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How to Write a Literature
Review
Gail Pansacola
4/10/2012
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Overview of Presentation
 Introduction
 Why
 The
– What is a literature Review?
is it necessary?
Steps
 Analytical
Reading
 Organizing Content
 Writing the Review
 Questions
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What is a Literature Review?
 A review
of the academic writing on a particular
topic
 A critical
analysis of the relationship between
different works or groups of work
 Can
be written as a stand-alone paper or as the
context for a research study or thesis
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Qualities of a Well-Executed
Literature Review
A poorly-done literature review
is…
… an annotated bibliography
… confined to description
… narrow and shallow
… confusing and longwinded
… constructed in an arbitrary way
A “good” literature review is…
… is a synthesis of available
research
… is a critical evaluation
… has appropriate breadth and
depth
… has clarity and conciseness
… uses rigorous and consistent
methods
Source: http://www.ais.up.ac.za/med/tnm800/tnmwritingliteraturereviewlie.htm
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Why is it necessary?
A literature review provides information on:
 The
theoretical background of a research topic
 Different
practices or an overview of the history of
practice
 Research
 Previous
methodology
findings
 Rationale
or relevance of the current study
 Enhancing
the subject vocabulary
 Identifying
relationships between ideas and practice
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The Steps
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The Initial Search
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Sorting Through the Muck
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Nuggets of Information
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Organizing!
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Creating Your Masterpiece!
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The Steps
1.
Searching for literature
a.
2.
Sorting through articles
Analytical reading of papers
a.
Taking notes
3.
Organizing the content
4.
Writing the review
a.
Synthesizing information
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Searching for Literature: Tips and
Tricks
 Use
Keywords
Example: Creating a support program for youth in foster
care who are emancipating from the system
AB 12
“Youth in foster
care”
Aging out
Emancipating
Transition to
adulthood
Outcomes
Leaving care
Program
evaluation
Assessment
Meta-analysis
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Searching for Literature
 Find
relevant articles using authors and journals
 Save
articles in category folders
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Searching for Literature
 Find
relevant articles using authors and journals
 Save
articles in category folders
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Analytical Reading of Papers
(Three Steps)
Directed Reading – Read with a Purpose!

Skim the articles to ensure their relevance
 Useful sections: abstract, introduction, first few paragraphs, and the
conclusion
 Occasionally, the methodology or results sections will be useful
Taking Notes

Look for:
 Key terms
 Useful quotes
 Major trends or patterns
 Relationships between studies
Organizing the Content
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Taking Notes/Organizing the
Content
 The
Word Document
 The
Excel File
 The
Spider Gram
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Examples
CounterExamples
Theory
Theme 1
Theory
Examples
Topic
Theme 3
Theory
CounterExamples
Theme 2
CounterExamples
Examples
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Comprehensive School
Reform
Existing
Models
21st
Century
Skills
Community
Organizing
Education
Reform
Asset and
Social
Development
Public Policy
Theoretical
Orientations
Defining the
Issue
Constructionism
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What’s a dog??
(definition)
Theory
1
Types of
dogs
Theory
2
Famous
dogs in
history
Reasons
that dogs
might not
be so
great
Reasons
that dogs
are great
Reason
1
Reason
2
Reason
1
Rebuttal
Reason
2
Rebuttal
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Comprehensive School
Reform
Existing
Models
21st
Century
Skills
Community
Organizing
Education
Reform
Asset and
Social
Development
Public Policy
Theoretical
Orientations
Defining the
Issue
Constructionism
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Example – Cognitive Behavioral
Theory (CBT)
Possible Themes:

What is CBT? (Define the topic)

Why do it? (Justify its use)

How to do it? (Do authors differ on this? Do they agree?)

