The

 Literature  Review  
 Overview  
•  Defini2on  and  purposes  of  the  literature  
review  
•  Overview  of  the  process  
•  Finding  the  key  literature  
•  What  to  look  for  in  the  literature  
•  How  to  write  it  up  
•  Review  a  Lit  Review  
The  Literature  
 Defini2on  
•  A  selec2ve  review  of  the  network  of  scholarly  
wri2ngs  relevant  to  your  par2cular  research  
ques2on  

•  A  mapping  of  the  conceptual  and  empirical  

research  field        
Network  of  Scholarly  Works  
 What  are  the  purposes  of  the  LR?  
•  to  jus2fy  your  choice  of  research  ques2on,  theore2cal  
or  conceptual  framework,  and  method;  
•  to  establish  the  importance  of  the  topic;  
•  to  provide  background  informa2on  needed  to  
understand  the  study;  
•  to  show  readers  you  are  familiar  with  significant  and/or  
up-­‐to-­‐date  research  relevant  to  the  topic;  
•  to  establish  your  study  as  one  link  in  a  chain  of  
research  that  is  developing  knowledge  in  your  field.  
(Monash)  
 Overall  Process  

Lit  Search/ Note  Taking/

Topic   Collec2on   Comprehension  

Format  and   Structure,  Write  

References   and  Revise  
Key  areas  of  interest  

Overview    

Specific  area    
of  

your  research  
Lit  Review  Process  (example)  
Cri2ques  of  Habermas  

Public  Sphere  theory  

Mediated  public  sphere  

PSB  online  

Convergence  Culture  

Convergence  
Trans  media  
Collec2ve  intelligence  
Par2cipa2on  
User    driven  
 What  are  you  looking  for?  
•  Theory  

•  Concepts  

•  Empirical  Informa2on  

•  Methods  
 Key  Elements  
•  Iden2fy  the  most  useful  texts  in  the  field  

•  Describe,  analyse  and  cri2que  them  

•  Establish  their  rela2onship  to  each  other  

•  Evaluate/refine  your  research  ques2on  

rela2ve  to  the  literature  
 Wri2ng  the  Lit  Review  
•  Group  individual  lit  reviews  relevant  to  larger  
concepts  
•  Provide  an  overview  and  introduc2on  to  key  
concepts  important  to  your  research  
•  Describe,  analyse  and  evaluate  the  lit  in  these  
groupings  
•  Iden2fy  cri2cal  gaps  and  disagreements  
•  Integrate  your  research  ques2on/ideas  into  
overall  review  
 What  examiners  are  looking  for  
•  set  up  a  theore2cal  framework  for  the  research;  
•  show  the  reader  that  the  author:    
•  has  a  clear  understanding  of  the  key  concepts/ideas/studies/  models  
related  to  the  topic;  
•  knows  about  the  history  of  their  research  area  and  any  related  
controversies;  
•  can  discuss  these  ideas  in  a  context  appropriate  for  their  own  
inves2ga2on;  
•  can  evaluate  the  work  of  others;  

•  clarify  important  defini2ons/terminology;  

•  develop  the  research  space  that  they  will  also  indicate  in  the  Introduc)on  
and  Abstract;  
•  narrow  the  problem,  and  make  the  study  feasible.  
(Monash  Online)  
 Resources/Cita2ons  
•  hZp://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/
wri2ng/general/lit-­‐reviews/index.xml  
•  hZp://libguides.library.cqu.edu.au/
content.php?pid=9872&sid=64803  
•  hZp://www.socscidiss.bham.ac.uk/s6.html    
•  Hornig  Priest,  S.  2010,  Doing  Media  Research  
(Sage)  
•  Creswell,  R.  2003,  Research  Design  (Sage)