Literature review

A literature review should be structured like any other essay: it should have an introduction, a middle or main body, and a conclusion/summary. 

Introduction

The introduction should:

• define your topic and provide an appropriate context for reviewing the literature;


• establish your reasons – i.e. point of view – for


• reviewing the literature;


• explain the organization – i.e. sequence – of the review;


• state the scope of the review – i.e. what is included and what isn’t included. For example, if you were reviewing the literature on obesity in children you might say something like: There are a large number of studies of obesity trends in the general population. However, since the focus of this research is on obesity in children, these will not be reviewed in detail and will only be referred to as appropriate.

Subsections based on a deductive approach

This areas should:

• organize the literature according to common themes (subsections);


• provide insight into the relationship between your research topic and the wider subject area (example: how blockchain it to global financial security)


• move from a general, wider view of the literature being reviewed to the specific focus of your research. Think of it has a funnel start at the top of the funnel then get specific. If your topic was first denied because you were told to be more specific or that it was to generic and you honed in to specify your topic, then your initial topic is likely part of the top of your funnel or wider view.

Summary

The summary should:

• summarize the important aspects of the existing body of literature;


• evaluate the current state of the literature reviewed;


• identify significant flaws or gaps in existing knowledge;


• outline areas for future study;


• link your research to existing knowledge.

Deductive ApproachWhat is a deductive approach to research?The deductive research approach consists of four stages:

1. Start with an existing theory to formulate your research questions


2. Formulate a hypothesis based on existing theory. What do you think the answers to your questions will be?


3. Collect data to test the hypothesis


4. Analyze the results: does the data reject or support the hypothesis?

Resource Summary Table:Gathering, reviewing, analyzing, and remembering the journals, articles and other resources you find during your research can be confusing, frustrating and overwhelming.A resource summary table is a tool that can assist you organize and summarize what you've collected and read. The table provides you with a quick glance list and resource list to begin your writing. The table also allow you to organize like resources together to align with your Chapter 2 outline.Attached you will find examples of the Resource Summary Table for your use in either a Word and Excel format.