Literature review

This blog is written in response to a task assigned by Dr. Dilip Barad sir. This blog deals with the basic understanding of what is literature review. The aim of this blog is to clear the concept of literature review so that students can appropriately and adequately perform their literature review for their dissertation writing.

Literature Review

Define Literature Review

Fink (2005) defines a literature review as a ‘systematic, explicit, and reproducible method for identifying, evaluating, and synthesizing the existing research body of completed and recorded work produced by researchers, scholars, and practitioners’.

A literature review is a piece of academic writing demonstrating knowledge and understanding of the academic literature on a specific topic placed in context. A literature review also includes a critical evaluation of the material; this is why it is called a literature review rather than a literature report. In simple words, literature review is to understand what work is done in a particular field till now. It's like the spinal cord of our research. It's a relation between the knower and the known.

It helps us to know what has already been researched and what remains to be explored. It is similar to fundamental scientific activity. It identifies gaps in our knowledge that require further research.

Why is literature review carried out in research?

A literature review is typically one of the first activities completed after selecting a topic in a longer piece of writing, such as a dissertation or project. A literature review is conducted to provide the ideas and knowledge that have already been established as well as to highlight the topic's advantages and disadvantages. Knowing what has already been done and identifying the gaps prevents researchers from having to reinvent the wheel.

It's important to keep in mind that we must evaluate the literature on the issue until there is no more room in the topic or literature since the question of how much material has to be reviewed is prominent. You should be aware of the research that has already been conducted on your issue and be able to pinpoint any areas of uncertainty.

The blog is small, precise and cohesive, I hope it will be useful. Thanks for visiting.