- What do you want to know?
- How do you find out what you want to know?
- Where can you get the information?
- Who do you need to ask?
- When does your research need to be done?
- Why? (Getting the answer)
The Literature Review.
What is a literature review?
- It is not a compilation of every work written about a topic
- It is not simply a list of sources reviewed separately for their own merit
- It is a survey or overview of the literature found to be significant to a topic
- It is a collection of scholarly works you’ve found to have relevance to a guiding topic (e.g., your thesis statement or research question)
Your literature review, either as a “stand alone” document or as a part of a larger research project, should:
- Include an introduction defining your topic and the purpose of your review of the literature
- Be organized by common themes or categories
- Contain your summary and analysis of each work including its importance to the overall topic as well as its relationship to the other referenced works
- Conclude with insights you’ve gained regarding your topic
