This document discusses literature reviews and their purpose and components. A literature review aims to identify, evaluate, and interpret previous work on a topic. It tells the story of what is known so far in a research area by building upon past studies. The literature review involves filtering relevant studies from irrelevant ones and synthesizing published work on a topic. Strong literature reviews assess theories, clearly define the research scope and questions, cite key studies, and link existing arguments to form a new perspective. When writing a literature review, authors should be selective in the studies included, state the current state of the field, and demonstrate the ability to synthesize the body of literature in a brief but focused manner.

2. Abd Karim Alias@2010
[akarim@usm.my]

3. ‘…a systematic…method for
identifying, evaluating and
Interpreting the…work
produced by researchers,
scholars and practitioners.’
Abd Karim Alias@2010
[akarim@usm.my]
What is literature review?

4. W
h
a
tisliteraturereview?
Literature is about telling a
story…kind of a chain story
where each writer starts
with a partial story created
previously by others and
expand on it…the existing
literature is the story so
far…
Abd Karim Alias@2010
[akarim@usm.my]

5. Literaturereview
is…..
an interpretation
and synthesis of
published work’
‘-Merriam(1988:6)
Abd Karim Alias@2010
[akarim@usm.my]
W
h
a
tisliteraturereview?

6. 5
Filtering & sorting the essentials
from the irrelevant…
Abd Karim Alias@2010
[akarim@usm.my]
See the wood for the trees…
Image source: http://
sciencebhakta.wordpress.com

7. Skills for “digesting” the literature
Select, differentiate,
break up
Integrate, combine,
formulate, reorganize
Understand,
distinguish,
explain
KNOWLEDGE Define,classify
,describeA
dapted from Hart, 1998
Dissecting data into their constituent part.
Rearranging the elements derived from
analysis to identify relationship.
Interpreting & distinguishing between
different types of data , theory &
argument to describe the substance of
an idea
Describing the principles, uses, & function of
rules, method, etc.
ANALYSIS
SYNTHESIS
COMPREHENSI
ON
Abd Karim Alias@2010
[akarim@usm.my]

8. Any critical review should incorporate…
 An assessment of the strengths &
weaknesses of some of the
theories
 A clear understanding of the topic
 A citing of all key studies in the
subject territory
 A clear indication of how the
review links to your research
questions
Abd Karim Alias@2010
[akarim@usm.my]

9.  A definition of the boundaries
of your research
 A selection & synthesis of
existing arguments to form a
new perspective
 Through gradual refinement, a
clear demarcation of the
research problem
Abd Karim Alias@2010
[akarim@usm.my]
Any critical review should incorporate…

10. Scope & length of lit. review…
 Be selective
 State the current state of the
theory
 How far back?(Master’s ~10
years; PhD – further back)
 Avoid verbosity
 Demonstrate ability to synthesize
the body of literature – brief but
focused.

Abd Karim Alias@2010
[akarim@usm.my]

11. Components of lit. review…
 Background information
 Introduce topic
 Describe scope &
organization
 Review past & present
literature
 Clarify purpose
Abd Karim Alias@2010
[akarim@usm.my]

12.  Theory
 All research has a precedent
 Integrate key points & make
appropriate inferences
 Be aware of relationship to your
topic
Abd Karim Alias@2010
[akarim@usm.my]
Components of lit. review…

13.  Critical appraisal/synthesis
 Not jus a list of the work of
others
 Identify issues highlighted
 Highlight differences &
similarities
 Identify consensus
Abd Karim Alias@2010
[akarim@usm.my]
Components of lit. review…

14. References
• Alias, Abdul Karim, B. Applied Science (Food
Technology), Universiti Sains Malaysia
• https://www.slideshare.net/akarim717/how-
to-write-a-thesis?qid=b6bfcf06-6fa7-4137-
90c8-4c9c4c54d4f1&v=&b=&from_search=14