Importance of Writing Literature Review in Postgraduate Dissertation- Tutors India

Importance of Writing Literature Review in Postgraduate Dissertation

Dr. Nancy Agens, Head,

Technical Operations, Tutorsindia

info@ tutorsindia.com

In Brief

The goal of writing literature reviews is to

summarize the dissertation topic and also

to integrate the existing knowledge in the

field.

A good literature review must cover the

relevant literature and also integrate it.

The literature review helps to understand

the research areas better and assists in

conceptualizing the research problem

precisely and clearly.

Keywords: Literature Review, Structured

Literature Review, Research Methodology,

Assignment Writing Help.

I. INTRODUCTION

A highly developed literature review

(LR) can strengthen a dissertation/thesis by

analyzing the main problem areas by the

academic study, predicting assumptions of

the research, methods, and results, and by

upholding the excitement of the audience in

knowing the solution for the

dissertation/thesis in a particular field. But,

students need a little guidance from the

experts on elaborating LRs, and writing a

literature review for a dissertation is not an

easy task. An efficient LR proves the

abilities of the students in the language

domain, information literacy, and critical

writing. Postgraduate students should be

trained systematically in these skills. The

main goal of this paper is to discuss the

functions of LR in dissertations and thesis.

Writing the literature review (LR) is a tricky

task in a postgraduate’s life. This paper

explains the ways to develop an efficient LR

in postgraduate dissertation/thesis and its

importance. 1

II. THE NEED FOR WRITING A

LITERATURE REVIEW

Typically, the aim of writing

literature reviews is to summarize the

dissertation topic and also to integrate the

existing knowledge in the field. There are

three main situations to write a literature

review.

1. A standalone review article of the

literature for a particular topic.

2. An empirical paper’s

introduction and the basis for a

hypothesis.

3. The preliminary stage for a

dissertation.

Fig 1. Systematic LR

Copyright © 2020 TutorsIndia. All rights reserved 1

However, for a postgraduate

dissertation, systematic LR is more useful

than a traditional literature review.

Systematic LR is a precise method that

forms the basis for building an entire article

based on reviewing the literature without

gathering empirical data. They provide

answers to a research question. In research

articles, conversely, a literature review does

not necessitate answering a research

question on its own; instead, a literature

review provides a short summary of the

research topic and helps to identify the main

theory of the paper. (Kraus, Breier, & Dasi-

Rodriguez, 2020)

III. MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF A

GOOD LITERATURE REVIEW

A good literature review must deal

with different requirements of the field;

cover all literature that is relevant to the

topic and also integrate it with clarity.

1. Coverage – Literature that is relevant to

the topic must be referenced and must be

covered by the text. The length of the

dissertation must be addressed carefully,

and the topic should be discussed deeply,

than doing a superficial overview of

various arguments.

2. Synthesis – Not just a long list of

references implies a good literature

review but, it should also summarize and

connect relevant literature. Synthesis

needs creativity to build an innovative,

fresh, new view of the topic, which

reveals the uniqueness of the concept

developed by the students.

3. Rhetoric – The content must be clear and

consistent, and well-articulated, which

should not make unproven claims.

4. Significance – The literature review

must explain the significance of the

practical and theoretical part of the

research problem. It is strongly

recommended to explain the research

with proper evidence, and also to show

the theoretical aspects. (Nakano &

Muniz Jr., 2018)

Figure 2: Characteristics of a Good Literature Review

IV. LITERATURE REVIEW PROCESS

A road map or blueprint is required

for the researcher to conduct a literature

review to stay on track and not diverge from

the topic. Thus, the process of literature

review involves.

i. Review topic selection.

ii. Searching the literature for

references.


iii. Collecting, interpreting, and

analyzing the literature.

iv. Review writing.

v. References. (Kofi, 2020)

V. IMPORTANCE OF WRITING A

LITERATURE REVIEW

a) Improving Research Methodology:

Literature review helps students to

identify and use research methodologies

of other researchers that assist in solving

research questions. The procedures used

by other researchers are explained in the

review of the literature and also the

methods used by them that are similar to

the proposed one. It helps students to get

an idea about the methods used by other

researchers, and the problems faced by

them. It also helps students to

incorporate those methods in their

assignment writing process.

conceptualizing the research problem

precisely and clearly. Additionally, it

also assists to identify the association

between the research problem and

knowledge in the field of research.

c) Cater to Knowledge Base for Research

Area: The main objective of writing a

literature review is to ensure that the

students who write dissertations conduct

wide research around the subject area in

which the research is done. It is essential

for a student to know what researchers

are doing in the same field of interest or

the related topic that you are working on.

d) Contextualizing Research Findings:

Extracting answers for the research

questions is simple. The complexity is

based on how the research question is

analyzed in the existing body of

knowledge. It is important to use the

findings in the research which has been

previously found.

e) Ensure Novelty in your Work: By

writing a literature review, make sure to

discover something that is very

innovative and not to waste time in

rediscovering that has been published

before by others. Therefore, the process

of writing a literature review could

guarantee innovation and a new

contribution to the research work.

(Macauley, 2020)

VI. CONCLUSION

Figure 3: Functions of Literature Review

b) Focus on Research Problem: Literature

review helps to shape the research

problems as it helps to understand the

research field better and thus assists in

The foundation for all kinds of

research is the review of literature which

plays a significant role. They serve as a

foundation for the development of

knowledge, provides a strategy for policy

and practice, grants effective evidence, and,

if conducted well, have the capacity to

provoke innovative ideas. By itself, it serves

as the ground for future research and theory.

However, conducting a review of the

literature and assessing its quality is a tricky


task. Thus, this paper provides simple

guidelines on how to conduct the research in

a more precise way. (Snyder, 2019)

VII. FUTURE WORK

Writing a literature review is a

difficult and essential process to understand

one’s own field of knowledge which is

always transitory. But as scholars, our

responsibility is to provide a vital

contribution to our field and letting others

feel our work. Good researchers are stuck

with sophisticated LRs, which expose the

long-lasting academic skills of a writer. In

the future, it is recommended to use the

checklist of LR as a tool to strengthen the

skills required for significant

dissertation/thesis writing. (Leite, Padilha, &

Cecatti, 2019)

REFERENCES

[1] Kofi, K. S. (2020). A Guide To Literature Review.

Retrieved

from

https://www.academia.edu/8919533/A_GUIDE_TO

_LITERATURE_REVIEW

[2] Kraus, S., Breier, M., & Dasi-Rodriguez, S. (2020). The

art of crafting a systematic literature review in

entrepreneurship research. International

Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 1–20.

Retrieved

from

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11365

-020-00635-4.pdf

[3] Leite, D. F. B., Padilha, M. A. S., & Cecatti, J. G.

(2019). Approaching literature review for academic

purposes: The Literature Review Checklist. Clinics,

74. Retrieved from

https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1807-

59322019000100318&script=sci_arttext

[4] Macauley. (2020). Review of literature. Retrieved from

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Arvind_Singh5

6/post/discuss_the_importance_of_good_detailed_lit

erature_review/attachment/5b76dad63843b0024406

6172/AS%3A660621829894147%40153451592667

3/download/2011-

0021_22_research_methodology.pdf

[5] Nakano, D., & Muniz Jr., J. (2018). Writing the

literature review for empirical papers. Production,

28. https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-6513.20170086

[6] Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research

methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal

of Business Research, 104, 333–339.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039


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