REVIEW OF LITERATURE

 

  Review of literature is a collective body of works done by earlier scientists and published in the form of books or in the form of articles in journals or published as monograph etc. Every scientific investigation starts with a Review of Literature. In fact, working with the literature is an essential part of the research process which help generate ideas, helps in developing significant questions and is regarded as instrumental in the process of research design.

PURPOSES OF REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A literature review is part of a report. It provides considerable information on the topic being researched and the various works that had gone on in the field over the years. These materials are gathered by the researcher from many sources such as journals, books, documents etc. The review of such a literature could be a matter of fact presentation of the information or it could be a synthesis of a large number of information and put together subject wise for the purpose of understanding.

Identifying variables relevant for research

When the researcher makes a careful Review of the Literature, he becomes aware of the important and unimportant variables in the concerned area of research. A careful Review also helps the researcher in selecting the variables lying within the scope of his interest, in defining and operationalising as well as in identifying variables which are conceptually and practically important.

Avoidance of repetition

A Review of the Literature helps the researcher in avoiding any duplication of work done earlier. A careful review always aims at interpreting prior studies and indicating their usefulness for the study to be undertaken. Thus prior studies serve as the foundation for present research. In some cases the duplication or replication of prior studies becomes essential. This is especially true when the researcher wants to test the validity of the earlier studies.

Synthesis(Mixing) of prior works

Review of the Literature enables the researcher to collect and synthesise prior studies related to the present study. This, in turn, helps the researcher in building a better perspective for future research. A synthesised collection of prior studies also helps a researcher to identify the significant overlaps and the gaps among the prior works.

SOURCES OFTHE REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Journals and Books

Different research journals and books relevant to the areas of interest are the primary sources of the Review of Literature. Most major libraries have a periodical section where different types of research journals are made easily available. . A research journal generally contains the publication of original research reports with their detailed methodology and results. Such journals contain original research reports with their detailed methodology and result. Such journals are referred and therefore are different from non-referred journals. A referred journal is one which reports only those articles which are carefully reviewed by the experts before publication. Often, the reviewer rejects several manuscripts and selects a few for publication. Similarly, books are also direct sources of the Review of Literature. Of these two, journals are regarded as more useful because they provide the researcher with the latest and up-to-date information relevant to the area of interest.

Reviews:

Reviews are short articles that give brief information regarding the work done in a particular area over a period of time. Reviews are commonly published in journals, yearbooks, handbooks and encyclopedias. Reviewers select research articles of their interest, organise them contentwise, criticise their findings and offer their own suggestions and conclusions.

Abstracts

 provide a summary of the research reports done in different fields Psychological abstract (Washington: American Psychological Association), and Sociological abstract (New York: Sociological Abstracts, INC) are the two common examples of abstracts. These abstracts are the useful sources of up-to-date information for researchers. In an abstract, besides a summary, researchers get all the relevant information such as the title of the Research Report, name of the author and the journal pagination information, etc., regarding the research article. The only limitation of abstracts is that they fail to satisfy those researchers who desire detailed information regarding the methodology and results of the research articles.

Indexes

Show the titles of the research report without any abstract. The titles are categorised and arranged alphabetically in each category so that the researcher can locate any article of interest easily. The Education Index (New York: H W Wilson Co.) is a good example of an index.

Internet

 Today Internet is a very easy and quick source of Review of Literature. Internet sites are very useful for providing easy access to original writings by important researchers. They also provide such an updated information on the topic that ordinarily is not available in the library. Internet sites also provide for useful bibliographies related to a particular researcher. Search on Internet also reveals some relevant professional societies and academic associations which can provide a lot of support to the studies in the concerned area. Such organisations also sometimes publish important papers or periodicals which can be of immense help to the researchers.

Doctoral Dissertations

 Doctoral dissertations have also been a very good source of the Review of the Literature. In libraries of universities, doctoral dissertations are available. The researcher can choose the dissertations of their interest and find useful and relevant information there. There are no set forms for writing the research report in a doctoral dissertation but most dissertations contain chapters like an Introduction, Review of the Literature, Purpose of the Study, Method of the Study, Results, Discussion, Summary and Conclusion.

Supervisors/Research Professors

Supervisors often know the literature well and are able to guide in right direction. They are the recognised authority on the topic or research problems. Therefore, they should be consulted and their suggestions and advices should be carefully analysed. It may also be that the other research professors have recently sourced and reviewed the literature or an area very close to the literature the researcher is seeking. So they also constitute one important source.

To write purposefully .The reader must know the reasons why and what are you telling them.

Chronological Method:  If your review follows the chronological method, you could write about the materials above according to when they were published. For instance, first you would talk about the studies of the 19th century,then about the book published in the 1970’s and then end up with articles about the topic in the recent years.

Methods and/or Standards: The criteria used to select the sources in the literature review or the way in which the researcher presents the information. For instance, one may explain that your review includes only peer-reviewed articles and journals.

HOW OLD SHOULD THE LITERATURE BE

One of the important questions for a researcher is: how old may the literature be? The simplest answer to this question is that it can be of any age, In fact, academic research is a cumulative activity. Each generation of researcher learns from the work of previous generation and current research basically depends upon the work and insights of the previous researchers. However, it would be a healthy suggestion for researchers that they should always take precaution in citing older works unless they are confident and convinced in quoting them.

Types of Review of Literature:

Narrative Review       

A narrative or traditional literature review is a comprehensive, critical and objective analysis of the current knowledge on a topic. They are an essential part of the research process and help to establish a theoretical framework and focus or context for your research.

 

 

 

Critical Review

A literature review is a type of critical review in which you analyze and evaluate many sources on a specific topic. The purpose is to provide your reader with an overview of the research that has been done on your topic, and to evaluate the sources you are reviewing.

Scoping Review:

Scoping reviews describe existing literature and other sources of information commonly include findings, gaps from a range of different study designs and methods. A scoping review can be a particularly useful approach when the information on a topic has not been comprehensively reviewed or is complex and diverse.

Conceptual of review

A literature review is a comprehensive summary of previous research on a topic. The literature review surveys scholarly articles, books, and other sources relevant to a particular area of research. The review should enumerate, describe, summarize, objectively evaluate and clarify this previous research.

state-of-the-art review

A state-of-the-art review considers mainly the most current research in a given area or concerning a given topic. ... The review aims to provide a critical survey of the extensive literature produced in the past decade, a synthesis of current thinking in the field.

Systematic literature review

A systematic literature review (SLR)   identifies, selects and critically appraises research in order to answer a clearly formulated question. The systematic review should follow a clearly defined protocol or plan where the criteria is clearly stated before the review is conducted.

 

 

 

Type of Review                                                                                 Features

Narrative Review                                                                    Describes related research

Critical Review                                                                       Examines, compare and evaluate

Scoping Review                                                                     Highlighting gaps in the literature,                     

                                                                                           and explaining the need for the research

 Conceptual Review                                                                       Determine greater understanding

State-of-the-Art Review                                             Focus on the most recent research Argumentative Review                                     Literature to support or refute an argument Integrative Review                                                      Includes studies related to identical  hypotheses.

Historical Review                                          Examines research throughout a period of time Methodological Review                                    Focus on what someone and how they said it. Systematic Review                                              Uses pre-specified and standardized methods to              

identify and critically appraise relevant   research, and to collect, report, and analyses data.

Theoretical Review                                                    Examine the corpus of theory that has accumulated in regard to an issue, concept, theory, phenomena.