhs, and the smaller and locally focussed accounts of Alan James, Kitty
Fitzgerald and Raminder Singh on Sikh children, Manchester Sikhs and Bradford Sikhs
respectively.
NB: footnotes
not transferred
to slide!

14. To first consider the use of the verb acquisition in a metaphor of learning, it suggests
that to learn we acquire something like an object or entity exemplified in the
abstract form of knowledge, experience and skills. Sfard (1999,p5) affirms that the
idea of ‘concept development’ as suggested by Vygotsky and Piaget prescribes that
concepts can be understood as basic units of knowledge that are accumulated,
refined and combined to form richer cognitive structures. The focus here is on the
verb ‘accumulation’, as it is conducive to the principles of the acquisition metaphor
of learning. Though not cited, Sfard (1999, p5) uses Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980)
metaphor of the ‘human mind as a container’ to be filled with certain materials.
Elaborating further on this metaphor, Bereiter (2002, p179) likens the human mind
to a ‘mental filing cabinet’. If we are to consider this metaphor in terms of lifelong
learning in F.E colleges, it becomes apparent that the underlying principle of
knowledge and skills acquisition is saturated in the framework of curriculums that
depend upon the assessment of these acquisitions to enable a qualification to be
awarded. Sfard (1999, p6) observes the language used in education frameworks:
“attainment, construction, accumulation” are to name but a few, and clearly
exemplify the principle of the acquisition of something.
Compare/contrast/
synthesis
Evaluation and
analysis
Notice the range of
reporting verbs

15. Firstly, it must be noted that the literature evidenced significant criticism of Hofstede’s
dimensions of national culture, and there is much debate about the validity of the Hofstede
and GLOBE data, with regards to the methodology used and the validity of the data. Imm, Lee
& Soutar (2007) argue that that Hofstede’s framework could be obsolete because the data was
collected many years ago. In agreement, Magnusson et al (2008) states, ‘the contemporary
relevance of Hofstede’s data has been questioned given that the data was collected in the late
1960s’ (pg. 185). More recently, Migliore (2011) challenged Hofstede’s data in terms of date
relevance, in particular for the PDI scores, arguing that ‘significant changes in new
technologies enable people all over the world to gain greater access to information and data –
all which seem to represent a new type of power distribution […]’ (pg.50). However, more
importantly, and despite all prior criticism, Hofstede’s dimensions are being used and
updated, with data for new and existing countries being added all the time. For example,
Migliore (2011) offered updated scores for USA and India, whereas Taras, Steel & Kirkman
(2012) present updated scores from their findings for 49 countries, comparing scores over the
years and against various other meta-analytic scores including GDP/Capita, Human
Development Index and Inflation, in order to explain the changes in the scores suggesting
that, ‘the change is certainly not rapid, but it appears to be occurring faster than expected by
Hofstede’ (pg.330). Interestingly however, none of the 2012 literature mentioned Hofstede’s
additional dimension which was added in 2010; Indulgence versus Restraint (IVR), but this
could be due to the limited data collated for this dimension to date.
Compare/contrast/
synthesis
Evaluation and
analysis
Notice the range of
reporting verbs

16. Think about the language you use
Useful phrases to show critical analysis
• X’s research is not wholly persuasive because she
overlooks ___________
• X’s theory of ___________ is extremely useful
because it sheds insight on the difficult problem of
___________
• Whereas X provides ample evidence that
___________, Y and Z’s research on ___________ and
___________ is more convincing in its argument that
___________ because ___________
Useful link: Manchester University
Phrasebank
http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/b
eing-critical/

17. Function and strength
NEUTRAL: verbs used to say what the writer
describes in factual terms, demonstrates, refers to,
and discusses, and verbs used to explain his/her
methodology.
Example verbs
describe, show, reveal, study, demonstrate, note,
point out, indicate, report, observe, assume, take
into consideration, examine, go on to say that,
state, believe (unless this is a strong belief),
mention, etc.
Function and strength
TENTATIVE: verbs used to say what the writer
suggests or speculates on (without being
absolutely certain).
Example verbs
suggest, speculate, intimate, hypothesise, moot,
imply, propose, recommend, posit the view that,
question the view that, postulate, etc.
Function and strength
STRONG: verbs used to say what the writer makes
strong arguments and claims for.
Example verbs
argue, claim, emphasise, contend, maintain, assert,
theorize, support the view that, deny, negate,
refute, reject, challenge, strongly believe that,
counter the view/argument that, etc.
Don’t forget the power of the reporting verb. In the table below, the main reporting verbs are classified
in terms of their function and their strength. Using these help you to show critical reading of other work
and can usefully help you synthesise your research with that.

18. Reflection…..
• What top tip you would you now pass on to
another student writing a literature review?

19. Next Steps
To build on this class and develop your
dissertations…
This week -
• Wednesday:
Summarising, Paraphrasing and Quoting at PG Level (ideal for
literature reviews)
• Friday:
Developing your academic language at PG Level (useful to
ensure you use your language effectively)
Next week –
• Using reading in your PG assignments
(more on the comparison and synthesis of literature)
• Summarising, Paraphrasing and Quoting at PG Level
Plus more dissertation classes to come….