Why is it important to study? (Is it effective? Is it useful?)
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Methods
Definitions
Who is it for?
What is it?
Cognitive
Behavioral
Theory
For
Does it
work?
Against
Reason 1
Why is it
important to
study?
Reason 2
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Writing the Review
 Writing
the review/Synthesizing
 Develop
an outline or argument for your literature
review
 Use your major headings
 Use a synthesis matrix to organize your
information
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Synthesis Matrix
Source 1
Theme A
Theme B
Theme C
Source 2
Source 3
Source 4
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Writing the Literature Review
 Introduction
 Body
 Conclusion
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Writing the Literature Review –
The Introduction
 In
writing the intro, identify the topic, issue or
problem area early on
the purpose of the lit review – is it to
provide context? Prove relevance?
 Mention
 Broadly
outline the general headings
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Writing the Literature Review –
The Body

Let the outline guide you, but don’t let it limit you

Example of synthesizing information:

For each major section, create a header sentence that touches
upon each subtopic
Capital punishment literature explores several topics, including the public’s
perception of capital punishment as a crime deterrent, research on capital
punishment as a crime deterrent, and research on the negative effects of
capital punishment.
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Writing the Literature Review –
The Body

For each subtopic, create a header sentence that (1) synthesizes
the literature and (2) describes the literature
Much of the literature points out that while capital punishment does not deter
crime, most Americans still believe that it does deter crime.
Not only does the literature agree that capital punishment does not deter
crime, some literature suggests that capital punishment may in fact cause
more crime.
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Writing the Literature Review –
The Body
Research has shown that while teaching summary skills improves reading
comprehension, specific age groups have difficulty implementing basic summarization
rules.
Research has shown that while teaching summary skills improves reading
comprehension, specific age groups have difficulty implementing basic
summarization rules. (Compare and contrast)
These criticisms of achievement-based measures of school effectiveness are, by
now, well-established in the social science.
These criticisms of achievement-based measures of school effectiveness are,
by now, well-established in the social science.
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Writing the Literature Review –
The Body

Support topic sentences with quotes or paraphrases
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Writing the Literature Review –
The Body (Citations)

Citing multiple authors in one line
Studies that do no include adequate representation from minority and oppressed
populations are not generalizable to those populations (Harlow, 1983; Rubin &
Babbie, 2009).
Young adolescents may act out in rebellious ways against those closest to them, such
as their parents or guardians. This rebellion is normal because the youths are
attempting demonstrate that they have minds and wills of their own. While the
rebellion may be viewed as scary or bothersome to the parents, it is actually better
that the youth rebel during these years than in a later part of their life (D. Cassidy,
2000; L. Cassidy, 1999).

Citing original citations within articles
Jones argued that...(as cited in Barry, 2003, p. 102).
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Writing the Literature Review –
Conclusion
 How
you end it depends on your reason for writing
it
If it’s a stand alone review, it should make clear how the
material in the body supports the assertion made in the
introduction
 If it’s a review for a thesis, dissertation, or journal
article, it usually leads to an overview of the questions
that will be discussed

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Activity – Synthesizing Information

Richard Becker (1999): an “individualist” is a person who is unique
and does not “fall into the common mode of doing things”; would
not follow a pattern set by society. “A youngster who is not
involved in the drug scene just because his friends are.” A good
word; it would be insulting only if it referred to a troublemaker.

Simon Jackson (2000): doing things on your own, by yourself.
“She’s such as individualist that she insisted on answering the
question in her own way.” Sometimes the word is good, but mostly
it has a bad connotation: someone who rebels against society or
authority.

Lois Archer (2011): one who doesn’t “follow the flock.” The word
refers to someone who is very independent. “I respect Jane
because she is an individualist and her own person.” Usually very
complimentary.

Vera Lewis (2005): an extremely independent person. “An
individualist is a person who does not want to contribute to
society.” Bad meaning: usually antisocial. She first heard the word
in psych class, describing the characteristics of the individualist
and “how he reacts to society.”
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Activity – Synthesizing Information

Experts divides individualism into two schools of thought: one that
views it positively and the other that views it negatively (Archer,
2011; Becker, 1999; Jackson, 2000; Lewis, 2005).

While much of the literature agrees that individualism is defined by a
person’s resistance to following societal patterns, it is divided
between authors that regard it positively and authors that regard it
negatively (Archer, 2011; Becker, 1999; Jackson, 2000; Lewis, 2005).
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Sources

http://www.une.edu.au/library/eskillsplus/literature/litrevie
w.php

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/666/01/

http://www.d.umn.edu/~hrallis/guides/researching/litrevie
w.html
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Questions?

PEGS – (310) 243-2700

pegs@csudh.edu