1. THE LITERATURE
REVIEW

2. WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW?
• Literature reviews are routinely included in the
opening sections of scholarly research reports.
• A successful literature review must be defined by a
guiding concept such as your research objective, the
problem or issue you wish to discuss.
• A literature review is not just a descriptive list of the
material available, or a set of summaries.

3. COMMON PROBLEM-AREAS (AFOLABI
1992)
• The 2nd most frequent chapter to be criticised by the
external examiners because:
• Exclusion of landmark studies (Seminal works)
• Emphasis on outdated material
• Adopting a myopic (short-sighted) perspective

4. COMMON PROBLEM-AREAS (AFOLABI
1992)
• The 2nd most frequent chapter to be criticised by the
external examiners because:
• Not discriminating between relevant and irrelevant material
• Lacking synthesis
• Not relating the LR to the research questions or hypotheses
(Hansford & Maxwell 1993)

5. STUDENTS PERCEIVE A LIT REVIEW
AS…
• A list of bibliographic citations
• A bibliographic search
• A survey to outline existing knowledge
• A vehicle for learning and exploring
• A research facilitator, shaping and directing the
study

6. WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW?
• The word ‘literature’ is used broadly to refer to all
kinds of published information, including textbooks,
journal articles and material available online
• A literature review is an evaluative account of what
has been published on a topic by scholars and
researchers
• It involves the searching for, reading, evaluating and
summarising all of the available literature that
relates both directly and indirectly, to your research
topic

7. WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW?
• …is a summary of current empirical & theoretical
knowledge about a particular problem that provides basis
for the study conducted.
• According to Kapp (2002) it:
• .. Is the “status quo”
• A contribution to shape the research
• Forms an integral part of the thesis or dissertation
• Should encourage a reflective and integrative approach to
research

8. WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW?
• It is a step in the research process that allows you to
refine your research
• It serves as a benchmark against which you can
compare and contrast your results
• It helps you to determine the most important issues
to focus on.
• It helps to guide your research in the right direction.
• It helps you to determine if there are any
associations between the research you plan to
conduct and the research that has already been
conducted by other scholars before you.

9. WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW?
• You should be demonstrating knowledge and
applying skills in two areas:
• Information seeking, which concerns searching for
and identifying only relevant sources which are
applicable to your research, and
• Critical assessment, which involves scanning,
analysing, summarising and integrating your
sources so as to identify reliable, valid and
credible material.

10. PURPOSES OF A LITERATURE REVIEW
• Justifies the need for the research
• Enhancing the context and vocabulary of the topic
• Understanding the structure of the subject
• Triggers creative thinking/new ideas, creating new
perspectives

11. PURPOSES OF A LITERATURE REVIEW
• Helps to identify variables, appropriate research
methods and techniques
• Brings candidate in contact with ‘good’ scholarly
writing
• Critically synthesise current best available evidence
• Placing the research in a historical perspective

12. PURPOSES OF A LITERATURE REVIEW
• To define key terms and concepts related to your
research topic
• To determine any relationships between topics and
variables that are important to your research
purpose and problem
• To narrow down and define your specific area of
study (in other words, your research topic),
• To establish a theoretical framework to base your
research on

13. PURPOSES OF A LITERATURE REVIEW
• To establish a theoretical framework to base your
research on
• To identify any relevant theories, models, case studies,
and journal articles that may support your research or the
arguments you want to put forward
• To generate new ideas for topics or issues that you could
research which you may not have thought of
• To determine if there are any information gaps which
your research will therefore possibly fill.

14. TYPES OF LITERATURE REVIEWS
• Historical reviews:
• trace the chronological order of the literature,
looking at stages or phases of development from
the past to present or vice versa.
• For example, if your research involves the role of
mass communication in a technologically
advanced world, you could conduct a historical
review of mass communication theories and how
they have evolved over time.

