A GUIDE TO LITERATURE REVIEW

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A GUIDE TO LITERATURE REVIEW
by
Kuffour Selorm Kofi

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isearchconsult@gmail.com
Contents
4. WHAT IS LITERATURE REVIEW?........................................................................................ 2
4.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................... 2
4.2 Definition and concept of literature review .............................................................................. 2
4.3 Categories of literature review.................................................................................................. 3
4.4 Purpose of literature review...................................................................................................... 3
4.5 Literature review process.......................................................................................................... 4
4.5.1 Selecting a review topic ..................................................................................................... 4
4.5.2 Searching for literature....................................................................................................... 5
4.5.3 Gathering, reading and analysing the literature ................................................................. 6
4.5.4 Writing the review.............................................................................................................. 8
4.5.5 References .......................................................................................................................... 9
4.6 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 10
4.7 References............................................................................................................................... 11

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4. WHAT IS LITERATURE REVIEW?
4.1 Introduction
There are many varied reasons for undertaking a literature review. In most case literature review
is done as a step in the research process and as part of an academic research work. This essay
presents a general overview of what literature review is about and the process involved in
undertaking a literature review.
4.2 Definition and concept of literature review
A literature review is an objective, thorough summary and critical analysis of the relevant
available research and non-research literature on the topic being studied (Hart, 1998). Basically
literature review aims at bringing the reader up-to-date with current literature of the topic being
studied. This is done by collecting information about a particular subject from many sources and
connecting them to your study. According to Carnwell and Daly (2001), literature review should
contain a clear search and selection strategy. Referencing in literature review is very essential
and thus must be accurate throughout the review process (Colling, 2003). A literature review is
simply a review of all related work on your topic and It is usually done as a separate topic in a
thesis. It can also be said to be a comprehensive examination of extant research on a particular
topic. A good literature review must have a characteristic of synthesizing other literatures. A
literature review must include a summary of existing knowledge on your topic and a critical
evaluation of these works.
Basically a literature review seeks to answer the following questions;
i. What research has been done previously on your topic?

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ii. What has others said about the topic you are investigating?
iii. What is the relevance of this research to your study?
iv. How is it different from my study?
v. Do the results of the existing study agree with one another or is there a disagreement?
vi. Are there flaws in the existing literature?
4.3 Categories of literature review
Literature review can be put into two categories. That is, Literature reviews that contextualizes a
research and Literature review that summarizes current literature on a particular topic. Most
academic research (thesis, dissertation) is based on literature review that justifies the study and
this falls under the category of contextualization. There is another kind of literature review
which is published as a study in itself. This kind of literature review summarizes current
literature on a particular topic.
4.4 Purpose of literature review
A literature review establishes what is already known about a particular topic and what methods
have been used in researching the topic. It also prevents the situation of producing what is
already known and exposes gaps in the literature. Also according to Polit and Beck (2006),
literature review is undertaking to;
i. update current personal knowledge and practice on a topic
ii. evaluate current practices
iii. develop and update guidelines for practice
iv. develop work-related policies

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Also according to Mauch & Birch (1998), a literature review sets out to do four things
i. Focuses on what has been previously researched on
ii. Demonstrates how your study will fill the current research ‘gap’
iii. The literature review points out why it is necessary to conduct your research
iv. It sets the boundaries for your research (delimitations of the study)
4.5 Literature review process
In conducting a literature review, a road map or blue print is required in other for the researcher
to stay on track and not deviate from the topic at hand. Thus, the literature review process
involves;
i. Selecting a review topic
ii. Searching the literature
iii. Gathering, reading and analysing the literature
iv. Writing the review
v. References
4.5.1 Selecting a review topic
According to Timmins and McCabe (2005), selecting a review topic can be a daunting task for
students and novice reviewers. Hendry and Farley, 1998 suggests that in selecting a review topic,
there must be an identification of what exactly is of interest and why it can help refine the topic .
it is always better to start with a narrow and a more specific topic. The topic selected must be
aimed at the objectives of your study. The topic must be such that it can provide the necessary
literature to compare the result of the study you are trying to undertake.

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4.5.2 Searching for literature
Once the topic has been selected, the next step to take is to search for the literature. Nowadays,
as stated by Younger (2004), literature searches are mostly undertaken using computers and
electronic databases. These computer and electronic data bases offer access to relevant data
easily and faster. To obtain the data needed for the literature review, key words relevant to the
topic of the study must be identified and these key words can be used to extract data from the
databases (Ely and Scott, 2007).
According to Davidson and Tolich (1999), The goal of the library search is to assemble what
other researchers have said about your topic of interest and to distill this into a coherent
statement. This involves a lot of reading, not taking, paraphrasing of arguments, summarizing of
the key findings, and extracting the most critical quotes. What you come up with at the end of all
this should read much more like a short essay than simply a jumble of disordered notes.
In conducting a literature review, the materials that you are going to use must be prioritized
(Bowker (2006). That is;
i. Articles in refereed international journals
ii. Books/ chapters in edited books
iii. Articles in national refereed journal
iv. Conference papers and research reports from government committees or professional
organisations
v. PhD dissertations and Master’s thesis
vi. Websites/ articles in non-refereed journals

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4.5.3 Gathering, reading and analysing the literature
After obtaining the relevant literature for review, they must be organized properly. The
organization of the information can take the form of arranging review by key themes or findings
and the use headings and sub-headings. In summarizing a literature to use for literature review,
the following questions are answered;
i. How has the topic been studied?
ii. What has been found?
iii. Which issues have been highlighted as a result of the study?
iv. How have key terms or concepts been used?
Also for the above to be done successfully the literature written by other researchers must be
read and summarized. In summarizing other peoples work, Bowker (2006) suggests the
following criteria to be used,
i. Participants characteristics and their criteria for their inclusion
ii. Sample size
iii. Location of study
iv. Type of study (experimental, interview, survey)
v. Nature of task (what was done and details of test done)
vi. Findings ( numerical and or descriptive)
vii. How the findings relate to your work
In the process of reading, analysing and summarizing the information we have to synthesize
them. This implies that the literature review is not just listing what other researchers did but
rather identifying issues highlighted, highlighting differences and similarities and identifying

