Writing a Literature Review for Your Dissertation

Writing a Literature Review for Your Dissertation

Writing a literature review is a structured process that requires organizing existing research in a meaningful and logical way to support your dissertation. Here’s how to approach it effectively:

1. Understand the Purpose of a Literature Review

• Contextualize Your Research: The literature review situates your research within the broader academic conversation. It explains how your research builds on, contrasts with, or addresses gaps in existing studies.

• Support Your Research Questions: The review should clearly show how your dissertation fits within the field, why it’s necessary, and what it will contribute to existing knowledge.

2. Start with a Comprehensive Search

• Use Diverse Sources: Look for a mix of peer-reviewed journal articles, books, conference papers, and theses to ensure that you cover all aspects of your topic.

• Keyword Search: Use a variety of keywords that reflect different aspects of your topic to capture a broad range of literature.

• Citation Chaining: Look at the references of the most relevant studies you find and explore the papers they cite. This will lead you to other important research.

3. Structure Your Literature Review

• Introduction: State the objectives of the literature review and provide an overview of the structure of the review.

• Body: Organize the review thematically, chronologically, or methodologically, depending on what suits your research best.

  • Thematic: Group studies around key themes or topics.

  • Chronological: Organize the literature by the timeline of developments in the field.

  • Methodological: Group studies based on research methods or approaches.

• Conclusion: Summarize the major findings from the literature, identify any gaps, and explain how your research will address those gaps.

4. Analyze the Literature Critically

• Identify Strengths and Weaknesses: For each study you review, discuss its strengths (e.g., innovative methodology, large sample size) and weaknesses (e.g., small sample size, limited generalizability).

• Compare and Contrast: Show how studies relate to one another. Are they consistent, or do they contradict each other? What can be concluded from this?

• Synthesize Findings: Don’t just summarize the studies—synthesize them. Identify patterns and trends, highlight areas of consensus, and provide insights into unresolved issues.

5. Write Clearly and Coherently

• Be Concise: Ensure that each paragraph has a clear purpose, and avoid irrelevant details. Be direct and focused on the literature that supports your research.

• Link to Your Research: Make sure to connect the literature back to your research question at every opportunity. This will help to demonstrate the relevance of each piece of research you review.