15. TYPES OF LITERATURE REVIEWS
• Thematic reviews:
• consider theoretical developments of the research
problem, often linking each theory to empirical
evidence.
• For example, your search for theories of
persuasive communication could take the form of
a theoretical review.

16. TYPES OF LITERATURE REVIEWS
• Thematic reviews:
• focus on different schools of thought and group
the literature into differing views, perspectives or
themes.
• For example, if you are doing research on the
effects of smoking on cancer, a thematic review
would result in a variety of sources that would
present opposing views on the issue.

17. TYPES OF LITERATURE REVIEWS
• Empirical reviews :
• focus on the various methodologies used and
summarise any empirical evidence for the
phenomenon that you are interested in.
• For example, you could conduct an empirical
review of various methodologies that have been
used to conduct research on the relationship
between child-headed households and literacy
levels.

18. Phases in the Literature review
•Preparatory phase
•Design phase
•Completion phase

19. Reflective literature searching model (Bruce 1992)
Designing a research strategy
PLAN
Implementing the strategy
ACT
Recording the results
RECORD
Think about the outcomes
REFLECT
REDESIGN THE
STRATEGY

20. THE LITERATURE REVIEW PROCESS
• Searching for literature
• Searching the literature purposively
• Sorting and prioritising the retrieved literature
• Analytical and evaluative reading of papers
• Comparison across studies
• Organising the content
• Writing the review

21. READING & CRITIQUING
RESEARCH
•Skimming sources
•Comprehending sources
•Analyzing sources
•Synthesizing sources

22. SEARCHING FOR LITERATURE
• Your literature review will begin with a search for any published
material that could supplement your research topic or research
problem.
• This is a time-consuming process as it involves a dedicated,
organised search for relevant sources and literature that can
take the form of both primary and secondary sources.
• Primary sources could include interviews, eye-witness
accounts and any research that you would need to conduct for
the purposes of answering your research question and solving
your research problem.
• Secondary sources could include published journals, books,
databases and online sources, and more. No matter which
sources you use, it is important that your search for
information is well-planned and logically executed.

23. READING THE LITERATURE WITH A
PURPOSE
• Sort through all information collected and this
entails scanning, reading and evaluating the sources
with a specific purpose.
• Scan for information that you may think is relevant
to your research and leave everything else out.
• Look through the table of contents, the abstract, the
summary, and all the headings, and decide if the
source is appropriate.
• Once you have decided that a source is suitable, you
can then read it in detail to find information that
supports your arguments to make up your literature
review.

24. READING THE LITERATURE WITH A
PURPOSE
• Sources that reject or contradict your research issue
should not be abandoned
• These sources should help to further refine your
search and point out the possible gaps or flaws in
your research.
• Ensure that you remain an unbiased researcher
which is a vital element of any research proposal.
• Your sources may also suggest possible research
methodologies which you may not have thought of,
and will also help to refine your research problem
and question.

25. EVALUATING SOURCES
• Who
• This criterion concerns who wrote the literature and is
he/she a reliable and credible source. It is important to verify
the author of your source as not all information you come
across will be valid, especially when it comes to online
Internet sources.
• For example, a source that is authored by an established
academic that has years of experience and a high level of
education, is much more credible than a potentially
unqualified source you found on Google through a site such
as Wikipedia.

26. EVALUATING SOURCES
• What
• This question involves looking at exactly what the subject of
the source is and how relevant the subject is to your
research.
• You also need to check whether the information is accurate
and complete, and whether or not it will actually serve any
purpose in contributing to your research issue.
• For example, literature on the effects of using images instead
of text in advertising to determine the effects on sales will
not be of any use if your research concerns the levels of
illiteracy in rural areas and the resulting effect on poverty.

