WHAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW?

It is a process of gathering information from other sources and documenting it, but few have any idea of how to evaluate the information, or how to present it. A literature review is a critical and in depth evaluation of previous research. It is a summary and synopsis of a particular area of research, allowing anybody reading the paper to establish why you are pursuing this particular research program. A good literature review expands upon the reasons behind selecting a particular research question.

Importance of literature review

According to Bourner (1996) there are some good reasons that include:

to identify gaps in the literature to avoid reinventing the wheel (at the very least this will save time and it can stop you from making the same mistakes as others) to carry on from where others have already reached (reviewing the field allows you to build on the platform of existing knowledge and ideas) to identify other people working in the same fields (a researcher network is a valuable resource) to increase your breadth of knowledge of your subject area to identify seminal works in your area to provide the intellectual context for your own work, enabling you to position your project relative to other work to identify opposing views to put your work into perspective to demonstrate that you can access previous work in an area to identify information and ideas that may be relevant to your project to identify methods that could be relevant to your project

It also helps us to bring clarity and focus to your research problem improve your methodology broaden your knowledge base in your research area Contextualizes your findings.

BRING CLARITY AND FOCUS TO YOUR RESEARCH PROBLEM 1

It plays important role in shaping your research problem because the process of reviewing literature helps you to understand the subject area better and thus helps you to conceptualize your research problem clearly and precisely. IMPROVE YOUR METHODOLOGY If others have used procedures and methods similar to the ones that you are proposing ,then by becoming aware of these problems you will be better positioned to select a methodology, it will increase your confidence in the methodology you plan to use. BROADEN YOUR KNOWLEDGE BASE IN YOUR RESEARCH AREA The most important function to review the literature is to ensure you read widely around the subject area. It is important that you must know what the others researchers have found in regard to same and similar questions, what theories have been put forward. CONTEXTUALISE YOUR FINDINGS It is important to place your findings in the context of what is already known in your field of inquiry, and how are your findings different from those of others.

SOURCES OF LITERATURE REVIEW

The literature review process and the library
A good literature review requires knowledge of the use of indexes and abstracts, the ability to conduct exhaustive bibliographic searches, ability to organize the collected data meaningfully, describe, critique and relate each source to the subject of the inquiry, present the organized review logically Correctly cite all sources mentioned (Afolabi 1992).

OTHRE SOURCES ARE Finding Books Books though are central part of any bibiliography.Books is important and usually of good quality and the findings are integrated with other research to form a coherent body of knowledge.

E.g. HOLLIS Classic to find books, journals, manuscripts, government documents, visual materials, data files, and more owned by the Harvard University Libraries. Finding Articles Use the following indexes to find scholarly journal articles and more by topic or author:

Education Articles (3-in-1 Search) -- ERIC, Education Abstracts, and Academic Search Premier Academic Search Premier -- Multidisciplinary; covers about 4,700 journals and magazines America: History and Life -- Covers over 2,000 journals on the history of the United States and Canada Education Abstracts* -- Covers around 525 English-language education journals and yearbooks from 1983+ ERIC* -- Covers over 800 education-related journals, as well as conference papers, research reports, state, federal, and local education documents, and selected books Historical Abstracts -- Indexes about 2,000 journals providing historical coverage of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada) JSTOR -- Covers more than 500 core scholarly journals from their first issues, but generally excludes the most recent five years Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts -- Indexes over 1,200 journals in all areas of language and linguistics; international in scope; includes books and book chapters. PsycINFO -- Covers over 1,800 psychology journals and dissertations in more than 24 languages; also includes book chapters and books in the English language Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of Science) -- Covers more than 1,725 journals across 50 social sciences disciplines. Use the Cited Reference Search option to find articles that cite a previously published work. Sociological Abstracts -- Covers more than 2,000 sociology-related journals; also covers selected books, dissertations, conference papers, and book reviews.

Using Google, Google Scholar, and Google Book Use Google (and other search engines) to search the open web for current government publications, academic working papers, association newsletters, conference proceedings, curriculum materials, and more. Google Scholar will find citations to scholarly articles, papers, and books, but it offers only a small fraction of what is available through library resources. Google Book Search allows users to search the full text of all books available in Google Book Search (whether contributed by Harvard, another library, or the publisher), with a Find at Harvard University link displayed on every item in a search result set.

Associations and Organizations Finding Full Text of a Specific Article Dissertation Consultations Work with a librarian throughout the dissertation process to:

organize the research process develop research strategies plan a literature review identify and learn to use relevant sources obtain research materials worldwide

Writing Consultations
Make an appointment with a writing coach to:

define a research question organize the content of your paper review and revise drafts cite sources appropriately

Research Methods Consultations Make an appointment with a research methods staff member for assistance with:

research design quantitative and qualitative analysis presenting findings