The Structure of a Literature Review
Different literature reviews can be structured in many
different ways, however, there are certain aspects that you need to get right
in your literature review which will usually help you to structure it well.
Your literature review has to have logical flow and coherence, and be structured similar to an essay,
with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Each part of your
literature review needs to flow into the next in a logical way, and there
should be no parts included in your review that are irrelevant to your overall
study or thesis topic. For this reason, even if you find something very
interesting but it doesn’t relate to your field or fit in with any of your
themes, you should probably leave it out.
For most literature reviews, the structure will usually
follow the following basic outline:
·
Introduction paragraphs, explaining the
intention of your literature review
·
Theoretical background
·
Theme/ concept/ case study 1
·
Theme/ concept/ case study 2
·
Theme/ concept/ case study 3, 4, 5…. (as many as
you need listed below here with their own subheading each)
·
Similar studies and their findings
·
Conclusion
Each of these sections could have a subheading. For example,
the theme or concept you explore in section 3 of your literature review will
form the subheading of that section. If you have this plan before you start
reading, you will have a very clear idea of the types of readings you will need
to do.
Let’s look at an example. If your study is on tackling
childhood obesity in Ohio by reducing the carbohydrate content in school
lunches, you have a clear set of ideas you’ll need to explore. Your theoretical background will have to
look at different nutritional theories, explain the food pyramid, and look at
why low carbohydrate diets are argued to be effective in weight management.
Some of the themes or
concepts you will have to explore in your study are:
·
The prevalence of childhood obesity
·
Why Ohio has higher levels of obesity
·
The school lunch policies and how these have
changed
·
The lifestyle and eating patterns of youth in
Ohio
Many more could be added to this. Each of these could form
one of the themes in your literature review, and each could be given their own
subheading. As you work through your many readings, you can add information
under each of your subheadings listed above.
After listing all of the themes, you can then have a section
for similar studies to yours. Have people tested low-fat diets for youth? Have
they tested low-carb diets in other settings besides Ohio? What were the
results?
And finally, you have the conclusion to the Literature
Review section, where you can give some preliminary thoughts on your literature
and say how it might lead into certain hypotheses which you could elaborate on
in your methodology or research design sections.
Having this kind of clear outline now allows you to read with intention. Every time you
come across a new article, you’ll know what you’re looking out for. When you
find a citation or study that seems relevant, you can put the reference to it
under the relevant subheading on your word processor.
What I advise my students to do, especially for their
research proposals, is to get as many articles as possible that relate in some
way to their topic, and then read the abstract and the first paragraph of each
of those articles. This should take no longer than five minutes per article.
Usually, you’ll get a good enough sense of what the article is about to include
a short reference to it in your literature review, and to make a note for
yourself in your research notes where you can summarize the main idea of the
article and decide whether it’s worth coming back to. Then, for those articles,
books or dissertations that seem especially relevant and worth returning to,
read the entire piece and add a more nuanced paragraph or two in your
literature review where you summarize the contents and explain the relevance to
your topic of study.
In addition to the subheadings we’ve outlined above, you
might want to include a subheading that looks at gaps in knowledge, where you can explain the shortcomings of some
of the studies, and even hint at how your own study will try to address some of
these shortcomings. Your literature review helps to provide some context for
your study, and it also adds some motivation for why your study is important by
showing that you will add to all of the knowledge which you’ve presented in a
substantial way.
You don’t necessarily need a separate subheading for being
critical of your readings; instead, you could include a sentence or two at the
end of each subsection where you offer some critiques of the information which
you have just presented, showing the gaps in knowledge or areas for
development.
Try and keep a clear structure in your review and it will be
much easier for your readers to follow your ideas and to see how your study
adds to the field of knowledge.
Review Your Learning:
·
Your literature review has to be organized and present the concepts,
theories and background thoroughly,
clearly and logically
·
A good structure and plan helps you to read with intention and not to waste
time with irrelevant readings
·
Try to be critically engaged with your readings.
Don’t just parrot ideas, but show that you understand them and even that you
can criticize them where appropriate