27. EVALUATING SOURCES
• Where
• The location of where the research was conducted and
where the article was written could play an important role in
terms of your research.
• For example, if you were performing research on the effects
of media violence on teenagers, research carried out in the
United States could produce very different results to the
same study conducted in South Africa

28. EVALUATING SOURCES
• When
• This relates to when the source was created or published.
• The question that you need to ask yourself is whether or not
there is any information that is more up-to-date than the source
you have.
• While it is not always feasible for there to be a considerable
amount of current material that might relate to your research, it
is advisable for you to search for a few sources that are as
current as possible.
• For example, when conducting research on the effects of online
learning tools to enhance the school curriculum, it is wise to
search for modern, present-day research to support your
research, rather than use material from the 1990s that will
probably be both outdated and impractical and therefore
irrelevant for your research.

29. SUMMARISING THE LITERATURE
• Now that you have worked your way through a
considerable amount of literature, you should have a
reasonable number of sources that need to be
analysed and summarised before you begin writing
the literature review.
• You need to begin this process by first identifying
any similarities and differences between your
sources and group this information together to form
topics, themes, or arguments which are both logical
and coherent.

30. SUMMARISING THE LITERATURE
• You will then be able to work out if there is any
information that is outstanding and which issues
remain unaddressed and which questions remain
unanswered.
• In this case, you will either need to conduct some
primary research yourself in order to fill in the gaps
of missing information, or alternatively, this missing
information could guide your research in the right
direction

31. WRITING THE REVIEW
• It is important that your literature review follows a clear
and logical line of reasoning and explanation.
• Begin with an appropriate introduction which clearly
outlines for the reader exactly what your literature review
entails and how it connects to your own research.
• Follow with various paragraphs which expand on the
sources you evaluated, integrating them by showing their
similarities and differences, and also their relation to your
research.
• Remember that you should not only describe the
literature you analysed, but also conduct a critical review
of these sources, and in so doing point out any
strengths, weaknesses and differences you came across
and potential reasons behind them.

32. WRITING THE REVIEW
• You could also point out here any missing
information, which your research intends to explore.
• Your literature would then end with a strong
conclusion which should summarise all the main
points of the literature review and place the review in
context in terms of your own research.
• The reader is then provided with a clear background
of not only the literature that relates to your
research, but also to your research issue as a whole.

33. WHAT MAKES FOR A POOR OR GOOD
REVIEW/
Good
• Is a synthesis of available
research (what is known)
• Is a critical appraisal of
best available published
research
• Has appropriate breadth
and depth
• Has clarity and
conciseness
• Uses rigorous and
consistent methods
Poor
• An annotated
bibliography
• Confined to description
• Narrow and shallow
• Confusing and
longwinded, repeated
themes
• Constructed in an
arbitrary way

34. THREE DIMENSIONS OF ACADEMIC WRITING
Research Language
methodology proficiency
Logic reasoning
Reading
Thinking
Writing
Slide: Dr Carina Eksteen

35. CRITICAL READING, THINKING AND
WRITING
• Critically engagement
• …is not the same as disagreement
• …does not aim to embarrass, humiliate or seek to
dominate
• …does not mean nit-picking!
• …is not merely rejecting or finding fault with
someone’s argument or position.
It is a rational reflection of one’s own and others’
ideas in order to get a clearer understanding of an
issue (Bak 2004)

36. CONTEXT
AUTHOR
READER (SELF)
TEXT
ASPECTS OF CRITICAL ENGAGEMENT

37. REMEMBER
• Rule 1: Write clearly, simply
• Rule 2: Use positive constructions
• Rule 3: Avoid passive constructions
• Rule 4: Do not use an indefinit “this”
• Rule 5: Avoid sexist and emotional language
• Rule 6: Avoid colloquial (spoken) language

38. • Rule 7: Structure and organise your argument
• Rule 8: Assess alternative perspectives and rival points
of view
• Rule 9: Think through the sort of evidence that would
be convincing to a competent reader
• Rule 10: Use ‘linking’ devices
• Rule 11: Edit and rework your writing
• Rule 12: Check grammar and spelling