What is a Literature review; The Factors involved and its Development

A literature review is an exhaustive appraisal of all the valid literature in a field of study that seeks to understand the development of knowledge in the field. In doing so, it provides an explanation, interpretation, summary, and critical assessment of the knowledge of the field with respect to the research question in consideration. Literature review provides an exhaustive overview of the development of knowledge in the field while also informing the reader of the author’s depth in the field and demonstrates the research’s place within the field .

What to do in the literature review

provide an outline of the issue or theory under investigation, extrapolates to include the objectives.
Categorize different literature in the field of study based on various criteria.
Compare and contrast between different works.
Conclude with providing an assessment and singling out works that give the best arguments and make a significant contribution to the knowledge of the field

Development of the Literature Review

Four Stages of development while doing a literature review includes the following:

Formulation of a problem- this is a crucial step, whereby you setup a criteria through which to select relevant literature.
Searching for relevant literature- find appropriate literature for the criteria you have set from reliable sources.
Evaluating and appraising the literature- many methods could be employed for this step. You could read the introduction and the abstract to filter and select the ones you deem suitable.
Analysing and synthesizing pertinent literature- This forms the crux of the review paper, the final part where you read, analyse, and synthesize the literature to provide the chain of development of knowledge in the field

What to consider when choosing the literature for the review.
Literature must be critically evaluated before being reviewed. When choosing scientific works for the review, look for the following:

1. Originality of the work
Choose works based on their originality.

2. Methodology and its credibility
Evaluate the methodology of each work and assess their credibility.
3. The objectivity of the author
This is important to understand and will provide you with a better guideline of the purpose of the work.
4. The persuasiveness of the arguments
Each work has different tones and some of the arguments are more persuasive than the rest.
5. The significance of the work to field.
This is a key aspect when choosing literature for review. Do not overlook the works that added significant value to the field

What are the analytical features of a literature review.

The literature review isn’t just a summary of all the critical points in the knowledge of the field, it is an analysis, primarily. The literature review provides a summary and synthesis of the literature, categorized in a defined organizational pattern. Do the following in a literature review:

Reinterpret old materials in the light of new information in the field, thereby, combine old with new materials.
Doing the above step will help you in providing the chain of progression of knowledge in the field.
Evaluate the sources and provide an overview of significant works to your problem.
Identify gaps that exist in the chain of knowledge, which can be exploited for further research. Provide the information on research gaps when concluding the literature review.

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