Reasons For Conducting Literature Review

REASONS FOR CONDUCTING LITERATURE REVIEW.
A literature review is a critical summary of all the published works on a particular topic. Harvard
Graduate School of Education (2018) defines Literature Review as “an assessment of a body of
research that addresses a research question”. In research scientific writing, an introduction is
always important as it provides justification of conducting research and how we intend to do it.
Literature review, therefore, compliments the introduction in further justifying the need to
conduct a study/research (White, 2011). It helps to comprehend the research topic more clearly
based on what is already known about the subject matter (Western Sydney University Library,
2017).
A literature review is not just a summary or overview of previous literature on the subject but
serves particular objectives including situating the reported study in a specific research tradition
or community, providing a rationale for carrying out the study, delineating gaps in the literature
the study is expected to fill, and providing support for various aspects of the study such as
methodology and factors Investigated. (Christopher S.G., 2000).Furthermore, a Literature review
serves to;
 
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 


 



 

 
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 



FOUR MAJOR GOALS OF A LITERATURE REVIEW.

The following are the four major goals of Literature Review based on my understanding from
the various readings:
1. To demonstrate the path of prior research and how the current study is linked to it
(White, 2011).
2. To learn from others and generate new knowledge (Western Sydney University Library, 2017).
3. To determine what is known on the subject matter (Harvard Graduate School of Education,
2018).
4. To demonstrate understanding of the existing knowledge on the subject matter (Western Sydney
University Library, 2017).
To demonstrate the path of prior research and how the current study is linked to it (White, 2011).
The good review outlines direction of research on the subject matter and demonstrates the
available level of knowledge. This way, the study will justify the relevance of a new
study given the available knowledge.
To learn from others and generate new knowledge (Western Sydney University Library, 2017).
A good review demonstrates what others have found about the subject matter and shows
how the researcher can benefit from what others have done. This would provide guidance
to the researcher on the study design that could be worth employing in order to replicate
some of the findings on the subject matter. This can also give better insight to the
researcher on subject matter and what to expect from the study.
To determine what is known on the subject matter (Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2018).
The good review outlines direction of research on the subject matter and demonstrates the
available level of knowledge. This way, the study will justify the relevance of a new
study given the available knowledge.
To demonstrate understanding of the existing knowledge on the subject matter (Western Sydney
University Library, 2017).
A well written Literature Review gives confidence to the readers about the writer as it
portrays good level of familiarity on current situation on the subject matter. It shows the
researcher/writer’s professional competencies.
CONCLUSION
Literature Review is important in any research as it helps the researcher to identify knowledge
gaps in order to establish better means to contribute to the body of knowledge without
disregarding what others have already done. It is also important to note that literature review
gives additional guidance to the research on what methods could best suit the current study in
order to generate new knowledge.
REFERENCES
1. Harvard Graduate School of Education. (2018, August 21). The Literature Review: A
Research Journey. Gutman: Harvard Graduate School of Education.
2. Western Sydney University Library. (2017). Literature review purpose. Western Sydney
University Library Study Smart.
3. White, W. B. ( 2011). Mapping your thesis : the comprehensive manual of theory and
techniques for masters and doctoral research. Victoria: ACER Press.
4. Christopher, S.G. and Kokil J. (2000). Analysis of the macro-level discourse structure of
literature reviews. Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang
Technological University, Singapore.

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REASONS FOR CONDUCTING LITERATURE REVIEW.

FOUR MAJOR GOALS OF A LITERATURE REVIEW.

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