presentation of Literature review. It helps the student to make their class presentation regarding Literature Review. Espacially Media studies Students.

1. Literature Review
Hajet Ali
MS Media Studies
Sindh Madressatul Islam University

2. Definition
 A critical summary of research on a topic of interest,
generally prepared to put a research problem in
context or to identify gaps and weaknesses in prior
studies so as to justify a new investigation.
 A literature review surveys scholarly articles, books
and other sources (e.g. theses, conference minutes)
relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or
theory, providing a description, summary, and
critical evaluation of each work. The purpose is to
offer an overview of significant literature published
on a topic.

3. Components of literature review
Literature review requires four stages:
 Problem formulation—which topic or field is being examined
and what are its component issues?
 Literature search—finding materials relevant to the subject
being explored
 Data evaluation—determining which literature makes a
significant contribution to the understanding of the topic
 Analysis and interpretation—discussing the findings and
conclusions of relevant literature

4. Elements of LR
Literature reviews should comprise the following
elements:
 An overview of the subject, issue or theory under
consideration, along with the objectives of the
literature review
 Division of works under review into categories
(e.g. those in support of a particular position,
those against, and those offering alternative theses
fully)

5. Elements of LR (contd.)
 Explanation of how each work is similar to and
how it varies from the others
 Conclusions as to which pieces are best
considered in their argument, are most
convincing of their opinions, and make the
greatest contribution to the understanding and
development of their area of research

6. Literature introduction
 Define or identify the general topic, issue, or area
of concern, thus providing an appropriate context
for reviewing the literature.
 Point out overall trends in what has been
published about the topic; or conflicts in theory,
methodology, evidence, and conclusions; or gaps
in research; or a single problem or new
perspective of immediate interest.

7. Literature introduction (contd.)
 Establish the writer's reason (point of view) for
reviewing the literature; explain the criteria to be
used in analyzing and comparing literature and
the organization of the review (sequence); and,
when necessary, state why certain literature is or
is not included (scope).

8. Literature body
 Group research studies and other types of literature (reviews,
theoretical articles, case studies, etc.) according to common
denominators such as qualitative versus quantitative
approaches, conclusions of authors, specific purpose or
objective, chronology, etc.
 Summarize individual studies or articles with as much or as
little detail as each merits according to its comparative
importance in the literature, remembering that space (length)
denotes significance.

9. Literature body (condt.)
 Provide the reader with strong "umbrella"
sentences at beginnings of paragraphs,
"signposts" throughout, and brief "so what"
summary sentences at intermediate points in the
review to aid in understanding comparisons and
analyses.

10. Conclusion
 Summarize major contributions of important
studies and articles to the body of knowledge
under review, maintaining the focus established in
the introduction.
 Evaluate the current "state of the art" for the body
of knowledge reviewed, pointing out major
methodological flaws or gaps in research,
inconsistencies in theory and findings, and areas
or issues relevant to future study.

11. Conclusion (Contd.)
 Conclude by providing some insight into the
relationship between the central topic of the
literature review and a larger area of study such as
a discipline, a scientific endeavor, or a profession.

12. Citation in the text
In the text, references should be cited with author’s name
and year of publication in parenthesis as shown in
examples below:
 When only one author
• The study conducted by NRTI reveals that there are
more than thirteen lines of indigenous chickens in
Bhutan (Nidup, 2005)
• Nidup (2005) revealed that there are more than thirteen
lines of indigenous chickens in Bhutan

13. Citation in the text (Contd.)
 Two authors
• The poultry development programme initiated in
Bhutan since 1961 has not made any tangible impact
(Nidup & Dorji, 2005)
• Nidup and Dorji (2005) argued that Bhutan has not
made any tangible impact in the areas of poultry
development even after four decades.

14. Citation in the text (Contd.)
 More than two authors
• The poultry development programme initiated in
Bhutan since 1961 has not made any tangible impact
(Nidup et al., 2005)
- Nidup et al. (2005) stated that poultry development
programme in Bhutan started in 1961.

15. Citation in the text (Contd.)
 Where there are two or more papers by the same author in
one year: distinguishing letter (a, b, c…) should be added
to the year. For example:
• The mitochondrial DNA sequences suggest that
Bhutanese chickens are genetically diverse (Nidup et
al., 2005a; Nidup et al., 2005b).
• Nidup et al. (2005a; 2005b) showed that Bhutanese
chickens are genetically diverse.