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areas of consensus among researchers. Thus, the information gathered from other sources must
be synthesized to form a coherent argument as show in diagram 1.
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Diagram 1.
In synthesizing information from other sources the following guidelines can be used;
i. Compare and contrast different authors view on an issue
ii. Move authors who draw similar conclusions
iii. Criticize aspects of methodology
iv. Note areas in which authors are in disagreement
v. Highlight exemplary studies
vi. Highlight gaps in research
Synthesis
Identify consensus Highlight differences
and similarities
Identify issues
highlighted

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vii. Show how your study relates to previous work
viii. Show how your study relates to the literature in general
ix. Conclude by summarizing what the literature says
Analysis the literature obtained is essential for producing a well-coordinated and coherent
research study. Carrying out an analysis for a literature review can be a daunting task and thus
the following check list can be used to guide this process;
i. What is the main idea being put forward?
ii. What are the main points being developed in the idea?
iii. What sought of evidence is being used to support the idea?
iv. Do you agree with the conclusion?
v. What is the underlining theory?
vi. Does it develop a previous model further?
vii. What are the strengths, weaknesses, and limitations in relation to your research?
4.5.4 Writing the review
The process of writing the literature review is to organise the literature review around topics or
themes that can be written about. Also headings can be used to define each topic category and
subcategory and all issues, ideas, boundaries and relevant area and dimensions must be covered.
According to Newman, Weis and McNeil (1997), the Basic components in a literature review
include the background information, theory, review of the literature on the instruments and
summary.

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The general background involves introduction of topic. The introduction should include the
purpose of the review and a brief overview of the ‘problem’. It is important that the literature
sources and the key search terms are outlined. The introduction should include a description of
the scope and purpose of the study. Also a brief outline of the organization of the literature
review must be presented in the introduction.
Since most research has a precedent, an outline of theories relevant to the research must be
presented. In instances where there are no precedents, it will help if key points are integrated
from related studies to allow inferences to be made (Newman, et al. 1997).
The Review of literature on instruments section focuses on relevant literature specific to the
study. This can be done by examining the most current instruments first and work back from
there. Reliability and validity estimates and a description of the samples that have received the
instrument and also when dealing with many variables, it is useful to write a separate section on
each variable in the review (Cone & Foster, 1993; Newman et al., 1997).
At the end of the literature review a summary or conclusion must be included. This refers to a
clear and concise account of knowledge, instruments used and findings from the literature
review. It shouldn’t be a repetition of what has already been stated.
4.5.5 References
Referencing is very essential in literature review to avoid the incident of plagiarism. It is
important that the literature review concludes with a full bibliographical list of all the books,
journal articles, reports and websites, which were referred to in the work. Thus, every citation in
the text must appear in the reference. According to Cronin, Ryan and Coughlan (2008), one

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strategy to use to ensure that all references are properly cited is to create a separate file for
references and each time a publication is cited, it can be added to this list immediately.
4.6 Conclusion
A literature review must be coherent, systematic and clear. The review of literature must stick to
answering the research question and also there must be a justification of every argument using
extracts and illustrations. It is essential that all sources used in the literature review are properly
recorded and referenced appropriately to avoid the incidence of plagiarism. Finally the work
must be proof-read. It is also worth noting that literature review is not producing a list of items.
Also it is essential that the contents of the literature to be reviewed are well read and also
spelling mistakes or wrong dates of publication are avoided.

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4.7 References
Bowker, N., 2006. Crafting the literature review. Retieved March 17, 2014 from,
http://owll.massey.ac.nz/Crafting%the%literature%30review%indes.htm
Carnwell R, Daly W., 2001. Strategies for the construction of a critical review of the literature.
Nurse Educ Pract 1: 57–63
Colling, J., 2003. Demystifying the clinical nursing research process: the literature review. Urol
Nurs 23(4): 297–9
Cronin, P., Ryan, F., Coughlan, M., 2008. Undertaking a literature review: a step-by-step
approach. British Journal of Nursing, Vol 17, No 1
Davidson, C., & Tolich, M., 1999. Social science research in New Zealand (2nd
ed.). Auckland,
New Zealand: Pearson Education New Zealand Limited.
Ely, C., Scott, I., 2007. Essential Study Skills for Nursing. Elsevier, Edinburgh
Hart C (1998) Doing a Literature Review. Sage Publications, London
Hendry, C., Farley, A., 1998. Reviewing the literature: a guide for students. Nurs Stand. 12(44):
46–8
Mauch, J. E., & Birch, J.W., 1998. Guide to the successful thesis and dissertation: Ahandbook
for students and faculty (4th
ed.). New York: Marcel Dekker.
Newman, I., Benz, C. R., Weis, D. & McNeil, K., 1997. Theses and dissertations: A guide to
writing in the social and physical sciences. Lanham, MD: University Press of America,
Inc.

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Polit, D., Beck, C., 2006. Essentials of Nursing Research: Methods, Appraisal and Utilization.
6th edn. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia.
Timmins, F. & McCabe, C., 2005. How to conduct an effective literature review. Nurs Stand
20(11): 41–7
Younger, P., 2004. Using the internet to conduct a literature search. Nurs Stand. 19(6): 45–51

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